BA (Hons) Acting and Performance Making
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Why study BA Acting and Performance Making at Goldsmiths
Join a bold, process-driven degree for creatives who want to forge their own path in contemporary theatre and performance. Equip yourself with the skills, insight, and confidence to lead and innovate in a changing world.
- You will become what we call an ‘actor-plus’: an actor and performance maker whose work engages with the wider practices that shape performance, including devising, directing, writing, design, producing and critical thinking.
- Studying with us will enable you to work in theatre, performance, screen, digital media, and across the wider creative industries, and will equip you to create, innovate and initiate change as an artist in your own right.
- You will develop skills in collaborating across a range of contexts, including working with a director, engaging in applied theatre settings, and devising and creating your own original performance projects.
- Goldsmiths is recognised internationally for nurturing actors and performance makers who are politically engaged, critically informed and ecologically conscious, and who are shaping the future of theatre and performance.
- You will be introduced to a range of training methods, supporting your development as an artist who can reflect critically on your own process, personal journey, and the ethics of collaboration.
- There will be classes in rehearsal ethics, characterisation and ensemble skills, movement, voice, stage, screen and audio genres, text-based and devised work.
- Our approach encourages you to pursue creative excellence while authoring original work shaped by your own voice, histories and worldviews: we pride ourselves on being a diverse community of makers and thinkers.
Contact
If you have specific questions about the degree, contact Stella Odunlami
UCAS code
W410
Entry requirements
A-level: CCC
BTEC: DMM
IB: 27 points overall with three HL subjects at 555
Length
3 years full-time, 6 years part-time
Fees
Home - full-time: £9790
International - full-time: £23000
School
Subject
What you'll study
In your first year, you will study the following compulsory modules:
| Module title | Credits |
|---|---|
| Core Techniques in Acting | 30 credits |
| Performance Making Skills | 30 credits |
| Performance Making 1 | 30 credits |
| Critical Writing | 15 credits |
| Contemporary Creative Industries | 15 credits |
Teaching Style
You will be taught on campus through face-to-face teaching, supported by leading researchers, practitioners, technicians and designers and scenographers. We believe learning should happen in and through a range of contexts that facilitate a wide variety of styles of learning.
How you'll be assessed
You will be assessed through a wide variety of methods, including group performances and presentations, practical projects, creative portfolios, essays, digital submissions, reflective logs, seminar presentations and independent research projects.
Watch videos about your course
Facilities
We deliver teaching in five theatre studios including the technically-supported George Wood Theatre. Further facilities include a voice recording booth, media editing suite, scenographic workshop areas and a costume design studio.
Set construction workshop
George Wood Theatre
Entry requirements
We accept the following qualifications:
A-level: CCC
BTEC: DMM
International Baccalaureate: 27 points overall with three HL subjects at 555
UAL Extended Diploma: Merit overall
Access: Pass with 45 Level 3 credits including 24 Distinctions and a number of merits/passes in subject-specific modules
Scottish qualifications: CCCCD (Higher) or DDD (Advanced Higher)
European Baccalaureate: 65%
Irish Leaving Certificate: H3 H3 H3 H3
If you can't find your qualification here, then please visit our entry requirements page for a list of alternative qualifications.
Additional requirements
Your qualifications must include a minimum Grade C in English Literature, English Language and Literature, Drama or Theatre Studies, or another humanities discipline. General Studies is not accepted as one of the three A-levels.
Selection process
You will be invited to attend a Workshop Day on campus. This will involve a practical group workshop followed by a short interview. You are not expected to prepare anything for the workshop.
If you are unable to attend an in-person Workshop Day, we will arrange to have an online interview with you.
Alternative qualifications and experience
See our full list of undergraduate entry qualifications.
We welcome students with a range of educational experiences. If you believe you may not meet the standard qualification requirements we would still encourage you to apply because we consider all aspects of your application when making a decision.
We’ll pay particularly careful attention to your personal statement, which is your opportunity to demonstrate your interest in the subject you’ve applied for. Your referees are also welcome to include any relevant contextual comments around your academic achievements. We’ll look at all these things when making a decision on your application, as well as your qualifications and grades, and may still be able to offer you a place.
International qualifications
We also accept a wide range of international qualifications. Find out more about the qualifications we accept from around the world.
If English isn’t your first language, you will need an IELTS score (or equivalent English language qualification) of 6.0 with a 6.0 in writing and no element lower than 5.5 to study this programme. If you need assistance with your English language, we offer a range of courses that can help prepare you for degree-level study.
Fees and funding
Annual tuition fees
These are the UG fees for students starting their programme in the 2026/2027 academic year.
- Home - full-time: £9790
- International - full-time: £23000
If your fees are not listed here, please check our undergraduate fees guidance or contact the Fees Office, who can also advise you about how to pay your fees.
It’s not currently possible for international students to study part-time if you require a Student Visa, however this is currently being reviewed and will be confirmed in the new year. Please read our visa guidance in the interim for more information. If you think you might be eligible to study part-time while being on another visa type, please contact our Admissions Team for more information.
If you are looking to pay your fees please see our guide to making a payment.
Additional costs
In addition to your tuition fees, you will be responsible for meeting standard costs associated with your study. Find out more information on our study costs page.
Workshop-based modules which involve performer skills should not incur a cost. However, for any productions, especially in final year work, there may be costs related to personal items, such as make-up, extra clothing (beyond our costume department’s range). These will be managed in accordance with similar programme expenses, where we will reasonably cover a range of expenses to a capped amount per student.
Careers
Our students build careers in diverse creative industries, becoming industry leaders as:
Actors, performers, directors, choreographers, movement directors, casting directors
- Writers, editors, and dramaturgs
- Producers in theatre, film, radio, digital arts, visual arts, and community practice
- Play, screen and radio writers, and journalists
- Community arts, and applied theatre practitioners
- Lighting, sound, set, and costume designers
- Stage and production managers
- Venue and event managers
- Marketing and promotion specialists
- Teachers, workshop leaders and facilitators, lecturers, and academics.
Onwards and upwards
When you join this programme you will become part of this vibrant creative community. Many of our graduates return to share their professional expertise, mentoring and inspiring the next generation of innovative performance makers and thinkers.
Our graduates leave as versatile actors and total performance-makers, equipped with the skills to create original work, push the boundaries of contemporary theatre and performance-making, and bring ideas to life, on stage, screen and across digital media.
Our alumni
- Mojisola Adebayo - performer, writer, director, producer and academic sharing work around the world, from Antarctica to Zimbabwe. She has acted in over 50 theatre, television and radio productions, and devised and directed over 30 scripts for stage and video.
- Liv Ello and Frankie Thompson have put their skills into practice with their highly acclaimed show in the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe. Read more about this performance in their five-star review in the Guardian.
- Rebecca Frecknall won the Olivier Award for Cabaret. Worked as Resident Director at the National Theatre Studio and then Sir Richard Eyre's AD.
- Dennis Kelly is a Tony Award-winning writer and producer. Dennis wrote the book for Matilda the Musical. Other writing credits include the BBC (Pulling), Channel 4 (Utopia) and HBO (The Third Day, with Punchdrunk). His plays have been performed at the National Theatre, Royal Court, Hampstead Theatre, BAC, Young Vic, etc.
- Kalki Koechlin, Indian film star, actor, writer, producer, dramatist and journalist of French descent who has won multiple awards and critical acclaim for her work. In 2018 she was made a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French government for her services to French-Indian relations through cinema. Her recent film, Goldfish (dir. Pushan Kripalani) was nominated in the category of Best UK Film at the Raindance Film Festival 2022.
- Tatenda Shamiso, writer, performer, director, musician. His show No I.D. was performed at the Royal Court in May 2023. He also directed Jade Franks's Eat The Rich (but maybe not me mates x) (Pleasance Edinbrugh, 2025; Soho Theatre, 2026), and was Assistant Director on A Streetcar Named Desire (Almeida, January 2023), Wolves on the Road (Bush Theatre, 2024) and Choir Boy (Bristol Old Vic, 2023). He has also written for television (including Mitchell and Webb Are Not Helping, 2025). He won the Emerging Talent Award at the 2023 Evening Standard Theatre Awards and became the Arts Foundation Fellow in Theatre Writing in 2024.
Staff
You will be taught by Theatre and Performance staff:
