BA (Honours) Acting and Performance

Year of Entry 2025/26
BA Acting and Performance 2021

BA (Honours)

Acting and Performance

Full-time Acting film and TV

Explore the world of stage, screen, audio and digital media while developing the skills you need for a future in acting and performance.

Everything you need to know...

  • Pound sign

    What is the fee?

    Home: £9,535 per year (£1,200 for placement year)
    International/EU: £17,155 per year (£1,200 for placement year)

  • Time

    How long will I study?

    3 / 4 Years

  • Location

    Where will I study?

    City Campus

  • Bookmark

    What are the entry requirements?

    112-120 UCAS points

  • Checkmark

    What is the UCAS code?

    W491

  • Date

    When do I start?

    September 2025

  • Avatar

    Placement year available?

    Yes


Teaching Quality

Sheffield Hallam University is amongst the top ten UK providers for drama in the Guardian University Guide 2023 league table.

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Financial support for home/EU students

How tuition fees work, student loans and other financial support available.

Learn more

Course summary

  • Develop high-level skills as an actor and performer.
  • Research, plan and execute professional-standard performances across stage, screen, audio and digital media.
  • Create a multi-media digital portfolio to showcase your work.
  • Engage with communities and challenge real-world issues.
  • Take part in our final-year degree showcase festival.

Develop your flair in everything from screen acting to working with texts, audio performance, and physical and spatial practices. You’ll master production processes and apply your learning by creating and starring in your own public performances. You’ll also work with real-world briefs commissioned by external clients, helping to challenge global issues. 

At the end of your studies you’ll produce and deliver your own professional performance for public presentation at our Changemakers Festival – our festival of theatre and performance.

Find out more about acting and performance courses, facilities and student projects on the SHU performance website.


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How you learn

You’ll take part in interactive lectures, seminars and practical workshops led by creative professionals, practitioners and expert academics. You’ll also have the opportunity to work with industry partners on ‘live brief’ projects. As you develop experience, you’ll create a professional portfolio designed to prepare you for a range of careers – whether that’s in the creative industries, drama education or postgraduate study and training.

You learn through

  • acting and performing
  • taking part in production projects
  • practical workshops
  • working in an ensemble
  • attending performances
  • work-based learning 
  • independent study
  • real-life projects for external clients
  • interactive lectures and seminars
  • extracurricular activities, including theatre and performance productions

Course leaders and tutors

Dr Tom Payne
Dr Tom Payne
Senior Lecturer, Course Leader BA (Hons) Acting & Performance

Senior Lecturer in Performance Studies, Joint Recruitment Lead (BA Acting and Performance), Social Media Lead (BA Acting and Performance)

Applied learning

Work placements

In your second year you’ll have the opportunity to undertake a short placement with an external organisation. Here you’ll use your newfound skills to address real-world challenges, connect with diverse audiences and make a difference in your community. 

Live projects 

We work with a range of local theatres, filmmakers, performance companies and arts organisations on live briefs and production projects. Recent industry collaborators include Sheffield Theatres, Forced Entertainment, The Sheffield Creative Guild, Theatre Delicatessen, Stand and Be Counted, John Godber and Doppelgangster. 

Staff often produce performances for local and international festivals – and invite students to take part in them, giving you the chance to work alongside professionals. In recent years students have participated in Off the Shelf Festival, the Venice Biennale, The Melbourne Fringe Festival, Season for Change, and Woodland Trust’s Tree Charter. We also collaborate with Hallam’s Department of Film and Media Production to create additional screen acting opportunities for you to take part in. 

Field trips 

Throughout the course you'll have the opportunity to go on a wide range of trips. We're ideally located close to Sheffield Theatres and regularly see performances there. You'll also travel to see work in other cities in the north, nationwide and where possible internationally. In previous years students have attended international theatre festivals in Prague, Venice, Berlin and Paris.

Networking opportunities 

We have excellent links to local actors, companies and venues – which we encourage you to take advantage of. These include Sheffield’s Equity Branch, the Making Room network at Sheffield Theatres and the Sheffield Creative Guild, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to meet, talk with and work alongside people from the industry.

Find out more about our Acting and Performance course, from opportunities and student experiences.

Employability

93% of our graduates are in work or further study fifteen months after graduating (2019/20 Graduate Outcomes Survey).


Future careers

Our graduates have gone on to rewarding and fulfilling careers in

  • the acting profession
  • the creative industries
  • film production
  • marketing, communications and media
  • education
  • community theatre 
  • creative arts facilitation
  • the charity sector
  • journalism
  • public-facing professions such as HR, training and customer service

Previous graduates of this course have gone on to work for

  • The Royal Shakespeare Company
  • Sheffield Theatres
  • Forced Entertainment
  • Third Angel
  • GrowTheatre
  • Blowfish
  • Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow. 
  • Open House Pictures 
  • their own companies and creative enterprises – set up with support from the university

Where will I study?

You study at City Campus through a structured mix of lectures, seminars and practical sessions as well as access to digital and online resources to support your learning.

City Campus

City Campus is located in the heart of Sheffield, within minutes of the train and bus stations.

City Campus map | City Campus tour 


City Campus map
Location

Howard Street
Sheffield
S1 1WB

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Adsetts library

Adsetts Library is located on our City Campus. It's open 24 hours a day, every day.

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Media Gallery

Entry requirements

All students

UCAS points

  • 112 - 120

This must include at least two A levels or equivalent BTEC National qualifications. For example:

  • BBC-BBB at A Level.
  • DDM in BTEC Extended Diploma.
  • Merit overall from a T Level Qualification
  • A combination of qualifications, which may include AS Levels, EPQ and general studies

You can find information on making sense of UCAS tariff points here and use the UCAS tariff calculator to work out your points.

GCSE

  • English Language or Literature at grade C or 4

• Access - 45 credits at level 3 and 15 credits at level 2 from a relevant Open College Network accredited course

If English is not your first language, you will need an IELTS score of 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in all skills, or equivalent.

If you are made an offer, you will invited to a Course Open Day. At Course Open Days there will be the opportunity for you to come along to an open workshop to hear more about the course, meet some of the staff and, if you wish, you can perform for us. If we like what we see, we may be able to give you a lower offer.

We consider other qualifications from the UCAS tariff. Applicants with alternative qualifications or a combination of qualifications and work experience are also considered. We welcome applications from people of any age. Please contact us for further advice.

Meeting the qualifications on the entry criteria does not guarantee you a place. You should ensure that you submit a personal statement and reference as these are considered as part of the selection process. Guidelines on personal statements and references can be found on the UCAS website.

Additional information for EU/International students

If you are an International or non-UK European student, you can find out more about the country specific qualifications we accept on our international qualifications page.

For details of English language entry requirements (IELTS), please see the information for 'All students'.


Modules

Important notice: The structure of this course is periodically reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students and ensure ongoing compliance with any professional, statutory and regulatory body standards. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment may change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Following any changes, updated module information will be published on this page.

You will be able to complete a placement year as part of this course. See the modules table below for further information.

Year 1

Compulsory modules

Module
Credits
Assessment
Acting For Recorded Media
Credits 20
Assessment Coursework(100%)
Actor In The World
Credits 20
Assessment Practical(100%)
Actor's Toolkit: Body, Space, Text
Credits 40
Assessment Coursework(40%) , Practical(60%)
Collective Creation
Credits 40
Assessment Coursework(40%) , Practical(60%)
Year 2

Compulsory modules

Module
Credits
Assessment
Acting With Texts
Credits 40
Assessment Coursework(20%) , Practical(80%)
Contemporary Performance
Credits 40
Assessment Coursework(30%) , Practical(70%)
Creating Digital Media
Credits 20
Assessment Coursework(100%)
Participatory Practices
Credits 20
Assessment Practical(100%)

Elective modules

Module
Credits
Assessment
Study Abroad - Creative Industries
Credits 60
Assessment Coursework(100%)
Year 3

Optional modules

Module
Credits
Assessment
Placement Year
Credits -
Assessment Coursework(100%)
Final year

Compulsory modules

Module
Credits
Assessment
Advanced Acting Showcase
Credits 40
Assessment Coursework(20%) , Practical(80%)
Digital Performance Lab
Credits 20
Assessment Coursework(100%)
Future Now Festival
Credits 40
Assessment Coursework(20%) , Practical(80%)
Professional Practitioner
Credits 20
Assessment Coursework(100%)

Fees and funding

Home students

Our tuition fee for UK students on full-time undergraduate courses in 2025/26 is £9,535 per year. These fees are regulated by the UK government and therefore subject to change in future years. During your placement year you will pay a reduced fee of £1,200.

If you are studying an undergraduate course, postgraduate pre-registration course or postgraduate research course over more than one academic year then your tuition fees may increase in subsequent years in line with Government regulations or UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) published fees. More information can be found in our terms and conditions under student fees regulations.

International students

Our tuition fee for International/EU students starting full-time study in 2025/26 is £17,155 per year. During your placement year you will pay a reduced fee of £1,200.

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Financial support for home/EU students

How tuition fees work, student loans and other financial support available.

Learn more

Additional course costs

The links below allow you to view estimated general course additional costs, as well as costs associated with key activities on specific courses. These are estimates and are intended only as an indication of potential additional expenses. Actual costs can vary greatly depending on the choices you make during your course.

General course additional costs

Additional costs for Sheffield Creative Industries Institute (PDF, 153.7KB)

Legal information

Any offer of a place to study is subject to your acceptance of the University’s Terms and Conditions and Student Regulations.

Student success story
Performance graduates Josh Schofield and Emily Kitteringham returned to Sheffield Hallam to perform John Godber's 'September in the Rain' for the Off the Shelf Festival.
 

How do I apply?

Apply now via UCAS

Not ready to apply just yet?

Why not come to our next open day? Open days are the perfect place to talk to staff and students, visit our campuses and get all the information you need. Alternatively, feel free to ask us a question.

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Why choose us?

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Teaching

We are Gold rated in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) for the outstanding quality of our teaching and student outcomes

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Accommodation

We guarantee to find you an affordable place to live that’s close to campus and comes with all bills included

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Employment

95% of our UK graduates are in work or further study 15 months after graduating (2021/22 Graduate Outcomes Survey)

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