Overview
Over three years of acting class and practice-led training, you will be immersed in techniques of acting for stage and screen. We aim to develop versatile actors who feel empowered within screen and stage preparation and performance. Alongside your lecturers, you will be mentored and taught by professional actors, directors, casting directors, filmmakers, and screenwriters, many of whom work in the industry today.
Acting for screen aspects of the course will develop your skills in:
- acting and auditioning for camera
- comedy sitcom
- short film making
- self-tapes
- professionally produced showreels
Acting for stage aspects of the course will include practical projects and productions at an east London arts venue, developing your craft in:
- acting fundamentals where our modes of enquiry cover a wide range of practitioners
- approaches to text
- naturalism, classical and physical theatre
- new writing
- studio and main stage public performances
From the initial idea through to performance or screening, we encourage and support an understanding of the actors' creative process. You will be equipped with acting toolkits and trace a pathway towards creative freedom. At the heart of the experience is a focus on inclusive practice which reflects the diversity of our students on our acting courses.
By the end of our acting for stage and screen programmes, you will have the skills and confidence needed for a successful career in acting. Join us and embark on a transformative journey with one of the leading acting courses in London.
This course is in Clearing
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UEL’s LLM programme has been recognised as a top choice in the latest PTES survey, achieving 1st place rankings for satisfaction, teaching and more.
What makes this course different

Highly rated by our students
93% of acting students surveyed on this course responded positively to questions on “The Teaching on my Course” in the 2024 National Student Survey. (National Student Survey 2024, Results published 10 July 2024)

Industry networks
Collaborations with Film, Fashion, and Media provide opportunities to appear in Film Festivals and stories being created for camera, motion capture and microphone mediums.

Industry connections
Alongside Spotlight’s Digital Showcase, you will learn about auditions from casting directors, agents, directors and creative producers, graduating with a professionally shot showreel.
Accreditation

Spotlight graduates
Third year acting students can join as graduate members, giving industry exclusive access to profiles.
Find out more about SpotlightCourse modules
In Year 1 of the Acting degree, you develop core acting skills for stage and screen, focusing on disciplinary techniques, collaboration, and professional practice. You’ll engage in multidisciplinary projects and a public performance, exploring creative production and teamwork. The Mental Wealth module enhances self-awareness, resilience, and professional skills, preparing you for industry demands.
In the second year, you will experiment further. You will explore different approaches to individual and collaborative acting practices. You will engage with external practitioners and organisations and develop employability skills as part of a Professional Life module. You will build upon existing skills as you focus on both stage and screen acting and theory.
In the third year, you will focus on the development of your own specialist ideas, practice, and research within acting classes and the wider screen acting course. You will work with others, internal and external to the University.
NOTE: Modules are subject to change. For those studying part time courses the modules may vary.
Download course specification
Your future career
Our collaboration with Spotlight enables graduates to promote themselves as industry professionals. Spotlight connects performers with roles in theatre, television and film productions around the world. Casting professionals choose Spotlight to cast their projects because their performers are known as the industry’s best. This acting course is recognised alongside leading drama schools as a contemporary and exciting training. You will develop an extensive CV, showreel and resilience to make exciting work in film, TV and stage.
Whether you are pursuing a degree in acting, a screen acting degree, or an acting foundation course in London, our acting qualifications aim to provide comprehensive training. Our acting courses at the university offer a broad spectrum of acting for stage and screen programmes. For those looking to specialise further, we offer a MA in acting and a masters in acting tailored to enhance your expertise.
Industry links
In addition to our collaboration with Spotlight we have industry links with multiple acting organisations.
Graduate employers
Currently in the third year of running, this section will be updated with graduate progression destinations when our third years have graduated.
Job roles
Typical roles which our acting graduates have gone on to include: actor, screenwriter, director and producer.
Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal.
Further study
You could stay on to study MA Directing for Stage and Screen, MA Applied Theatre or MA Acting for Stage and Screen.

As a university committed to your career growth, we've curated dedicated Career Zones across all of our campuses with practical services tailored to your success. From internships, personalised coaching, and employability workshops to volunteering, mentoring, placements, and enterprise opportunities, we offer a diverse range of support."Rema Khatun
Career Zone
How you'll learn
You'll be taught by a range of staff, many of whom run their own practices or work in practice. This ensures that the practice-led research that is disseminated in the studios or takes place there, is relevant to industry and practice. It also means that studios are well placed to take advantage of the myriad of professional networks that staff bring with them.
Within each module, there is a practice component and a coursework component. This will ensure knowledge and skills are always introduced and developed in relation to projects.
Guided independent study
When not attending timetabled lectures you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This will typically involve reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for exams. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, the library, and Moodle.
Academic support
Our academic support team provides help in a range of areas - including learning and disability support.
Dedicated personal tutor
When you arrive, we'll introduce you to your personal tutor. This is the member of staff who will provide academic guidance, be a support throughout your time at UEL and who will show you how to make the best use of all the help and resources that we offer.
Workload
Each year you will spend around 300 hours of timetabled learning and teaching activities. These may be lectures, workshops, seminars and individual and group tutorials. Contact hours may vary depending on each module.
The approximate percentages for this course are:
- Scheduled teaching - 300 hours;
- guided independent study - 900 hours.
Your timetable
Your individualised timetable is normally available to you within 48 hours of enrolment. Whilst we make every effort to ensure timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week between 9.00am and 6.00pm. For undergraduate students, Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities, but there may be occasions when this is not possible. Timetables for part-time students will depend on the modules selected.
Class sizes
To give you an indication of class sizes, this course normally attracts 30 students per year. You will attend lectures and seminars together and regularly work in smaller groups and individually in workshops and practical sessions.
How you'll be assessed
Assessment is split 80% practice portfolio and 20% coursework portfolios. You'll always receive detailed feedback outlining your strengths and how you can improve. We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 20 working days.
- Projects: Professional practice, innovation, enterprise and engagement will be modelled and applied in live projects and assessed through the development of an online creative portfolio. Each piece of coursework will be presented as a digital portfolio.
- Practice Portfolio: Practice portfolios include a range of creative artefacts associated with disciplinary and interdisciplinary practice, developed through performance, production, composition, devising, writing, and other creative activities. Practice portfolios are used to capture multi-dimensional evidence relating to the product of a creative process (e.g. performance, composition, installation, improvisation, workshop, site-specific activity, interactive artefact (e.g. immersive theatre production or website), and other artefacts relating to the creation of this material, including formative assessment evidence (e.g. plans, notes, scripts, scores, evidence of collaborative development/devising).
- Coursework Portfolios: Coursework portfolios report the process of creating practical work. They will often include production reports to illustrate and evaluate the process, as well as integrate research and contextualisation, including formative assessment evidence. Practice and theory are integrated, so that research skills, critical reflection and evaluation, and contextual studies are embedded in your project work throughout the programme.
Campus and facilities
Docklands Campus, London, E16 2RD
Our waterfront campus in the historic Royal Docks provides a modern, well-equipped learning environment.
Join us and you'll be able to make the most of our facilities including contemporary lecture theatres and seminar rooms, art studios and exhibition spaces, audio and visual labs and a multimedia production centre.
Features include our 24/7 Docklands library, our £21m SportsDock centre, a campus shop and bookstore, the Children's Garden Nursery, cafés, eateries, a late bar, plus Student Union facilities, including a student lounge.
The University of East London is one of the few London universities to provide on-campus accommodation. Our Docklands Campus Student Village houses close to 1,200 students from around the world. We are well connected to central London and Canary Wharf, with London City Airport just across the water. We also run a free bus service that connects Docklands with Stratford campuses.
Who teaches this course
This course is delivered by School of Arts and Creative Industries
The teaching team includes qualified academics, practitioners and industry experts as guest speakers. Full details of the academics will be provided in the student handbook and module guides.
- Course leader
Juliet Knight
Department of Music, Writing & Performance, School Of Arts And Creative Industries - Course leader
Tristan Parkes
Department of Music, Writing & Performance, School Of Arts And Creative Industries - Course leader
Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy
Department of Music, Writing & Performance, School Of Arts And Creative Industries - Course leader
Julian Alexander
Department of Media, Fashion & Communications, School Of Arts And Creative Industries - Course leader
Naida Redgrave
Digital Media and Communications, School Of Arts And Creative Industries - Course leader
David Lashbrook
Department of Media, Fashion & Communications, School Of Arts And Creative Industries - Course leader
Caroline Griffiths
Department of Music, Writing & Performance, School Of Arts And Creative Industries
What our students and staff say

The depth and breadth of experience and skills gained on this course are invaluable. The more you give to this course, the more the course gives back."
Chris Courtney
Current student

Outstanding work. Authentic, funny and insightful performances that we never see at other unis or drama schools. You could see all the hard work, discipline and talent jump off the stage - so good"
Abbie Elliot
Producer. Director. Agent. Coach. @raawlondon