Application Deadline:
TBC
Course Start Date:
September 2026
Length of Course:
September ’26 – September ’27
Age Requirement:
21+ at the start of the course
One Year Course
This dynamic and intensive course takes place across four terms in a full calendar year. It is designed for those aged 21 and over who can discover and realise their potential as a creative artist over a year of training.
You will be taught in group classes, developing your professionalism, collaboration and technical skill through ensemble learning and individual tutorials.
We expect you to be bold and fearless in your willingness to understand yourself and be prepared to be open and curious whilst experimenting with new methods of working. Throughout your training you will have opportunities to collaborate with leading directors, writers and producers.
The year culminates in London where you will perform in London venues to the public and to an invited industry audience.
Why Train at OSD?
Year Group Size
Tutors and Staff
Agent Representation
Industry Connections
Gradautes of the One Year Course include:
Course Structure
The training at OSD draws from the approaches and techniques of Stanislavski, Uta Hagen, Michael Chekhov, Kristin Linklater, Laban and Lecoq, among others. Below, you will get a feel for how we support you in building your creative self.
The first term is a thorough exploration of the basic principles of acting, along with work on freeing the voice and building confidence in your physical expression.
You will develop confidence in your imaginative skills through improvisation and the playful exploration of your physicality.
In this term, you will be fully immersed in all aspects of the theatre rehearsal room in preparation for a full-scale performance in front of students and tutors at the School.
Alongside rehearsals for your first production, you will continue to build your skills and confidence in voice, movement, screen and dramaturgy.
You will perform in two theatre productions in this term, including a full-scale public production at the North Wall Arts Centre in Oxford with a full design team.
You will build your professional knowledge by meeting with bodies such as Equity and Spotlight, exploring the roles of agents and casting directors, and developing your business awareness.
You will also showcase and develop your skills by performing in a professionally directed and edited short film shot on location.
In July, you will relocate your training to London, marking your transition into the industry.
You will be in the rehearsal room working on a play for performances at a London venue. This will be followed by an intensive rehearsal for your Showcase performance to agents, casting directors and other key industry professionals.
A series of masterclasses and mock casting sessions with directors from theatre and film will develop your skills and experience of working with professionals in the industry.
Qualification
Level 5 Diploma in Professional Acting
This course is validated by Trinity College London and regulated by Ofqual.
You graduate with a Level 5 Diploma in Professional Acting on the Regulated Qualifications Framework.
All graduates of this course are eligible for Spotlight and Equity Membership upon graduation.
Fees and Funding
Understanding Your Choices
The One Year Course is not a degree course, and therefore, the funding system available to you is not part of Student Finance England. This means you can’t take out a student loan. Instead, OSD has access to two government-backed funding schemes to help support you.
Although our funding options take a little more time to read about and understand, the reality is that the majority of our students leave us with less debt than the average student within the Student Loan system. This is because of the combination of Government-backed funding options available to our students.
We’ve detailed the options available to you below, if you’d like more information you can check out our Funding page.
Fees - Academic Year 2026/2027
Fees for the One Year Course for the academic year 2026/2027 are:
£21,000
Dance and Drama Award
The Oxford School of Drama is part of the Government’s DaDA Scheme, which provides scholarship grants for exceptionally talented people aged 18–23 years who wish to pursue a career as an actor.
The DaDAs are means-tested scholarships (you don’t pay them back).
To put it simply, you will be eligible for a DaDA if you:
- are under the age of 24
- have lived in the UK (the EU, Gibraltar, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein) for the last 3 years
- have a household income of less than £90k
Below is an overview of the national income bands.:
1. Students from households with an income of £30,000 or below. Students in this bracket will pay no course fees and may be eligible for further financial support.
2. Students from households with an income of £30,001 to £33,000 will pay no course fees
3. Students from households with an income between £33,001 and £90,000 will have to make some contribution towards course fees. The most that you will need to pay is £7,175 per year, which the Advance Learner Loan (ALL) can cover if you are 19+ at the start of the course. Find out more about the ALL below
Advanced Learner Loan
Students who are over the age of 19 (everyone applying for the One Year Course is over 19) are eligible to apply for an Advanced Learner Loan (ALL) of up to £7,395 per year towards their course fees.
These are not means-tested and they require no credit checks. They are available even if you have previously had a student loan. You need to have lived in the UK (or the EU, Gibraltar, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein) for the last 3 years to be eligible for an ALL.
Bursaries
We are aware that the DaDA and ALL may not cover the full cost of course fees for some, and that many students on the One Year Course may not be eligible for a DaDA in the first instance due to their age.
We want to ensure our training is accessible to as many people as possible.
To help improve access to our training, we offer a limited number of Oxford School of Drama Bursaries for students joining the One Year Course.
Each year, we offer two £5,000 bursaries to incoming students. To be eligible for the OSD Bursaries, you must:
- Be 24 years or older at the start of the course and;
- Come from a household with an annual income of under £35,000 per year
Please find more information on the bursaries here.
Audition Process
Application Fee: £15
Recall Fee: £30
We offer Free Auditions for those who need financial assistance in accessing Drama School Auditions. To be eligible for a Fee Waiver, you must be:
- A resident in the UK, and;
- Live in a household with an annual income of below £35,000
You can download an Audition Fee Waiver Application here. You must send this completed form BEFORE you submit your application form. Once you have submitted your Fee Waiver Application, we will go ahead and confirm the next steps with you directly.
Once you’re ready to submit your Fee Waiver Application, email auditions@oxforddrama.ac.uk with the completed form, and we’ll be in touch.
To apply for the Three Year Course, you will first need to complete our application form.
On the application form you will be asked:
- To confirm your eligibility for the course
- To provide your contact details
- To list any dates you are unavailable to travel to the school for auditions – this is incredibly important; please be specific if you know you have limited availability
- To list your education history (remember, we don’t require academic qualifications; this helps the panel to get a fuller picture of your background)
- To write Something About You. Speak from your heart. We want to get a feel for who you are. Please don’t feel compelled to use AI to make your writing style differ from your natural voice.
- To name the character and play for each of your audition speeches
- To provide one link to your self-tape audition
- Please make sure there is no expiry date for viewing the link because we may want to access your audition at recall and waiting list stages.
You won’t be able to submit your application form until you have added a self-tape video link.
Once you have submitted your application, you will receive an automatic email confirmation.
We offer free auditions to those who meet our eligibility criteria. To apply for a free audition, you must do so before making any payment on the application portal. We are unable to refund your audition fee once it has been paid.
If you meet the eligibility criteria stated here, you will be able to apply for your free audition below. The free audition form will only become available once applications for this course are open.
Eligibility
- You are a resident in the UK
- Your household income is one of the following:
- You are supported by two guardians with a combined gross annual income of below £40,000
- You live with a single guardian with a gross annual income of below £30,000
- You live independently (with no support from family or guardian) with a gross annual income of below £23,000
Please note – you will need to provide us with proof of your household income. You can attach more than one document, and proof can be in the following formats:
- Tax Credit Award Notice
- P60 or P60U for the previous tax year
- P11D
- SA302 Tax Calculation form
- Benefits Income Details form stamped by the benefits office
Filming Your First Round Self-Tape
Before completing your application form, you will need to film and submit your self-tape.
Your self-tape should be between 6-7 minutes long. If your self-tape is more than 7 minutes long the panel will not watch to the end of the tape.
You are required to provide us with a link to one video which contains the following:
1. Introduction (2 minutes total): Film a close up of your face and tell us
- Your name
- Which pieces you will be performing
- Why you have chosen these pieces
- Which course(s) you are applying for
- Why you wish to train at the Oxford School of Drama
Change position by moving back from camera to a waist up shot and deliver the two pieces. Your eyeline should be to the side of the camera, not looking directly into the camera.
2. A contemporary speech (2 minutes total): From a 20th or 21st century play.
3. A contrasting second speech (2 minutes total): Contrasting means the character experiences a completely different journey, has different attitudes and/or expresses themselves differently. This contrasting speech can be any of the following
- A second contemporary speech
- A classical speech from the 16th or 17th century. This can be Shakespeare or any other writer from that period; for example, John Ford, Ben Jonson, Mary Pix, Christopher Marlowe, Aphra Behn.
- A spoken word poem
We have a list of suggested classical pieces if you are unsure of what to choose, please click here to view the list.
Note: You can start and stop the camera between each section and edit them together after filming. All we require is for all the above components to be accessible in one video link.
Now you have your self-tape filmed, upload your video to Vimeo/YouTube making sure the link works for someone who isn’t logged in, that settings are set to either public or only set to private if people with the link can access it.
You will hear back from us within 4 weeks.
If your first round audition is not successful, we will email you to inform you. You will be able to call the School to obtain feedback on your audition from the Admissions Manager on the days/times stated in the email.
If you are successful in the First Round for the One Year Course, you will be invited to an in-person (full-day) Recall Audition at the School.
You will need to present two speeches at Recall Auditions. They should be:
- A contemporary speech – if you did two contemporary speeches in your Self-Tape, you can choose which one to present to the panel.
- A contrasting classical speech – from the 16th or 17th century. This can be Shakespeare or any other writer from that period; for example, John Ford, Ben Jonson, Mary Pix, Christopher Marlowe, Aphra Behn.
- NOTE: If you chose not to do a classical speech in your self-tape, we have a list of recommended speeches here.
This audition takes place in person at OSD. We cannot complete a recall audition online, so please be prepared to travel to Oxford at the time of application and let us know any dates you are unavailable before you submit your self-tape.
We will email you an attached PDF document that details the time and date of your recall. Be ready to confirm your recall audition by making the recall payment by the date requested in your invitation. This is usually within two working days of us sending the email.
Please come in loose-fitting clothing, something you are comfortable and confident in, and be prepared to work barefoot.
On the day you can expect the following:
- You will be offered a place in a free taxi from Oxford to the School should you need transport
- You will be greeted on arrival by either a member of our admissions team or a friendly OSD graduate
- Work closely with three members of the audition panel
- Take part in group workshops
- Work from some text you haven’t seen before
- Workshop one of your speeches in detail
- There will be tea, coffee, and water provided at the school
We want to see you working with others and connecting to the work through our central pillars of collaboration, creativity, and craft.
To prepare for your recall audition, please watch our In-person Recall Audition Tips.
If your in-person recall audition is successful, you will either be offered a place on a course or placed on our waiting list.
If you are unsuccessful, we will provide details on when to call the Principal for feedback from the Audition Panel.