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Acting (Film, TV and Stage) Top-Up

Entry requirements


Completed related level 5 HND

You may also need to…

Attend an interview

About this course


Course option

1year

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Acting

Are you wanting to top-up your qualification to a BA Honours degree? If you have completed a foundation-level degree, HND, or equivalent qualifications in a relevant Art and Design subject, you can choose to top-up your studies to gain a full bachelor’s degree.

**Why Study this subject?**
Through simulating a professional environment and experience, this course allows you as a student to learn the skills that you’ll need in preparation for the rigours of working in the performing arts industry or related field.

You’ll cover a range of key areas on this course, including a catalogue of different acting styles, acting practice, working with others and stage work at professional venues. An area of independent research practice will enable you to develop and employ a range of critical thinking skills based on subject knowledge and garnered through individual research and performance practice.

**Why Study at BNU?**
The mix of screen and stage work is what makes this course stand out. We will give you hands-on experience with the latest technology allowing you to explore the full range of screen, audio and intermedial possibilities. Our team of experienced academic-practitioners has a wealth of industry and academic experience and will nurture your learning and professional development throughout your time with us. We place performance making at the centre of this course so you'll get a much better understanding of the practices that surround film, stage and television performances.

We seek to bring your work into the wider world and to bring the world into the university. Students perform in external venues during their time at BNU, and have recently worked with a range of theatre companies and practitioners including Paper Birds on devising theatre, Out of Joint on contemporary texts, Mark McGann on acting for camera, and Station House Opera on intermedial theatre.

As well as taking part in guest workshops, you’ll collaborate with students from other courses. You could work on projects with students studying film and TV production, creative advertising, audio and music, and even nursing. We’ll support you to find an approach to acting that’s uniquely yours and alongside this set you up with the real-world skills you need to secure acting work when you graduate.

**What facilities can I use?**
You’ll use our drama studios on site, some with moving lights and fully-equipped sound systems and projection. We also have sprung floors and mirrors suitable for movement and physical work. We use the professional venue at Wycombe Town Hall, which is less than two minutes from our campus. You will have access to high quality Sony camera equipment, suitable for film and TV screening, and also to lighting rigs and sound recording facilities. Check out our facilities section for more information.

**What will I study?**
This programme is designed to develop professional skills and techniques across a range of Acting forms focusing on Film, TV & Stage. We enhance students’ previous acting training by providing a blend of critical analysis of dramatic texts and screenplays, alongside skills acquisition and development and performance, both for stage and screen.

The course aims to encourage critical thinking through a study of playwrights, performance skills and theatre and film practitioners.

This dynamic top-up degree programme will also give students the opportunity to engage with practitioners in the fields of theatre and film, to stage their own independently produced work and to study an area of interest they wish to research.

Modules

**Year 1 Modules**
Strategic Professional Practice - Applied Arts
Strategic Professional Practice Professional Portfolio
Independent Production
Transferable and Employability Skills
Viva and Research Proposal
Acting Practical Dissertation (optional)
Acting Written Dissertation (optional)

Assessment methods

**How will I be taught and assessed?**
Our team of experienced academics and acting professionals will nurture your learning and professional skills throughout your time with us.

We will work with you to ensure you gain:

a good knowledge of different acting styles, ideas and approaches;
the skills to perform powerfully on screen and stage;
an understanding of how to manage your own artistic company and initiate your own projects;
the ability to present your ideas and work well with others.
We're passionate about giving our students as many opportunities as possible so you’ll be able to work on a number of exciting projects. We know the importance of catering for different learning styles and enabling our students to develop a wide range of academic and performance skills. We don't have any written exams and we encourage you to develop your own response to open briefs, giving you independence and creative control over your work.

Throughout the course, an attempt is made to connect practical and critical work, with an understanding of the links between theory and practice evidenced in written work. Teaching methods may vary but will include workshops to develop practical and production skills, lectures, and performances (some of which are formally assessed) where you will perform to an audience or be mediated (i.e. for camera).

Assessment is varied, catering for different learning styles and enabling students to develop a wide range of academic and performance skills. These include solo performance, group performance, group presentation, written project proposal, written reflection on creative work, and essay.

By the time you graduate, you’ll have an entrepreneurial flair and a strong grasp of the world of acting. You’ll be able to position yourself confidently as an inspiring and creative performer that people will want to work with.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£15,000
per year
International
£15,000
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Buckinghamshire New University

Department:

School of Art, Design, and Performance

Read full university profile

What students say


How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Drama

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.


Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

68%
UK students
32%
International students
44%
Male students
56%
Female students
81%
2:1 or above
22%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
B
D

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Drama

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£16,000
med
Average annual salary
96%
med
Employed or in further education
24%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

19%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
15%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
13%
Other elementary services occupations

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Drama

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£15k

£15k

£18k

£18k

£20k

£20k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

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