The Oxford School of Drama (OSD) is one of the UK’s leading acting conservatoires.
The Oxford School of Drama is a drama school offering rigorous actor training. Our work is built on craft, collaboration and creativity. Here, you’ll develop your technical skill with care and responsibility, learning to work with clarity, integrity and imagination. Everything we do is grounded in practice craft.
Because we are one of the smallest drama schools in the UK, you’ll train in a small group and receive close guidance and support. Learning is collaborative: you’ll work alongside tutors, peers and associate artists in an environment that encourages generosity, shared exploration and creative thinking. Your experience at OSD is shaped by the people around you and the relationships you build through the work.
The School is set in a converted farm in the Oxfordshire countryside. Our studios and theatre spaces sit among gardens and open landscapes, giving you room to focus and work together as an ensemble. The location supports concentration, collaboration and a strong sense of community.
Although your training happens in Oxfordshire, you’ll also benefit from our strong links with London. You’ll regularly present work at venues including Southwark Playhouse, Park Theatre and Soho Theatre, and engage with visiting directors, casting professionals and agents. Your training here will combine focused practice in craft, collaboration and creativity.
Meet Our Staff
Senior Leadership
Team
Edward Hicks
School Principal & Screen Acting Tutor
View moreJohn Ward
Head of Acting & The One Year Course
view moreKirsty McFarland
Head of Movement & The Three Year Course
View moreSeamus Allen
Head of Foundation
view more“Tutors are highly qualified and experienced in their respective fields…As a result, learners benefit from training by subject experts who have experience and who use their professional knowledge and skills to inform teaching and directorial practice.”
2024 OFSTED Report
Meet Our Regular Visiting Practitioners
Practitoners Who Teach
Acting
&
Improvisation
Kevin Bennett
Kevin is a Canadian Director specialising in Shakespeare and the classics. His professional credits include major work for Shakespeare’s Globe and the Stratford Festival, as well as international credits in China, India, and across Europe and the USA.
Tom McCall
Tom is an actor and director who trained at LAMDA. His professional credits include productions at the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, and Leeds Playhouse. Tom is also co-artistic director of the award-winning theatre company We.Buy.Gold
Bruce Windwood
Bruce is a multi-award-winning filmmaker with credits including the feature film Twelve In A Box (starring Miranda Hart) as well as a number of short films, documentaries, and TV series.
Niall Ashdown
Niall is an actor, comedian, and improviser. He is a regular member of the Comedy Store Players, and has credits including theatre company Kneehigh, Improbable, Whose Line Is It Anyway, and Outnumbered (BBC).
Practitoners Who Teach
Voice
&
Acting Through Song
Cassidy McCarten
Cassidy is an actor and Designated Linklater Teacher from the USA. She obtained her MFA in Linklater Teaching Practice from Rose Bruford College. She currently teaches voice, accents, and Shakespearean text in multiple UK Drama Schools.
Christopher Peters
Christopher is a musical director and singing teacher who specialises in coaching repertoire and technique. He is an experienced musician who has toured nationally and internationally and created scores for short and feature-length films.
Eve Niker
Eve is an actor and singer who trained at RADA and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Her professional credits include Galadriel in the West End Cast and European Tour of The Lord of the Rings. Alongside her performing, Eve also offers private coaching in Acting, Voice, and Singing.
“The teachers encourage you to really look at yourself and find what makes you as an individual, special and different to everyone else. There are no carbon copies being made at Oxford, every student thrives in their individuality.”
Tanya Reynolds, 2015 One Year Course
Practitoners Who Teach
Movement
&
Performance Psychology
Gabriel H Zonana
Gabriel trained as an actor in Brazil and at the École Jacques Lecoq in Paris before graduating with an MFA in Movement from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Gabriel has worked as a performer and theatre maker, as well as in Motion Capture for AAA games such as Baldur’s Gate 3.
Samuel Adebayo
Samuel trained as an actor at LAMDA and has since developed his practice as a movement artist. Samuel is passionate about cross-pollination between art forms and regularly collaborates with artists in different disciplines, such as sculpture, painting, cinematography, and visual art.
Maria Blundell-Palethorpe
Maria is a choreographer and teacher with over 20 years’ experience. She trained at Central School, London Studio Centre, and London Contemporary Dance School, and gained an MSc in Dance Science from The University of Wolverhampton.
Tomislav Afiyan-English
Tom is a movement specialist. He is the course leader of the MA in Dance Performance at The Place and holds an MSc in Dance Science. His professional credits span both performance and movement consultancy for companies such as Punchdrunk, Universal Pictures, and The National Theatre.
Meet Industry Guests
We work with an amazing range of visiting industry professionals and partner organisations across the academic year. Below is a taste of some of the incredible people we have had the pleasure of bringing in to work with our actors over the past academic year. Of course, this list changes year to year, but it gives you a flavour of the quality of people you will be working alongside as an OSD Student.
Visiting Practitioners
From Academic Year 2025/2026
Jessica Swale
Babou Ceesay
Headlong
Fehinti Balogun
Instagram Feed
Principal Edward Hicks on Screen Training
A sample of screen work.
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