What is the course about?

This exciting and demanding course will engage students by encouraging creativity, focusing on both practical work and written critical analysis and evaluation. This will reflect 21st Century theatre practice and will develop skills that will support progression to study drama and a wide range of other subjects further. You will find A Level Drama and Theatre consistently enjoyable and rewarding, but you must be aware of its challenging academic and practical demands and of the need for extensive commitment beyond the classroom. 

Core skills being developed:

• The ability to recognise and understand the interrelationship between performer, designer and director.
• The understanding that texts and extracts studied may represent a range of social, historical and cultural contexts.
• The ability to analyse and evaluate their work and the work of others.
• The ability to understand how performance texts can be interpreted and performed. 

Course content

• Component 1: Drama and theatre – Live theatre analysis and evaluation and studying of two set plays.
• Component 2: Creating original drama - devising drama – devised performance and working notebook coursework. 
• Component 3: Making theatre - scripted drama – performance of a scripted extract and reflective report coursework. 

Assessment

• Component 1 - Written examination (external assessment – 40%)
• Component 2 - Practical and written (internal assessment and examined performance 30%)
• Component 3 - Practical and written (exam – 30%)

Career pathways

This course will provide you with many transferable skills such as critical thinking and collaborative problem solving. Students may go on to study drama or a related subject such as English, music, technical theatre, media, film and TV production at university or drama school.

Drama and Theatre A Level is highly regarded amongst Russell group universities, as it uniquely offers excellent academic and practical standing. 

Entry criteria

Minimum grade 6 in Drama GCSE and Grade 6 in English Lit or Language. Previous experience in drama  is not essential, but a strong sense of team spirit and a real commitment to the course are vital qualities for success at this subject.