Thank you for considering an application
To apply you’ll need to:
- Make note of the Queen Mary institution code: Q50
- Make note of your chosen course UCAS code:
Drama
- W400 — BA (Hons)
- W401 — BA (Hons) with Year Abroad
- Click on the link below:
Have further questions? How to apply | Entry requirements
Drama
2 study options
Drama BA (Hons)
Key information
- Degree
- BA (Hons)
- Duration
- 3 years
- Start
- September 2021
- UCAS code
- W400
- Institution code
- Q50
- Typical A-Level offer
- Grades BBB at A-Level. This must include at least one arts, humanities or social sciences subject. Excludes General Studies and Critical Thinking.
Full entry requirements - UK fees
- £9,250
- International fees
- £19,250
Funding information
Paying your fees
EU/EEA/Swiss students
Drama with Year Abroad BA (Hons)
Key information
- Degree
- BA (Hons)
- Duration
- 4 years
- Start
- September 2021
- UCAS code
- W401
- Institution code
- Q50
- Typical A-Level offer
- Grades BBB at A-Level. This must include at least one arts, humanities or social sciences subject. Excludes General Studies and Critical Thinking.
Full entry requirements - UK fees
- £9,250
- International fees
- £19,250
Funding information
Paying your fees
EU/EEA/Swiss students
Overview
Study drama in the cultural heart of London, one of the world’s greatest performance cities.
Our BA(Hons) in Drama is an exciting opportunity to study theatre and performance in a variety of cultures and historical periods, and across a range of forms including plays, site-specific performance, live art, and socially engaged and applied performance.
We teach Drama as an active and dynamic subject involving seminars, practical workshops, theatre and performance trips and field work. This approach supports the development of your knowledge and expertise, communication, research and performance-making skills, and capacity to work collaboratively with others.
The course offers both practical and theoretical investigation into how theatre and performance can be used in different settings – theatres, art galleries, schools, prisons, warehouses, museums and the street, for example – in the UK and internationally.
Our staff – leading academics and artists – will work with you to make learning challenging and engaging, and help you to develop as an informed critic and performance maker.
Structure
You can complete your Drama degree in three or four years. If you choose to do a year abroad this will take place in Year 3 and Year 3 modules will instead be studied in Year 4.
Year 1
Your first year includes a combination of practice-based and seminar-based modules:
- London/Culture/Performance
- Power Plays
- Making Theatre and Performance
- Beyond Acting
- Interventions
- Spectatorship: Time, Place, Performance
You can find out more about our modules from Queen Mary’s module directory.
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Year 2
Compulsory
- Culture, Power and Performance (seminar)
- Group Practical Project (practice-based)
You select the rest of your modules from a range of seminar and practice-based options that changes each year.
Modules may include
Practice-based:
- Action Design
- Adaptations
- Making Contemporary Theatre
- Performing Personae
- Performing Shakespeare
- Theatre Writings
Seminar-based:
- Acting Theory
- Costume Dramas
- Dance Theatre
- Illness and Disability in Performance
- London Performance Now
- Naturalism
- Places of Performance
- Race and Racism in Performance
- The Senses in Performance
- Theatre for the People
- Voice, Gender and Performance
You can find out more about our modules from Queen Mary’s module directory.
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Year 3
Select from
- Practice-Based Research Project
- Written Research Project
You select the rest of your modules from a range of seminar and practice-based options that changes each year
Modules may include
Practice-based:
- Applied Performance
- Choreographic Performance
- Making Site-Specific Performance
- Performance Composition
- Performance in the Gallery
- Verbatim, Testimonial, Tribunal
Seminar-based:
- Culture, Performance and Globalisation
- Feeling It: Emotion and Sensation in the Theatre
- Live Art: Then and Now
- Offstage London
- Performance and Community
- Shakespeare After Shakespeare
- Show Business: Theatre and Capitalism
- Writing About the Arts
You can find out more about our modules from Queen Mary’s module directory.
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Study options
Apply for this degree with any of the following options. Take care to use the correct UCAS code - it may not be possible to change your selection later.
Year abroad
Go global and study abroad as part of your degree – apply for our Drama BA with a Year Abroad. Queen Mary has links with universities in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia (partnerships vary for each degree programme).
Find out more about study abroad opportunities at Queen Mary and what the progression requirements are.
Additional Costs
Some modules require you to buy books, tickets to performances or exhibitions, and travel within London. Tickets are free in your first year and, where possible, offered at a discounted rate in subsequent years.
I've enjoyed focusing on the concept of race - especially within casting.
Teaching
Teaching and learning
You’ll usually attend eight hours of classes weekly, mainly in the form of seminars and studio-based workshops.
Practice-based modules include additional scheduled studio time weekly for student-led practice. Some modules also include lectures, tutorials and field trips.
For every hour spent in class, you'll complete approximately three to four further hours of independent study preparing for classes and assignments.
Assessment
Assessment typically includes a combination of written and practical assignments, such as essays, performances, presentations, portfolios, programme notes, reviews, feature articles, artist websites, podcasts and dissertations. Some assessment is based around group work, especially for performance projects and presentations.
Resources and facilities
The School offers on-campus resources to support your studies, including:
- three rehearsal spaces
- the Pinter Studio
- motion capture equipment, allowing students to explore innovative practices with new technology and film
- opportunities to meet visiting experts including artists, directors, producers, playwrights and activists
- access to the Film and Drama Studio
- opportunities to act, direct and stage manage through the Queen Mary Theatre Company
- proximity to specialist archives and collections such as the National Theatre Archive, Live Art Development Agency Study Room, Women’s Library, Black Cultural Archives
- access to Senate House Library and the British Library
Hear from our students Blanka, Dubem and Charlie about why you should join the #QMULfamily.
Entry requirements
| A-Level | Grades BBB at A-Level. This must include at least one arts, humanities or social sciences subject. Excludes General Studies and Critical Thinking. |
| IB | International Baccalaureate Diploma with a minimum of 30 points overall, including 5,5,5 from three Higher Level subjects. This must include at least one arts, humanities or social sciences subject. |
| BTEC | See our detailed subject and grade requirements |
| Access HE | We consider applications from students with the Access to Higher Education Diploma. The minimum academic requirement is to achieve 60 credits overall with 45 credits at Level 3, of which 15 credits must be at Distinction and 15 credits at Merit or higher. This must include at least 6 Level 3 credits in arts or humanities modules at Distinction. |
| GCSE | Minimum five GCSE passes including English at grade C or 4. |
| EPQ | Alternative offers may be made to applicants taking the Extended Project Qualification. For further information please visit: qmul.ac.uk/undergraduate/entry/epq |
| Contextualised admissions | We consider every application on its individual merits and will take into consideration your individual educational experiences and context. More information on how academic schools and programmes use this information as part of the admissions process, can be found on our contextualised admissions pages. |
| A-Level | Grades BBB at A-Level. This must include at least one arts, humanities or social sciences subject. Excludes General Studies and Critical Thinking. |
| IB | International Baccalaureate Diploma with a minimum of 30 points overall, including 5,5,5 from three Higher Level subjects. This must include at least one arts, humanities or social sciences subject. |
| BTEC | See our detailed subject and grade requirements |
| Access HE | We consider applications from students with the Access to Higher Education Diploma. The minimum academic requirement is to achieve 60 credits overall with 45 credits at Level 3, of which 15 credits must be at Distinction and 15 credits at Merit or higher. This must include at least 6 Level 3 credits in arts or humanities modules at Distinction. |
| GCSE | Minimum five GCSE passes including English at grade C or 4. |
| EPQ | Alternative offers may be made to applicants taking the Extended Project Qualification. For further information please visit: qmul.ac.uk/undergraduate/entry/epq |
| Contextualised admissions | We consider every application on its individual merits and will take into consideration your individual educational experiences and context. More information on how academic schools and programmes use this information as part of the admissions process, can be found on our contextualised admissions pages. |
Non-UK students
We accept a wide range of European and international qualifications in addition to A-levels, the International Baccalaureate and BTEC qualifications. Please visit International Admissions for full details.
If your qualifications are not accepted for direct entry onto this degree, consider applying for a foundation programme.
English language
Find out more about our English language entry requirements, including the types of test we accept and the scores needed for entry to the programme.
You may also be able to meet the English language requirement for your programme by joining a summer pre-sessional programme before starting your degree.
Further information
Funding
Loans and grants
UK students accepted onto this course are eligible to apply for tuition fee and maintenance loans from Student Finance England or other government bodies.
Scholarships and bursaries
Queen Mary offers a generous package of scholarships and bursaries, which currently benefits around 50 per cent of our undergraduates.
Scholarships are available for home, EU and international students. Specific funding is also available for students from the local area. International students may be eligible for a fee reduction. We offer means-tested funding, as well as subject-specific funding for many degrees.
Find out what scholarships and bursaries are available to you.
Support from Queen Mary
We offer specialist support on all financial and welfare issues through our Advice and Counselling Service, which you can access as soon as you have applied for a place at Queen Mary.
Take a look at our Student Advice Guides which cover ways to finance your degree, including:
- additional sources of funding
- planning your budget and cutting costs
- part-time and vacation work
- money for lone parents.
Careers
Our Drama graduates go on to work in a variety of roles – including performing, programming and producing – across many different sectors, such as the arts, media, publishing and teaching.
Recent Drama graduates have been hired by:
- BBC
- Electric Cinema
- London Film Museum
- National Theatre
- Odeon
- Shakespeare’s Globe.
Career support
You’ll have access to bespoke careers support during your Drama degree, including access to experts in Drama, specific modules (e.g. Applied Performance, Drama and Education, Writing about the Arts); School and Department-run careers and professional development workshops; opportunities for extra-curricular experience with arts organisations; and advice about postgraduate study.
Our Queen Mary careers team can also offer:
- specialist advice on choosing a career path
- support with finding work experience, internships and graduate jobs
- feedback on CVs, cover letters and application forms
- interview coaching.
Learn more about career support and development at Queen Mary.
Unistats data for these courses
Drama - BA (Hons)
Drama with Year Abroad - BA (Hons)
About the School
The School of English and Drama provides a first-class learning environment -- the Departments of Drama and English are in the top 40 in the world (QS World Rankings by Subject 2019). And you’ll learn from leading experts: Drama is ranked first and English fifth in the UK for research quality (Research Excellence Framework 2014).
We are a large School, with a lot of specialist staff, enabling us to offer a wide range of topics and approaches. You’ll have tailored support, including individual feedback on your work, and there are opportunities to contribute to student performances and publications.
We regularly host prominent writers and performers, and collaborate with leading organisations such as the V&A, the Barbican, the Live Art Development Agency and Shakespeare’s Globe. Our course makes full use of London’s exceptional theatre and performance resources (e.g. theatres, galleries, museums, libraries, archives, site-specific performance, festivals).
The School runs several innovative research centres, including the Centre for Poetry; the Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies; the Centre for Religion and Literature in English; and the Sexual Cultures Research Group.
