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Acting and Performance BA(Hons)

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Start Dates

21 September 2026

Duration

3 years full-time 4 years inc. placement year 5 years part-time

UCAS Tariff

120-104

Recent Awards For Excellence

Ofsted outstanding provider logo Performing Arts - QS 2025
Find out more about these awards
About this course

Overview

Why choose Huddersfield for this course?

  • Develop acting, directing, and performance skills through live productions, workshops, and practical projects
  • Work with professional practitioners, guest artists, and visiting companies to gain industry experience and mentorship
  • Access industry-standard facilities and collaborative spaces, supporting creative exploration and career development

Our Acting and Performance BA(Hons) course is a production-based degree designed for students seeking to develop their skills in acting, directing, and creating live performance. You’ll explore a broad range of performance practices, including contemporary theatre and historical performance, while having the opportunity to create original performances and workshops for public audiences.

The course emphasizes three years of dedicated rehearsal, performance, and creative development, enabling you to build confidence and mastery in your craft. You will gain hands-on experience in devising work, ensemble collaboration, and performance production, with a focus on developing your unique artistic voice. You’ll also have opportunities to explore directing, stagecraft, and technical aspects of performance, supporting a flexible and wide-ranging career path.

Throughout the course, you’ll work on public-facing productions, workshops, and showcases, supported by masterclasses, residencies, and visits from distinguished practitioners, including actors, directors, and theatre companies. The Creative Futures module supports your career development, offering guidance on entering the industry and creating professional opportunities. This experience ensures you graduate with the confidence and skills to pursue careers in contemporary theatre, stage production, creative performance, or teaching.

Graduates leave with the practical experience, artistic versatility, and professional insight needed to succeed in a range of acting, performance, and creative industry roles.

Career opportunities after the course *

Drama Teacher

Research Associate

Teacher Trainer

Marketing Executive

*Lightcast

Who can apply?

Entry Requirements

BBB-BCC at A Level.
120-104 UCAS tariff points from a combination of Level 3 qualifications.
Merit at T Level.
DMM-MMM in BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma.
Merit in UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma.
Merit in RSL Level 3 Extended Diploma.
Access to Higher Education Diploma with 45 Level 3 credits at Merit or above.
120-104 UCAS tariff points from International Baccalaureate qualifications.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.0 overall with no element lower than 5.5, or equivalent will be considered acceptable. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our International Entry Requirements page.

Other suitable experience or qualifications will be considered. For further information please see the University's minimum entry requirements.

If you do not have the appropriate qualifications for direct entry to this degree you may be able to apply to our Music and Performing Arts Foundation Pathway Degree.

What will you learn?

Course Details

Core modules:

A series of lectures will introduce you both to different theories of performance and to a vocabulary appropriate to discussing theatre and performance. Seminars will follow up the lectures in order to probe the issues raised with reference to theories and assigned readings.

You’ll have the opportunity to explore the ways in which a play script can form the basis for a live theatre production through working together as a company to stage a short text. Training in acting, voice, and the physical can be explored through the challenge of staging the work.

You will undertake a foundational training in approaches to making live performance. You will explore workshop practice, including aspects of performance training, as well as a range of techniques and starting points for creating work. The nature of group and individual creativity will be addressed, and you will engage in at least one major collaborative public performance project. You will keep logbooks and undertake contextual research and analysis.

A series of lectures will introduce you to a range of historical performance practices from the late-Victorian period to the present. Seminars will follow up the lectures in order to probe the issues raised with reference to texts taken from a range of cultures and periods.

Core modules:

The aim of this module is to allow you to participate in and analyse a process leading to a performance or performance-related event (installation, series of workshops, etc) and also to study in detail the text or material which forms the basis for the work. You will contribute in one or more roles within a creative process which will be staff initiated and/or directed, developing and extending your own skills and knowledge.  Typical examples might include: a Renaissance text, a devised performance, a contemporary playtext, a filmed performance, a piece of live/performance art, or a series of Applied Theatre workshops. You will document the process in detail using analysis and reflection. Research and discussion will form an integral part of each process, and Academic Skills and PDP reflections will be embedded in the curriculum.

You will draw on examples of contemporary practice in responding to theoretical approaches and debates. You will encounter a range of contemporary examples of performance practice across media through a series of lectures which will be supported, where possible, by theatre visits, video materials, and other media resources. The workshops will introduce you to the critical and aesthetic contexts in which such work exists, and assessment will focus on your ability to locate and devise specific examples of practice within the relevant critical frameworks.

You’ll have the opportunity to undertake a training project in one of a range of theatre skill areas, such as directing, performing, physical theatre, technical theatre, or workshop facilitation. A programme of training will help to prepare you to undertake an independent project which demonstrates your skills and understandings.

You will also choose one optional module in this year. The current optional modules are:

In this module you will examine contemporary cinema as a global media industry, with a particular emphasis on the processes of globalisation and circulation that allow film texts to become meaningful far outside the contexts in which they were made. While the global dominance of Hollywood is central to this, cultural influences, values and meanings flow in multiple directions. You will develop knowledge of key theories in film and global media studies, including theories of globalisation, cultural hybridity and exchange, national identities, and imagined communities. By focusing not only on the films themselves, but on their production, distribution, promotion and reception, the module provides you with a detailed understanding of how and why cinema spreads around the globe, and the tensions this cultural flow creates at a political, social, economic and cultural level.

For more information on when and how we update our modules please see the ‘Legal Information’ section below.

The optional one-year (48 weeks) work placement after the second year can be completed in the UK or abroad. It will give you the opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience, insight into your chosen career and open up your graduate employment prospects.

Core modules:

This module will help you imagine and plan for your future. Whether you want to be an actor, director, film-maker, producer, technician, or teacher, or to do something outside the creative industries, you will need to find the right context in which to work with others and develop your practice. In this module you will reflect critically on your current work and investigate potential employment opportunities, thinking about where you may want to take your career. You will conduct research into a specific industry and/or cultural context that matters to you, learning about what others are doing and imagining what you might contribute.

You will contribute your artistic skills to the preparation of a staff-led performance , developing and extending your own skills and knowledge. You will document the process and share the results of your analysis through reflective reports. The project will be rooted in an area of staff research and teaching expertise, and its initial focus will be staff initiated. Typical examples might include: contemporary or classical texts; musical theatre; a filmed performance; a piece of devised work. Although the performance may be staff directed, you will be expected to take clear responsibility and initiative for co-ordinating different aspects of the process and/or for running sessions.

This module takes the form of a Working Party research process in which the group collectively researches, designs and delivers a Panel Session within a ‘Conference’ on a set topic chosen from a range of options. At that Session, each of you will present a provocation or make an alternative research presentation. Initially, the group works with the tutor on gaining a broad understanding of the field in question and designs a Call for Papers which summarises the field and identifies the main questions and debates. Each of you then respond to their Call for Papers by designing a detailed proposal for a research process which will culminate in a contribution to the Panel Session. There is scope for creativity in the design of individual presentations and in the curatorship of the event.

Choose one from a list which may include:

The Final Year Project is an opportunity to demonstrate practical skills in a significant theatre or performance role. Building on skills developed through earlier study, you will be able to negotiate a practical project that may focus on performing, directing, applied theatre practice, writing or technical and production skills. With input from a supervisor, you will then be asked to work largely independently to deliver the agreed project. Many of the practical projects appear in the Department’s annual Common Grounds Festival.

The Research Dissertation module facilitates your journey to acquiring expertise and specialism in a project allowing you to showcase summative learning across your course. You will be supported in undertaking guided independent research aimed at the generation of original knowledge in the study of media content, industries, practitioners, technologies or users and/or their cultural, social, political and economic premises and consequences. You will synthesise primary and secondary data and sources in your systematic, methodological analysis of a chosen topic in a field reflecting your course such as communication, journalism, film, digital media, entertainment, acting and performance, cultural production, sports media, music or promotional culture. This involves reviewing appropriate literature, identifying and executing a suitable methodology and research design and carrying out appropriate forms of analysis.

For more information on when and how we update our modules please see the ‘Legal Information’ section below.

Teaching and Assessment

Discover what to expect from your tutor contact time, assessment methods, and feedback process.

Read more

Global Professional Award

At Huddersfield, you’ll study the award-winning Global Professional Award (GPA) alongside your degree* — so you’re ready for the career you want, whatever subject you choose.

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Interested in a placement?

Placements

Every term you are here as a student, you will have the opportunity to be onstage in front of a paying audience in a staff-led performance. We produce dramas, comedies, period shows, and musicals which means you can experience many different performance genres. You can direct your own show in year two, and create a festival performance in year three. We also have a student-run theatre company, HAT Soc, which produces multiple shows each year. Along with the Musical Theatre Society and numerous films being made in our Film School, there are numerous opportunities to perform across the three years you'll be with us.

Where could this lead you?

Your Career

Drama graduates have gone on to work in the performing arts, award-winning films, television, touring theatre, teaching and running their own performance companies.A selection of companies that have employed Huddersfield graduates in recent years include BBC One, ITV, Channel 4, Lawrence Batley Theatre, BBC 6 Music, Royal National Theatre and Point Blanc Theatre Company.** Some students have chosen postgraduate study or additional vocational training in specialist areas, whilst a significant number successfully gain teaching qualifications and enter the teaching profession.
**Source: LinkedIn.

85%
Percent of graduates from this subject area were in work or further study 15 months after graduation

* HESA Graduate Outcomes 22/23, UK Domiciled

Since graduating, I continue to make and produce work to take on tour with my own theatre company. The course content was excellent - it was varied and there was always something new with lots of opportunities to make and perform our own work.

- Luke Pearson
Drama BA(Hons) graduate. Now a Project Manager at Proper Job Theatre Company

How much will it cost?

Fees and Finance

£9,790 per year

This information is for Home students applying to study at the University of Huddersfield in the academic year 2026/27.

Please note that tuition fees for subsequent years may rise in line with inflation (RPI-X) and/or Government policy. 

From January 2027 the UK government is launching a new student funding system for people starting university education. Read more about the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE).

For detailed information please visit https://www.hud.ac.uk/study/fees/

£1,630 per 20 credits

This information is for Home students applying to study at the University of Huddersfield in the academic year 2026/27.

Modules credits can range from 15 to 60, dependent on the content of the module. Read more about total credits required for a range of degrees, to allow you to calculate the potential total cost.

Please note that tuition fees for subsequent years may rise in line with inflation (RPI-X) and/or Government policy. 

From January 2027 the UK government is launching a new student funding system for people starting university education. Read more about the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE).

For detailed information please visit https://www.hud.ac.uk/study/fees/

£17,600 per year

This information is for international students applying to study at the University of Huddersfield in the academic year 2026/27.

Please note that tuition fees for subsequent years may rise in line with inflation (RPI-X) and/or Government policy. 

For detailed information please visit https://www.hud.ac.uk/international/fees-and-funding/

Home

The tuition fee for a placement year is £1000. If you go on work experience or work placement, you will need to fund your own travel and/or accommodation costs to and from the placement.  Please be aware that if your placement is outside of the UK, you will still be responsible for your travel and living expenses and may need to consider issues like health care and insurance costs.

International

The tuition fee for a placement year is £3,300. If you go on work experience or work placement, you will need to fund your own travel and/or accommodation costs to and from the placement.  Please be aware that if your placement is outside of the UK, you will still be responsible for your travel and living expenses and may need to consider issues like health care and insurance costs.

Scholarships and Bursaries

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International

Tuition Fee Loans

Find out more about tuition fee loans available to eligible undergraduate students.

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What’s included in your fee?

We want you to understand exactly what your fees will cover and what additional costs you may need to budget for when you decide to become a student with us.

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If you have any questions about Fees and Finance, please email the Student Finance Team.

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What does the univsersity offer?

Gallery

See below for a glimpse at some of our facilities

Student performance in art studio on stage

Drama studio

A European Tragedy

Like these students, you will have the opportunity to perform for paying audiences each term you are here. Here 1st year students perform a scene from A European Tragedy, an adaptation of the ancient Greek Orestia.

Drama Student Performing

The Tempest

In your second year, you will be able to choose between several production options. In this moment from The Tempest, actor Samuel Shingleton plays Trinculo, the clown.

Spinner of Yarns

In our Common Grounds Festival, third year students spend the year developing their own shows which are performed as part of this week-long festival. Students can pick any kind of performance genre to work in. Spinner of Yarns is a piece of verbatim theatre about a library of objects and the stories they tell.

Staying with the Trouble

In this work of non-fiction, second year student Phoebe Devine performs a scene from Living With the Trouble, which explored how humans can continue to thrive in an ecologically damaged world.

The Beaux Strategem

Two rakes who are running out of money leave London to find wealthy wives in the countryside in order to fund their lavish lives. There they fall afoul of highway men, scheming servants, and women they actually fall in love with, despite their best efforts. A play from the Restoration, The Beaux Strategem, gave students the opportunity to wear period costumes, learn the art of period acting, and even swordfight.

Feats of Extreme Loneliness

In the third year, students choose the production they want to be a part of. Here, an abandoned Teddy Bear returns to haunt its owner in Edward Gant Feats of Extreme Loneliness.

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Our facilities

Discover our industry standard facilities in the School of Arts and Humanities.

School Brochure

Discover more about The School of Arts and Humanities in our brochure

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Connect with the School of Arts and Humanities

Keep up to date with the School of Arts and Humanities news and events.

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Natalie Gavin at the premiere of BBC's Gentleman Jack

Graduate - Natalie Gavin

Since graduating from Huddersfield, Natalie has gone on to secure roles in prominent television shows and theatre productions such as: Shameless; Line of Duty; Gentleman Jack; Ackley Bridge; Prisoners' Wives; The Crucible (The Old Vic production); Jericho; The Syndicate.

Academic Spotlight - Eric Hetzler

Dr. Eric Hetzler teaches acting, directing, and theory. His teaching is informed by over 35 years of experience as a professional actor and director. His research specialises in the study of emotion and awareness, exploring how actors think and talk about them when they are performing. As part of that research, Eric has studied to become a certified level 3 Associate Teacher of the Alba Method of Emotion which trains actors to develop emotions without the need of emotion memory. He continues to work professionally having directed a new play, Shakespeare in Terror at the Carriageworks in Leeds

Undergradute Open Days

Visit our Undergraduate Open Day to explore our courses, tour the campus, and meet academics and students who can answer your questions.

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Why Hud

Explore the unique opportunities and resources that make our institution a top choice for students seeking a well-rounded and future-focused education.

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Explore Huddersfield

Make Huddersfield your home. A Yorkshire town, surrounded by beautiful countryside, with easy access to neighbouring cities; Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield. You’ll find plenty of places to eat, drink, shop and socialise, there’s ambitious plans for future development. Our campus is situated next to the town centre - making your commute a breeze.

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Your Student Experience

Get involved in great opportunities helping you to make friends from all across the world and create lifelong memories. Join one of over 100 societies with the Students’ Union, experience new cultures through global events, earn whilst you learn and build your skills via our Global Professional Award.

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Budget Friendly

Huddersfield is not only one of the friendliest towns, it also offers you a lower cost of living than most big cities. This means you could have more money to spend, making your uni experience even better. On campus you’ll also find plenty of facilities and services to help you budget and make your money go further.

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Sustainability Matters

We’re committed to sustainability and aim to be carbon neutral by 2030. Our plan includes reducing emissions, enhancing biodiversity, and improving wellbeing through sustainable buildings. We’re investing in digital solutions, low-impact travel, and embedding sustainability into teaching and research, investing over £1m in carbon reduction.

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Committed to Your Future

Since 2015, we’ve invested £198 million to create spaces where you can learn, collaborate and thrive. We’re continuously investing in our campus with your wellbeing in mind—adding features that make our buildings healthier, more supportive and better places for you to succeed.

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Careers support

We know you’re coming to university to study on your chosen subject, meet new people and broaden your horizons. However, we also help you to focus on life after you have graduated to ensure that your hard work pays off and you achieve your ambition.

Find out more about careers support

Student support

At the University of Huddersfield, you’ll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you’ll soon discover that you’re never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey.

See our support services

Teaching Excellence

Great teaching is engaging and inspiring — it helps you reach your full potential and prepares you for the future. We don’t just teach well — we excel — and we have the awards and recognition to prove it.

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Inspiring Academics

Our researchers carry out world-leading work that makes a real difference to people’s lives. Staff within the Department of Media, Humanities and the Arts may teach you on this course.

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Research Excellence

You’ll be taught by staff who want to support your learning and share the latest knowledge and research.

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Accommodation

Looking for student accommodation? Huddersfield has you covered. HudLets has a variety of accommodation types to choose from, no matter what your preference. HudLets is the University’s approved accommodation service, run by Huddersfield Students’ Union.

Take a look at your options

Further Study

If you want to continue your learning beyond your undergraduate degree, there is a range of financial support available for postgraduate study, including discounts for Huddersfield graduates.

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Legal information

When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by our terms and conditions, Handbook of Regulations and associated policies. It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan.

Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons:

Changes to a course you have applied for but are not yet enrolled on

If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment. We may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and if you are unhappy with the change we will discuss with you other suitable courses we can transfer your application to. If you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

Changes to option modules

Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have an equivalent range of options to that advertised for the course. We will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

Major changes

We will only make major changes to non-optional modules on a course if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change is a change that substantially changes the outcomes, or a significant part of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum. For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators or a commissioning or accrediting body. We may also make changes to improve the course in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback or to ensure you are being taught current best practice. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff being unable to teach due to illness, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to pandemics, other disasters (such as fire, flood or war) or changes made by the government.

Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but may happen sooner in an emergency. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will consult with affected groups of students and any changes would only be made in accordance with our regulations. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you let us know before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for any additional tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so and you may be eligible for an exit award depending on how far through your course you are.

In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed in accordance with the student protection plan.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.

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