Undergraduate Course
Certificate of HE Acting for Stage and Screen
Overview
The details
Acting for Stage and Screen
W410
October 2025
Full-time
This course provides a foundation in acting and can prepare you for further study, either at East 15 or at other acclaimed acting schools. The intention is to help create actors who will have an intellectual as well as a vocational life in the theatre, introducing you to the concepts and mechanics behind each.
The Certificate of Higher Education in Acting for Stage and Screen is a highly focused exploration of acting techniques and aims to introduce you to the context that gives each theatrical era its distinctive identity. This includes (on a practical level) movement, music, improvisational skills and acting. Overall, it is an intensively practical scheme.
Throughout the three terms, students undertake a number of compulsory modules. These cover audition technique, movement, voice and singing. During the first two terms at the Southend Campus, you are also introduced to acting courses that specialise in Stage Combat, Physical Theatre, Community Theatre and World Performance.
In addition to exploring the history and theory of theatre and its relation to other arts forms, you have regular opportunities to attend performances of plays, music and dance, as well as to visit art galleries, films and relevant historic sites.
This course is taught at both our Loughton and Southend Campuses.
View more undergraduate courses from East 15 Acting School, including further Actor training programs as well as behind the scenes courses in Creative Producing and Stage & Production Management.
Why we're great.
- One year intensive acting skills development.
- Audition technique coaching.
- Preparation for further and advanced acting training.
Our expert staff
Our training is by professionals and for professionals, allowing our graduates to work successfully across the globe.
Our international, outstanding teaching faculty is made up of professionals from all areas of live and recorded performance.
Learn more about our staff here.
Specialist facilities
Loughton Campus
Our Loughton Campus is perfectly located, providing access to both the rich, cultural diversity of London and an attractive and peaceful setting in which to study.
We are just a five-minute walk from London Underground station, Debden, where you can travel in only thirty minutes to Central London, West End theatres and mainline train stations including the Eurostar.
We have three sites at our Loughton Campus – Hatfields, Roding House and Unit Four. Hatfields is a beautiful Georgian dower house, set in five acres of lawns with orchards, flowerbeds and a small lake, providing an idyllic atmosphere for study, relaxation and performance.
Just a short walk from Hatfields is Roding House, a £1.3 million facility containing 10 rehearsal rooms, a green room/café, a sound recording studio and a video editing suite, and our costume department.
Next to Roding House, Unit Four is a £1.5 million facility which is home to the Stage & Production Management department. The Unit contains a large workshop, paint shop, prop shop, prop storage facilities and teaching spaces.
Our on-site Corbett Theatre is named in honour of Harry H Corbett, a key member of Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop and early benefactor of East 15. It is used extensively for student productions and is a practical training hub for our BA Stage and Production Management students.
The building is a medieval tithe barn that was dismantled and transported to Hatfields in the 1960s. These unusual origins create a unique performance space with a special atmosphere. Renovated to include full technical facilities, tiered seating for 130 people and fitted dressing rooms, the theatre provides an excellent resource for public productions, while the adjacent Bar and Café provides a social meeting point for students and staff.
Southend Campus
Our Southend Campus is based in the heart of Southend-on-Sea. A vibrant and modern British seaside town with excellent transport links.
Famous for its beach resort and pier, Southend-on-Sea stretches along seven miles of award-winning coastline. There are also over 650 acres of parks and gardens, a fun park, leisure centres, pubs, clubs, cafés and restaurants.
Southend Central railway station is opposite our Campus and the journey to central London takes less than an hour. Southend Airport, with flights to many European and UK destinations is just three miles away. We are also just one hour away from London's Stansted Airport.
Our Gateway Building houses a purpose-built suite specifically for East 15 students. This includes fully equipped, state-of-the art rehearsal studios with panoramic views across Southend-on-Sea, plus seminar rooms, computer labs and media production resources including an Apple Mac edit suite for our BA Creative Producing (Theatre & Short Film) students.
A magnificent Victorian former church in the heart of Southend's conservation area was converted into East 15's Clifftown Theatre. It also houses a variety of unique spaces for rehearsals, technical and practical work and performances. The church nave, with its original organ and stained glass windows now provides an inspirational and atmospheric environment, re-designed to accommodate the needs of a twenty-first century performance space.
In ‘The Forum' building, students have round the clock, secure access to the Learning Hub, which provides innovative IT and study spaces. The Forum also houses an integrated public and academic library, carrying books and other support materials. Students in Southend also have access to the East 15 Loughton Campus library and the University's Colchester Campus library.
Outside of learning, the Students' Union at our Southend Campus provides a dedicated space for students to meet, have a coffee, relax and watch films or sport. It runs a wide variety of entertainment throughout the term, such as international nights and open mic nights.
Your future
During the year, students may audition for places on one of the acting courses at East 15. Many students are also accepted at other drama schools or at university drama departments. Students will be helped to choose and prepare scenes for audition purposes.
“The CertHE course was one of the best years of my life, I learnt so much in a very intensive, safe and fun environment. The course is headed by an incredible teaching staff who all have or still work in the industry, giving the best possible up to date advice and training.”
“It’s an excellent course for anyone wanting to gain groundwork in actor training or wanting to further their studies to a three year course at drama school.”
Nadia Devereux, Certificate of Higher Education in Acting for Stage and Screen (who went on to study BA Acting at East 15)
Entry requirements
UK entry requirements
- A-levels: E, or equivalent in UCAS tariff points.
- BTEC: PPP, or equivalent in UCAS tariff points.
- T-levels: Pass with E in core
- IB: A Higher Level certificate grade 3
- IB Career-related Programme: We consider combinations of IB Diploma Programme courses with BTECs or other qualifications.
Applicants will need to be successful in an interview. Applicants should also have, or expect to have:
International & EU entry requirements
We accept a wide range of qualifications from applicants studying in the EU and other countries. Get in touch with any questions you may have about the qualifications we accept. Remember to tell us about the qualifications you have already completed or are currently taking.
Sorry, the entry requirements for the country that you have selected are not available here. Please contact our Undergraduate Admissions team at ugquery@essex.ac.uk to request the entry requirements for this country.
English language requirements
If you do not require a student visa to study in the UK then we will assess your English language proficiency/ability at your interview or audition.
If your first language is not English and you are an international student that requires a student visa to study in the UK then you will need IELTS 5.0 overall, with a minimum of 4.0 in each component. IELTS tests must be a UKVI IELTS taken at an approved IELTS test centre on the UKVI’s list, available here, in order to be accepted for entry to below degree-level courses. Tests must be taken within two years of the start of your course.
Please see our immigration webpages for the latest Home Office guidance on English language qualifications.
Structure
Course structure
We offer dynamic and unique courses for actors, directors, producers, technical theatre specialists and students of theatre practice. Training at East 15 draws upon 50 years of tradition combined with a keen sense of the world of stage and screen today.
Our carefully selected modules will give you the chance to explore and develop your specialist training.
We understand that deciding where and what to study is a very important decision for you. We'll make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the courses, services and facilities as described on our website and in line with your contract with us. However, if we need to make material changes, for example due to significant disruption, we'll let our applicants and students know as soon as possible.
Teaching
Term 1
In the first term you explore different means of communication imaginatively while learning about the roots of theatre practice. You will:
- Focus on acting, voice, singing and movement studies
- Begin to study yourself in the same way you will learn to study a character, deepening your understanding of what it means to be human
- Work on audition technique
The term culminates in an assessed performance.
Term 2
Your second term focuses on:
- Working with heightened, poetic and classical texts and characters
- Understanding different approaches to analysing texts
- Introduction to improvisation
The term culminates in an assessed performance.
Term 3
Your third term brings together the skills and experience you have developed through the course.
The course culminates in two productions in our Campuses' theatre spaces.
Fees and funding
Home/UK fee
£9,250
International fee
£21,525
What's next
Applying
You can apply to our full-time undergraduate courses through either the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) or the University of Essex Direct Application Form.
If you choose to apply through UCAS, you can find step-by-step guidance on how to fill your UCAS undergraduate application. UK students (as well as some EU and international students) who are still in school or college may apply through their institution. Your school will help you complete and submit your UCAS application. The option to apply through UCAS is also available to independent UK and international applicants.
The UCAS code for the University of Essex is ESSEX E70. The individual campus codes for our Loughton and Southend Campuses are ‘L' and ‘S' respectively.
In addition your UCAS or University of Essex application, you must also submit an East 15 Application Form.
For full details on how to apply, please visit the Applying for an Undergraduate Course page on the East 15 website.
Auditioning
Applicants to this course must submit a Round 1 video audition as part of your East 15 Application Form. If successful at this stage, you'll be invited to a Round 2 audition, which may take place on our campus, online, or at a regional or international audition.
Please note that we charge a £15 audition fee for Round 1 auditions. Fee waivers are available for eligible applicants. You can find out how to pay the audition fee or check your eligibility for a waiver on the Applying for an Undergraduate Course page.
Our staff regularly travel to conduct auditions worldwide. So if you're not based in the UK, it's likely that we may hold auditions near you. These will be one-on-one auditions. You can find the locations and dates of these auditions on our International Auditions page.
Offers for this course are made only after successful auditions.
For details of what to prepare for our auditions, please visit our Preparing for Auditions page.
Visit Loughton Campus
You’ll be in intensive training at one of the most prestigious and internationally respected conservatoires in the country, gaining the skills and knowledge necessary to pursue a career in the performing arts. You'll arrive at a campus with state-of-the-art study and performance facilities, nestled in the stunning grounds of a country house.
But fear not! It’s not all work and no play at East 15 Acting School in Loughton and you're just a short step away from the bright lights and big city of central London.
Open Days
We don’t currently offer Open Days for this course but if you would like more information, then please email us at east15@essex.ac.uk.
At Essex we pride ourselves on being a welcoming and inclusive student community. We offer a wide range of support to individuals and groups of student members who may have specific requirements, interests or responsibilities.
The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its programme specification is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can be necessary to make changes, for example to courses, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include, but are not limited to: strikes, other industrial action, staff illness, severe weather, fire, civil commotion, riot, invasion, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack (whether declared or not), natural disaster, restrictions imposed by government or public authorities, epidemic or pandemic disease, failure of public utilities or transport systems or the withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to courses may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications. The University would inform and engage with you if your course was to be discontinued, and would provide you with options, where appropriate, in line with our Compensation and Refund Policy.
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