Although there are many excellent University drama departments in the UK, if you want to be a professional actor, you will need appropriate, thorough, high-level practical training - and the best place to get this is at drama school. Entry is via a series of auditions and competition for places is intense.

Members of The Actors' Workshop College Class are given extensive help and guidance; the first step is to research the colleges, since they all have different approaches and strengths. Do not just go for the famous schools you may have heard of - the key to success is to match your interests and strengths with those of the schools to which you are applying. From here, you should visit the websites for individual colleges - which we have listed and linked here below. Since very few of them have open days, they put a lot of information on their websites and into their prospectuses. Individual insights can also be gleaned from contacting some of our alumni, as we have current or past students at most of the major colleges. Your first port of call should be The Federation of Drama Schools (established in 2017) - the membership body representing the 'premier league' of Britain's acting institutions.

They are a group that provides conservatoire style vocational training for those who want to be professional performers, theatre makers and technical theatre practitioners. Each member of the federation offers a range of different courses and programmes. They are also individual in terms of particular ethos and approaches.

All Members adhere to principles and hallmarks that underpin their training. This is how institutions become a part of the federation. These hallmarks outline the key elements of a professional training experience and are what you should expect. To view the website click here