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Application Opens:
4th November 2025
Application Deadline:
May 2026
Course Start Date:
September 2026
Length of Course:
September 2026 – July 2029
Age Requirement:
18+ at the start of the course
Three Year Acting Course
This is a practical, dynamic and demanding course based on the values of classical acting, adapted to suit the needs of the contemporary world and the artists of today.
The course provides a thorough training in vocal, physical and imaginative techniques which will support you in discovering your full creative potential.
As a year group, you will be taught in classes and receive regular one-to-one tutorials across all core disciplines. You will have many opportunities to work collaboratively with leading directors, writers and designers from theatre, film and television, as well as meeting key industry casting directors and agents.
In your final year, you will make your transition into the performing arts industries by spending your final term in London making work with directors and writers and performing at venues in London.
Why Train at OSD?
Year Group Size
Tutors and Staff
Agent Representation
Industry Connections
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.
Your first year concentrates on building the foundations of your creative self.
Through acting, movement, and voice classes, you will begin to develop and refine your approach to acting, as well as explore the dynamics of human expression.
The first year culminates in an in-house production performed for your peers.
In the second year, the emphasis shifts to the rehearsal process. You will begin to explore how to work creatively and generously in the rehearsal room with various directors.
You will also explore the context and relevance of a range of classical and modern plays.
Across the year, you will perform in three productions:
- An in-house 19th Century realism production
- A tour to local secondary schools
- Open-air Shakespeare production for invited and public audiences
Your final year is all about turning your focus out to the industry and applying your craft as a professional actor.
Alongside professional development classes featuring talks from alumni and industry professionals, you will perform in a full-scale public production in two professional theatres; one in Oxford and one in London.
You will also rehearse and perform in your graduate showcase in the Spring Term of your final year. The showcase is performed to an invited industry audience and takes place in a London Theatre. Previous years have performed at the Soho Theatre, The Arts Theatre, and Underbelly Boulevard Soho,.
In the Summer Term of your third year, you will move to London.
A large portion of your London Season will be spent in the rehearsal room for the London transfer of your final production. Alongside these rehearsals, you will be meeting with casting directors and agents, having mock castings and workshops focused on the realities of being a working actor.
You will also participate in a series of research and development workshops with various theatre companies and theatre makers. This is an extraordinary opportunity to be working with some exceptional artists in the development of real life creative projects that may have a future life.
Qualification
Level 6 Diploma in Professional Acting
This course is validated by Trinity College London and regulated by Ofqual.
You graduate with a Level 6 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 Three 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 Three Year Course for the academic year 2026/2027 are:
£19,500
Dance and Drama Award (DaDA)
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 (ALL)
Students who are over the age of 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
You will have the chance to be put forward for a number of external Bursaries once you are enrolled at the school, including:
The Laurence Olivier Bursary
- The Society of London Theatre offers these annual bursaries to help second year students facing financial difficulty.
Constellations Creatives Drama Student Bursary
- The School is invited to nominate a student of East Asian origin for this bursary awarded by Yellow Earth Theatre Company
Sir John Gielgud Bursary
- The School is invited to nominate one second year student who is facing financial hardship.
Spotlight Prize
- The School nominates one third-year graduating student to audition for the Spotlight Prize.
Sophie’s Silver Lining Fund
- The School is proud to be a nominated institution for Sophie’s Silver Lining Fund. The fund seeks to support the nominated student throughout their training.
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:
- 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
You can download an Audition Fee Waiver Application here. You must send this completed form BEFORE you submit your main 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 poem or song lyrics where the language evokes an imaginative awareness of experience or an emotional response through language.
- A speech you have written yourself
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, you will be invited to a First Recall Audition.
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 remember to be prepared to travel to Oxford at the time of application and let us know any dates that 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 first recall. Be ready to confirm your First Recall audition by making the Recall payment by the date requested in your First Recall 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
- You will take part in a group workshop led by the audition panel
- You will present your two audition speeches to the audition panel
- The panel may workshop and re-direct your speeches a little, so be prepared to change how you usually perform them
- The panel will take some time to chat with you and ask you some questions
- There will be tea, coffee, and water provided at the school
To prepare for your first recall audition, please watch our In-person Recall Audition Tips.
If you are successful at your First Recall Audition, we will invite you for a Second Recall.
The panel may, at this stage, offer you a place on our Foundation Course in Acting, even if you haven’t applied for the course specifically. So it’s worth having a read of the course information before attending your recall.
If you are unsuccessful, you will be given information on when it is best to call to receive feedback on your audition.
The second recall is a development on the First Recall.
We ask that you still wear loose-fitting clothing that you are comfortable and confident in and are ready to work barefoot.
On the day you can expect to:
- Work more closely with two members of the audition panel
- Take part in a group workshop
- Work from some text you haven’t seen before
- Workshop one of your speeches in detail
We want to see you working with others and connecting to the work through our central pillars of collaboration, creativity, and craft.
After a Second Recall, if you are successful, you will either be offered a place or given a place on our waiting list.
If you are unsuccessful, we will give you details of when to call the school for feedback from the panel member who worked with you during your Second Recall.