NEW! Foundation Course in Acting for Stage and Screen
in partnership with
Bristol School of Acting
We are delighted to announce that from September 2026, we will be collaborating with
Bristol School of Acting
to offer a fully-funded
Foundation Course in Acting or Stage and Screen (CertHE)
with 24 hours a week of teaching over three terms.
NEW! FOUNDATION ACTING FOR STAGE AND SCREEN in partnership with Bristol School of Acting
Over the past two decades, The Actors’ Workshop Bristol has established an unrivalled reputation for excellence, getting 90% of foundation students into BA Acting courses every year.
From September 2026, we are excited to be offering this training via a unique new Foundation Course in Acting for Stage and Screen - Cert HE at Bristol School of Acting.
As the only Foundation Acting CertHE at an accredited conservatoire in the South West, this new course combines our expertise at foundation level with one of the UK’s most vibrant and forward-looking drama schools.
With 24 hours of teaching per week over 3 full terms, the Foundation Cert HE Course at BSA is fully funded. It culminates in two staged productions of classical & contemporary plays at a professional venue in Bristol.
The Foundation Cert HE at BSA will be led by our Co-Directors, Clara Marullo and Jennifer Higham and predominantly taught by our core staff - providing the focused, professional training and audition preparation you need to develop your acting skills and expand your knowledge, so that when you take the next step, you’re ahead of the game.
With its unique, rigorous, responsive curriculum that explores everything from Shakespeare to screen acting, theatre-making and targeted audition preparation (including monologue work, self-taping, devising, singing, interview technique and resilience strategies) the new Cert HE positions students for success.
We will support you through the whole drama school application and audition process, offering continual feedback and encouragement, to ensure that you showcase your very best work and maximise your chances of getting into the best possible drama school for YOU.
As well as the time to explore different areas of acting and approaches to the performance process, you will gain valuable industry insights, including its demands and the skills needed to make it your career.
**If you are an MA candidate, have already done a Cert HE or cannot access student funding for any other reason, The Actors’ Workshop Bristol’s part-time Advanced Foundation Course offers streamlined training to take your work to the next level, whilst allowing you to work alongside it. **
COURSE STRUCTURE
Throughout Terms 1 and 2 you’ll take modules in Acting Processes and the Expressive Actor. You are introduced to fundamental skills and theories to develop your personal acting process. You delve into Stanislavski-based methodology and work through exercises to develop truthful response.
You bring those acting skills into text analysis growing in sophistication from contemporary scenes to Shakespeare. At the same time you develop your voice and movement skills to acquire the foundation of a psycho-physical actor.
In Term 1 you work on a collaborative theatre-making project and begin your Pathways into Acting module taking you through the research into further training and the industry, and coaching you for auditions including interview technique and self-taping.
In Term 2 the acting, voice and movement work culminates in assessment while you embark on an Acting for Camera module introducing you to the techniques and practices of acting specifically for film and television. You’ll learn how to understand camera angles, continuity, hitting your mark, and how to access the vulnerability and sensitivity required of screen acting. Your audition technique classes continue as does your career guidance.
Term 3 is taken up with rehearsals for fully staged productions of a classical and a contemporary play in a professional venue in Bristol. Alongside rehearsals you will continue to receive one to one support on drama school choices and preparation for further study.
APPLICATION
The degree is delivered in partnership with Plymouth Marjon University.
If you have any queries on the application or audition process please contact auditions@bristolschoolofacting.com
AUDITION
Entry onto the course is by audition. All auditions are FREE.
Auditions for 2026-27 are OPEN.
Auditions are conducted on Zoom and in person.
We ask you to prepare 2 contrasting monologues that are 2.5 minutes each; one from a Shakespeare play and one from a contemporary play (written after 1970).
You’ll also have an interview with one or both of the course leaders.
TYPICAL OFFER
The standard offer for this course is
3 A-Levels at grades CCC or above
Level 3 BTEC/UAL triple grade MMM or above
However, applicants are considered on an individual basis, taking into account any skills and experience that may not be reflected in A-Level scores. The most important consideration is that you have the qualities and potential to succeed so if you don’t meet our published offer criteria do get in touch with us. As a minimum you must have GCSE English at grade 4 or above.
COURSE ASSESSMENT METHODS
Continuous assessment, practical skills assessment, written assessment and self-assessment.
COURSE COSTS
£9,535 tuition fee per year (subject to annual inflationary increases).
For more information on fees, click here.
WANT TO FIND OUT MORE?
If you’d like to talk to us or ask any questions about the course you can email us at hello@bristolschoolofacting.com
To make our audition process as inclusive as possible, all auditions are free.
