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Two acting students on stage in costume in the middle of a performance, holding each other. A small group of other performers appear in the background.

BA (Hons) Acting

BA (Hons) Acting is your introduction to the performance industry. You'll hone your skills to stage and screen, working collaboratively as a part of AUB Productions and taking on roles in professionally produced student films.

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Overview

Our BA (Hons) Acting course shows you what it takes to turn natural talent into a career and making dreams of performing on stage or film a reality.

BA (Hons) Acting course information

This course is designed for students who have a passion for performance. We'll show you what it takes to turn natural talent into a sustainable career and we will support you to help make your ambitions become reality.

On BA (Hons) Acting, you'll get professional training to improve your acting skills and learn how to create performances for different audiences and contexts, providing you with the skills needed for creating performances in today's multimedia world. You'll work with other students on projects and films and your independent voice as an emerging artist will be developed and nurtured as you progress.

Three reasons to study BA (Hons) Acting at AUB:

  1. You'll study the craft of being an actor and develop the skills required, while also having the opportunity to create your own work – the work that you want to see in the world.
  2. You'll be a part of Bournemouth Film School and receive training in performance for recorded media such as film, radio and self-taping.
  3. You'll have the opportunity to collaborate with other courses (such as BA (Hons) Film Production, Make-up for Media and Performance, Design for Costume and Performance, and Photography) throughout your time on the course. This will enable you to develop a diverse portfolio of work and a large network of creative artists.

With a highly practical, portfolio approach to developing your creative practice, BA (Hons) Acting delivers training in a range of established techniques in relation to text, character and performance, alongside the core disciplines of movement, voice and singing. Three main themes of training run through each level: a methodological approach to actor training, media training and the concept of the actor as creator and maker of new performance work. This comprehensive approach reflects the demands and diversity of the 21st century creative industries.

Contextual and critical studies across each level will deepen your knowledge and understanding of key contexts within the performance industry and underpin your learning. The course also develops transferable skills in collaboration, teamwork and problem-solving.

Sitting within Bournemouth Film School, BA (Hons) Acting is well-situated for cross-course collaborations and this is a key feature of the programme. Within the course, we have an established collaboration for our fully staged Level 6 shows as part of AUB Productions with BA (Hons) Costume, BA (Hons) Design for Costume and Performance, and BA (Hons) Make-up for Media and Performance. Through the course, you'll also have the opportunity to collaborate with BA (Hons) Film Production, BA (Hons) Animation Production, BA (Hons) Games Art and Design, and BA (Hons) Creative Writing.

Professional development and employability skills are integrated through all three levels of the course, helping you to prepare for a career in the creative industries and/or postgraduate study. These skills will enable you to aspire to professional standards within live performance and digital media contexts, as well as empower you to explore diverse career paths.

Course duration

3 or 4 years (full-time)

Placement

Option of a 1-year placement

UCAS course code

W410

UCAS institution code

A66

Placement year

All undergraduate courses at AUB offer an optional placement year, to be taken between your second and third years of study.

If you’re unsure about this optional placement, you don’t need to decide now. Once you’re here and studying with us, the course team will discuss the placement options with you, so when the time comes, you can make a decision that’s right for you.

Exchange and international summer programmes

Students on BA (Hons) Acting have the chance to broaden their horizons through exciting exchange and international summer programmes. These opportunities allow you to study abroad at one of our brilliant partner institutions, experience different cultures, and enhance your academic journey.

AUB Productions

Students from across BA (Hons) Acting, BA (Hons) Costume, BA (Hons) Design for Costume and Performance, BA (Hons) Make-Up for Media and Performance and BA (Hons) Creative Writing degrees collaborate on each production. This provides students with a key insight into the industry and for developing skills in working as actors, designers and makers which make up theatre.

The actors also take on other roles within this process, such as Stage Management, Assistant Director and Publicity Officer. BA (Hons) Costume and BA (Hons) Design for Costume and Performance students take on roles including set and costume design and making – constructing props, costumes and millinery. Meanwhile, those from BA (Hons) Make-up for Media and Performance provide prosthetics, hair and make-up.

Pink image with cropped images of student work, copy reads: Join our creative community.

APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN

Now that you've found the perfect course, it's time to apply.

The early deadline may have passed, but applications are still open! Check out our handy 'how to apply' guide and our portfolio top tips.

Apply Now
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AUB SHOWCASE

We're proud of our alumni, and rightfully so.

Explore the incredible work of our freshly graduated 'Class of 2024' in our online AUB Showcase.

Browse work by course, student or theme.

Discover AUB Showcase

Meet the BA (Hons) Acting Course team

Katharine Piercey Course Leader and Senior Lecturer

MA, BA, PGCLTHE, FHEA

Dr Petronilla Whitfield Associate Professor in Voice and Acting 

PhD, MA, PGCE, Drama Dip, SFHEA

Headshot for J Hoskins
Jonny Hoskins Creative Producer, AUB Productions; Senior Lecturer in Acting

BA, PGCert, FHEA

Acting requires openness - it’s this honesty and the ability to push past any self-censoring that makes a truly great performance. The most compelling actors have an ability to inspire and draw an audience into their world – an active imagination, creativity, curiosity and a willingness to learn about their character's world are all key ingredients, and skills we nurture throughout the course.

Katharine Piercey, Course Leader

Watch our videos

Discover from student Lou about what it’s like to study BA (Hons) Acting at AUB.

You can also listen to Course Leader Katharine Piercey as she shares her insight into what makes a great actor. In addition, find out how to prepare for your audition, and preview some of our students' work.

Application process

Headshot of J Billingham and L Phillips, co-artistic directors of Forest Forge Theatre Co.

Industry Patron – Forest Forge Theatre Co.

Meet the Industry Patron for BA (Hons) Acting – Forest Forge Theatre Co.

Forest Forge Theatre Co. is based in Ringwood, has been running for more than 40 years and has been involved with BA (Hons) Acting at AUB for over 12 years.

Run by co-artistic directors Jo Billingham and Lucy Phillips, the three arms of the company are Touring Theatre, Artist Development, and Participation, and they're unique in that all three have equal weight in the company.

Explore our Industry Patrons

Studios and resources

BA (Hons) Acting students benefit from five specialist workspaces on campus including a fully equipped Studio Theatre and a sound recording studio. AUB also has its own theatre, the Palace Court Theatre, which offers further rehearsal rooms and performance spaces in central Bournemouth.

A performer stands with a serious expression on the left-hand side with a group of other performers reaching towards him.

Studio Theatre

The Studio Theatre is a flexible black box space suitable for experimental and intimate theatre, with retractable raked seating...

An audience watches as a group of BA (Hons) Acting students perform a production of "The Ballad of Maria Marten" at the Palace Court Theatre in Bournemouth.

Palace Court Theatre

The Palace Court Theatre is a 1930s Art Deco theatre building, situated in Bournemouth town centre.

Students working at computers in a library. A set of stairs leads up to a second landing with a balcony running along.

The Library

The Library at AUB holds an excellent range of print and online collections

Ten rows of empty seating viewed from the front of a large lecture theatre.

Lecture Theatres and Seminar Rooms

We have a number of lecture theatres and seminar rooms scattered around campus to assist students with their studies.

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Central Media Store

The Central Media store houses a diverse array of equipment, offering students the means to craft and capture...

Innovation Studio, photographed by Richard Bryant. Photo of an exterior wall with two reverse-L shaped windows and three semi-circle panels visible. A person walks past towards the right.

Innovation Studio

The Innovation Studio operates as a lab for creative technologies, a nucleus for start-ups and enterprises and an industry engagement hub.

A model sits on a chair in the centre of a room while a group of artists draw them.

Drawing Studio

Our iconic blue Drawing Studio is used by student from all courses and was designed by alumnus Sir Peter Cook​...

Four banks of desks in a computer suite with monitors on them.

Digital Suites

Our Digital Suites offer a digital post-production facility and digital teaching space.

Person stands by a table. Two printing presses are in the foreground.

Printroom

Our printmaking facilities are a hub of creativity on campus and have been inspiring students since 1964.

Three people working on projects in a print room.

Letterpress and Bindery

The Letterpress and Bindery studio is a central resource, where students can learn and explore bookbinding and letterpress printing.

Teaching, learning and assessment

Within this area of performance experiential learning is a key principle of study and your work throughout the course reflects the collaborative nature of acting. Each unit is assessed separately, and the assessment forms part of the unit. Assessment both provides a measure of your achievement, and also gives you regular feedback on how your learning is developing.

What our BA (Hons) Acting graduates are doing

Graduates have gone on to work in feature and independent films, television, regional theatre, touring theatre and the West End, voiceovers and teaching.

Here are some examples of roles that our graduates are working in:

  • Graduate company Unpolished Theatre won the 2019 Olivier award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for their show Flesh and Bone
  • Principal actor in EastEnders
  • Principal actor in BBC drama Showtrial
  • Principal actor in Netflix series Top Boy
  • Writer and director of For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy, The Royal Court and West End. Won Best Director and Best Production Play award at Black British Theatre Awards 2022. Cast won The Stage Debut Award 2022 for Best Performer in a Play.
  • Principal actors in BBC Three’s Witless and Overshadowed
  • Principal actor in West End production of Spring Awakening
  • Leading role in The Empress, Royal Shakespeare Company
  • Leading role in Let the Right One In, Royal Exchange Theatre
  • Supporting role in Jerusalem, West End
  • Supporting role in Macbeth, Shakespeare's Globe
  • Leading role in Thomas and Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! The Movie
  • Featured actor in Guy Ritchie's film Wrath of Man
  • Featured actor in feature film The Batman
  • Featured actor in BBC One series Our Girl
  • Featured actors in BBC One series Call the Midwife
  • Featured actor in Apple TV series Hijack
  • Featured actor in Amazon Prime series The Looming Tower
  • Featured actor in BBC film Suffragettes with Lucy Worsley
  • The Lion King, West End
  • The Play That Goes Wrong, West End
  • Blue Stockings, Shakespeare’s Globe
  • The Commitments, UK No. 1 tour
  • The Buddy Holly Story, UK No. 1 tour
  • Roles in BBC’s A Christmas Carol, Strike, Luther, Casualty, Holby City, Doctors and Crimewatch
  • ITV’s Cilla and The Sound of Music Live
  • Netflix series Black Mirror
  • E4’s Misfits
  • Lead role in independent feature films the Rise of the Krays and Fall of the Krays
  • Published playwrights: Elliot Warren (Flesh and Bone); Ryan Calais Cameron (Typical, Queens of Sheba, For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy)
  • Theatre producer for Nouveau Riche
  • Writer for Netflix series Sex Education
  • Roles at the Royal Court Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith, Southwark Playhouse, Royal Exchange Manchester, Birmingham Rep, Sheffield Crucible, Liverpool Playhouse and Pitlochry Festival Theatre
  • International, national and regional tours with theatre companies, including White Horse Theatre, Solomon Theatre and Chapterhouse Theatre Company
  • Postgraduate study at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama; East 15; LAMDA, ALRA and The Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham

Trips and visits

As part of BA (Hons) Acting, you may also get the opportunity to take part in course trips.

Previous trips have included:

  • The Globe Theatre, London

*These trips are optional and some may incur additional costs

Latest from BA (Hons) Acting

See more of our student work

This course shows you what it takes to turn natural talent into a career – and make dreams of performing on stage or film a reality.

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