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Drama and Film and Screen Studies

BA (Hons)

Undergraduate degree - combined honours

Award
BA (Hons) Drama and Film and Screen Studies
School/s
Bath School of Art, Film and Media, Bath School of Music and Performing Arts
Campus or location
Newton Park and Locksbrook Campus
Course length
Three years full time, or four years full time with professional placement year. Part time available.
UCAS codes
Institution Code: B20
Course Code: WW46 or SE91
Campus Code: A,BSU

Entry requirements

We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry to our undergraduate programmes. The main ones are listed under 'Typical offers' in the main column below. For combined courses, please check both subjects. If your qualification is not listed, please email admissions@bathspa.ac.uk with your specific details.

Explore your creative identity with our Drama degree.

  • Pursue your passions. Choose to specialise, broaden your skills-base or combine Drama with another subject you love.
  • Experiment, reflect and innovate. Learn by making, producing, performing, directing and collaborating.
  • Graduate with a host of skills valued in a range of industries, from theatre to media to education.

Studying Drama at Bath Spa gives you the performance, critical and creative skills you need to launch yourself into a variety of exciting careers.

You'll explore your creative identity through core and optional modules in areas of practice such as play production, performing, writing and directing, and topics such as Shakespeare, musical theatre, physical theatre, applied theatre and media and performance.

Among many of the options open to you will be acting, directing, education, theatre production, arts administration, or arts therapies; you could also choose to progress to further study, for example in as Directing, Creative Producing, Performing Shakespeare, Creative Writing and Scriptwriting

University of the Year for Social Inclusion

Sunday Times Good University Guide, 2024

Joint 2nd in the UK

and #1 in the South West for Value Added in Drama and Dance (Guardian University Guide, 2024) 

#10 in the UK

and #1 in the South West for Student Satisfaction in Drama, Dance and Cinematics (Complete University Guide, 2024) 

“The Drama department has been excellent in supporting us and offering advice and support when needed. The course was a springboard into the professional world of Drama.”

Simon Crispin, third year Drama student

What you'll learn

Overview

You’ll study plays, practitioners and genres that have been particularly influential in shaping contemporary theatre and performance. We give you the opportunity to explore:

  • Theatre practitioners
  • Playwrights
  • Performance making
  • Writing, directing and performing.

The course also includes a focus on:

  • Plays and musical theatre productions in the University Theatre
  • Theatre in education performances and workshops in local schools
  • New plays written by students
  • New and existing works devised, directed and performed by students.
Course structure

Year one
Build the foundations. You’ll gain skills in working with play texts as part of a theatrical ensemble, performing and directing, theatre production and performance; these will underpin your work in years two and three. 

Year two
Apply your skills. You’ll work with local practitioners, collaborate with local venues and learn from visiting professional companies and artists. You'll also have the opportunity to apply yourself in a variety of performance projects. Our focus is allowing you to create original work, while you explore your particular areas of interest such as physical theatre, applied theatre, musical theatre and theatre production.

Year three
Develop your specialisms. Increasingly, you'll define and manage your own work, and carry out research into an area of drama or performance of your choice. You may explore topics such as performance, staging gender, modern American drama, staging Shakespeare, musical theatre, theatre for social change, media and performance, and devising. There's also the opportunity to collaborate with staff on projects relating to their areas of expertise. 

How will I be assessed?

We use a variety of assessment tasks across the programme, including:

  • Public performance
  • Playwriting
  • In-class performance of devised or published work
  • Oral presentations
  • Performance of backstage/technical roles
  • Critical reflection
  • Working as part of an ensemble
  • Script analysis
  • Devising
  • Individual and group research projects.
How will I be taught?

You'll be taught through a range of activities including lectures, workshops, seminars, skills classes, rehearsals, tutorials, work placements and theatre visits.

To find out more about how we teach and how you'll learn, please read our Learning and Teaching Delivery Statement.

Course modules

This course offers or includes the following modules. The modules you take will depend on your pathway or course combination (if applicable) as well as any optional or open modules chosen. Please check the programme document for more information.

Year one (Level 4) modules
  • Investigating Theatre and Performance
  • Contemporary Theatre
  • Building the Ensemble
  • Theatre Project
  • Introduction to Theatre Production
  • Performance Practices
Year two (Level 5) modules
  • Acting and Directing
  • Applied Theatre
  • Creative Production Skills
  • Writing for Performance 1
  • Shakespeare and his Contemporaries
  • Musical Theatre Workshop
  • Puppetry
  • Making Performance 2
  • Performance and Media 1
  • Writing for TV and Radio
  • Musical Theatre Workshop 2
  • Professional Placement Year
Year three (Level 6) modules
  • Theatre and Social Engagement
  • Staging Gender
  • Performance Project
  • Puppetry Lab
  • Staging Shakespeare
  • Drama Independent Study
  • Musical Theatre Project
  • Musicals as Cultural Politics
  • Writing and Directing for Performance 1
  • Writing and Directing for Performance 2
  • Podcasting
  • Creative Enterprise Project 1
  • Creative Enterprise Project 2

Opportunities

Study abroad

As part of your degree, you could study abroad on a placement at one of Bath Spa’s partner universities.

Work placements, industry links and internships

You’ll benefit from visits from industry professionals. Previous visitors have covered a range of specialisms including: playwriting, directing, acting, television production, theatre in education, and children’s theatre. We also have partnerships with local venues, local schools and local community groups.

You'll also get the chance to take part in Dramafest – a festival of performance that's devised and run entirely by students. This event typifies our way of teaching, which is to enable you to experience a wealth of roles and approaches so that you can find your passions and choose to specialise in them if you wish. 

Drama students create the material for Dramafest, then perform and produce it. They design and construct the sets. They take on roles in stage management, publicity, and health and safety. In doing this, they gain transferable skills such as project management, collaboration and teamwork, that they can use in a range of careers.

Dramafest will be a chance for you to discover your strengths and define your own roles within a project; an invaluable skill in the workplace. Find out more about opportunities within the Drama department

Careers

We equip you with creative, collaborative, writing, presentational and communication skills that are useful in many professional and vocational areas.

Some graduates choose to pursue postgraduate study, especially in teaching, or vocational training. Recent graduates have gone on to study Master's degrees at Central School of Speech and Drama, Yale Theatre School and the Royal Academy of Music.

Other graduates launch careers in the creative industries, including working with theatre and media companies. Some of our Drama graduatesare now:

  • Founder of an award-winning theatre company
  • Executive Director of a theatre school
  • Principal of an Academy of Performing Arts
  • Dramatherapist and Tutor.
Global Citizenship

If you’re a full-time undergraduate student starting your first year at Bath Spa University, you can apply for the Certificate in Global Citizenship, which you’ll study alongside your degree.

You’ll gain global awareness and add an international dimension to your student experience, and funding is available. On successful completion of the programme, you’ll be awarded a Certificate in Global Citizenship. This is in addition to your degree; it doesn’t change your degree title or results.

Professional placement year

Overview

This optional placement year provides you with the opportunity to identify, apply for and secure professional experience, normally comprising one to three placements over a minimum of nine months. Successful completion of this module will demonstrate your ability to secure and sustain graduate-level employment.

By completing the module, you'll be entitled to the addition of 'with Professional Placement Year' to your degree title.

Preparation

Before your Professional Placement Year, you'll work to secure your placement, constructing a development plan with your module leader and your placement coordinator from our Careers and Employability team.

How will I be assessed?

On your return to University for your final year, you'll submit your Placement Portfolio, detailing your development on your placement.

Facilities and resources

Where the subject is taught

You'll benefit from use of teaching and rehearsal facilities at the Newton Park campus.

Facilities used by BA Drama include:

Fees

2024 entry
Student Annual tuition fee
UK full time £9,250
UK part time £4,625
International full time £16,675

Professional Placement Year

During the placement year, the fee is reduced to 20% of the full time fee. This applies to UK and EU/International students.

  • UK: £1,850
  • International: £3,335

Interested in applying?

What we look for in potential students

We’re looking for dynamic individuals with an interest in exploring a wide range of drama and performance forms. You’ll typically have CCC or above at  A-Level including a C grade, or above, in Drama, Performing Arts or English.

On your application form you should refer to:

  • Your experience, skills and interests
  • Performance work, plays or the books that have influenced your thinking
  • Shows in which you have performed
  • Why you think Drama at Bath Spa is the right course for you.
Typical offers

We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry to our undergraduate programmes. The main ones are listed below:

  • A Level – grades BBB-BCC including a grade B in Drama, Theatre Studies or Performing Arts preferred.
  • BTEC – Extended Diploma grades from Distinction Distinction Merit (DDM) to Distinction Merit Merit (DMM) in a related subject, or evidence of experience in Performing Arts.
  • T Levels – grade Merit preferred in a relevant subject.
  • International Baccalaureate – a minimum of 32 points are required in addition to evidence of involvement in drama or performing arts.
  • Access to HE courses – typical offers for applicants with Access to HE will be the Access to HE Diploma or Access to HE Certificate (60 credits, 45 of which must be Level 3, at Merit or higher) together with evidence of involvement in drama and performing arts.

If you don’t meet the entry requirements above, we may be able to accept your prior learning or experience from outside of formal education. See our Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) page to learn more.

English Language Requirements for International and EU Applicants

IELTS 6.0 - for visa nationals, with a minimum score of IELTS 5.5 in each element.

Course enquiries
For further information about the programme or entry requirements, please email us at admissions@bathspa.ac.uk.

How do I apply?

Ready to apply? Click the 'apply now' button in the centre of this page.

Need more guidance? Head to our how to apply pages.

Interview and portfolio guidance

Suitable applicants will be invited to audition at our Newton Park campus between December and March.

The interview process will focus primarily on your:

  • Group skills
  • Aptitude for taking part in workshop activities
  • Spontaneity and creativity
  • Interest in drama practices.

More information will be sent via email on invitation to audition. We do not charge an audition fee.

Course leader: Roy Connolly
Email: r.connolly@bathspa.ac.uk

Three year course
With placement year

Immerse yourself in the study of film and the film industries. Understand theory, criticism and the relationship between film, media and culture.

  • An immersive experience in studying film and the film industries.
  • You’ll have the opportunity explore your film interests and enthusiasms.
  • Combines film theory and scholarship with film practice.

University of the Year for Social Inclusion

Sunday Times Good University Guide, 2024

UK top 20

for Satisfaction with Teaching in Media and Film Studies (Guardian University Guide, 2024)

We want you to develop a critical understanding of film and screen theory and criticism and to appreciate the relationship between film, media and culture. But we also want to provide you with the conceptual tools for understanding how society and culture is mediated by cinematic, televisual and electronic images.

In choosing this course you’ll be starting on a journey of critical understanding of the institutions of film and screen production, distribution and exhibition. As part of this we’ll develop your understanding of reception and consumption practices in film and screen.

What you'll learn

Overview

Film and Screen Studies aims to produce graduates who have an informed, critical and creative approach to both understanding film and screen in contemporary society and to their own forms of critical, reflective and communicative practice. You’ll develop intellectual, analytical, research and creative skills that will help you to prepare for employment and have the opportunity to engage in practical filmmaking projects if you wish.

Course structure

Year one
You’ll investigate film as a specific academic discipline, alongside how meaning is conveyed through film form and content. As part of your work you’ll analyse how films are constructed and be introduced to ways of writing effectively about film. You'll also undertake an advanced investigation of key theoretical and methodological issues involved in the study of cinema, and explore film as a commercial, cultural and aesthetic institution.

Years two and three
In years two and three you can design your programme from a range of exciting modules. You can also take part in organising LineUP, the annual Student Film Festival at Bath Spa University.

How will I be taught?

Our modules have well-defined teaching structures consisting of lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials, which give you wide opportunities to learn progressively, stretch your capabilities, test your ideas and methods and interact positively with staff and other students in the department.

As you would expect, Film and Screen Studies modules also use parts of the new media in their teaching practice. Students are encouraged to make use of the University's virtual learning environment, 'Ultra' and of the web in seminars and workshops.

To find out more about how we teach and how you'll learn, please read our Learning and Teaching Delivery Statement.

How will I be assessed?

Assessment includes essays, research reports, journals, group presentations and portfolios.

Course modules

This course offers or includes the following modules. The modules you take will depend on your pathway or course combination (if applicable) as well as any optional or open modules chosen. Please check the programme document for more information.

Year one (Level 4) modules
  • The Moving Image
  • Film Theory, Film Philosophy
  • Framing Film: Silence, Sound and Spectacle
  • European Cinema
  • Introduction to Television and Screen Studies
  • Digital Creativity and Content Creation
Year two (Level 5) modules
  • American Cinema
  • Key Movements in World Cinema
  • Director’s Cut: Auteur Cinema
  • Film Genre
  • Scripting for Screen
  • Influencers and Contemporary Celebrity
  • Media Ethics
  • Untold Stories: Screen Industries Project
  • Specialist Roles in Filmmaking
  • Advanced Short Film Production
  • Professional Placement Year
Year three (Level 6) modules
  • Film and Screen Studies Dissertation
  • Decentred Approaches to Film and TV
  • Film Journalism
  • Feminist Activism
  • Rock n' Reel: Popular Music on Screen
  • Major Project: Short Form Documentary Making
  • Politics and Global Cinema

Opportunities

Study abroad

As part of your degree, you could study abroad on a placement at one of Bath Spa’s partner universities.

Fieldwork

Visits may include tours of famous UK film studios such as Pinewood and key film centres such as the BFI.

Careers

The main focus of interest for our Film and Screen Studies graduates is the creative and cultural industries in the UK. These industries include advertising, journalism, publishing, film and film-related employments, television, radio and the heritage sector. However, there are also employment opportunities in local and central government and the voluntary sector.

Since 2011, employers such as BBC Bristol, Argonon and The Sheffield International Documentary Festival have recruited graduates from this course. Students have also gone into roles including Unit Assistant, Festival Assistant and Film Location Manager.

Work placements, industry links and internships

Work placements are available within the programme through the second year Work Placement model. They can also be facilitated on an extra-curricular basis through members of the teaching team.

Competitions and awards

We encourage our filmmaking students to enter material for film competitions and festivals.

Global Citizenship

If you’re a full-time undergraduate student starting your first year at Bath Spa University, you can apply for the Certificate in Global Citizenship, which you’ll study alongside your degree.

You’ll gain global awareness and add an international dimension to your student experience, and funding is available. On successful completion of the programme, you’ll be awarded a Certificate in Global Citizenship. This is in addition to your degree; it doesn’t change your degree title or results.

Professional placement year

Overview

This optional placement year provides you with the opportunity to identify, apply for and secure professional experience, normally comprising one to three placements over a minimum of nine months. Successful completion of this module will demonstrate your ability to secure and sustain graduate-level employment.

By completing the module, you'll be entitled to the addition of 'with Professional Placement Year' to your degree title.

Preparation

Before your Professional Placement Year, you'll work to secure your placement, constructing a development plan with your module leader and your placement coordinator from our Careers and Employability team.

How will I be assessed?

On your return to University for your final year, you'll submit your Placement Portfolio, detailing your development on your placement.

"The tutors support you throughout, bringing their own specialist knowledge to the course to make it interesting and engaging."

Claire Reynolds, Film and Screen Studies graduate

Facilities and resources

Fees

2024 entry
Student Annual tuition fee
UK full time £9,250
UK part time £4,625
International full time £16,675

Professional Placement Year

During the placement year, the fee is reduced to 20% of the full time fee. This applies to UK and EU/International students.

  • UK: £1,850
  • International: £3,335

Interested in applying?

What we look for in potential students

We value applicants who are self-reflective, creative and have good teamworking skills.

Typical offers

We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry to our undergraduate programmes. The main ones are listed below:

  • A Level – grades BBB-BCC preferred.
  • BTEC – Extended Diploma grades from Distinction Distinction Merit (DDM) to Distinction Merit Merit (DMM) accepted in any subject.
  • T Levels – grade Merit preferred.
  • International Baccalaureate – a minimum of 32 points are required.
  • Access to HE courses – typical offers for applicants with Access to HE will be the Access to HE Diploma or Access to HE Certificate (60 credits, 45 of which must be Level 3, at Merit or higher).

If you don’t meet the entry requirements above, we may be able to accept your prior learning or experience from outside of formal education. See our Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) page to learn more.

English Language Requirements for International and EU Applicants

IELTS 6.0 - for visa nationals, with a minimum score of IELTS 5.5 in each element.

Course enquiries

For further information about the programme or entry requirements, please email us at admissions@bathspa.ac.uk.

How do I apply?

Ready to apply? Click the 'apply now' button in the centre of this page.

Need more guidance? Head to our how to apply pages.

Get ahead

We recommend these two introductory texts:

  • Jill Nelmes, Introduction to Film Studies, Taylor and Francis, 5th Revised Edition 2015
  • Richard Barsom and David Monahan, Looking at Movies, WW Norton, 5th Revised Edition 2015

Course contact: Suman Ghosh
Email: s.ghosh@bathspa.ac.uk

Three year course
With placement year

Website feedback to web@bathspa.ac.uk