BA (Hons) Performance: Design and Practice

The standard entry requirements for this course are as follows:

One or a combination of the following accepted full Level 3 qualifications:

• Pass at Foundation Diploma in Art and Design (Level 3 or 4) and one A Level at grade C or above
• Two A Levels at grade C or above (preferred subjects include Art, Art and Design or Design and Technology)
• Merit, Pass, Pass (MPP) at BTEC Extended Diploma (preferred subjects include Art, Art and Design or Design and Technology)
• Pass at UAL Extended Diploma
• Access to Higher Education Diploma (preferred subjects include Art, Art and Design or Design and Technology)
• Equivalent EU/international qualifications, such as International Baccalaureate Diploma

And three GCSE passes at grade 4 or above (grade A*–C).

Entry to this course will also be determined by assessment of your portfolio. A very high proportion of successful applicants complete a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design.

AP(E)L – Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning

Exceptionally applicants who do not meet these course entry requirements may still be considered. The course team will consider each application that demonstrates additional strengths and alternative evidence. This might, for example, be demonstrated by:

• Related academic or work experience
• The quality of the personal statement
• A strong academic or other professional reference

Or a combination of these factors.

Each application will be considered on its own merit but cannot guarantee an offer in each case.

English language requirements

IELTS score of 6.0 or above, with at least 5.5 in reading, writing, listening and speaking (please check our main English language requirements webpage).

Applicants are selected according to their demonstration of potential and current ability to:

• Provide examples of a variety, breadth and/ or depth of projects
• Demonstrate a high level of engagement and commitment to projects
• Demonstrate an interest in performance or time-based projects or medium
• Demonstrate examples of independent enquiry which breaks away from norms and/ or offers alternative perspectives
• Demonstrate examples of experimentation, exploration and self-directed practice
• Demonstrate skills in communication and management of ideas
• Demonstrate the use of making and drawing as a tool to communicate and develop ideas
• Provide evidence of intellectual enquiry and critical reflection.

What we are looking for

We are not just looking for a passion for performance – we are also seeking people who are curious, hard-working, open to new ideas and willing to take risks and get involved in the many different disciplines and practices of working in the professional field of performance. Suitable applicants work imaginatively and creatively in performance and visual media, demonstrate a range of skills and technical abilities, intellectual enquiry and cultural awareness.

What happens next

Initial application check

We check your application to see if you meet the standard entry requirements for the course.  If you do, you will be invited to attend a full portfolio review or submit a full portfolio digitally.

Digital portfolio review

Your portfolio should be no more than 30 images comprising of your best work showing your skills and thinking. You can create the pages in any layout (For example: presentation boards) but they should be uploaded as jpeg images.

It's important that the creative work you include reflects and demonstrates your thinking, initiative and personal commitment to a particular project, theme or idea.

It should include:

• A range of work – finished works or works in progress.
• How you have engaged with experimentation and how well you may have pushed ambition through proposals and perhaps through making.
• How well you have developed your skills with materials and processes.
• How you may have applied any relevant research to your ideas and making – perhaps through the use of sketch books and study books.
• Briefly outline – in one sentence - the ideas and interests behind the works as a title to each page.

The only files that can be uploaded as part of the portfolio are:

• Images: bmp, gif, jpg, jpeg, png
• Audio: mp3, mp4, ogg, wav, wma
• Video: avi, mp4, mpg, mpeg, mkv, mov, wmv

Portfolio advice

Your work should demonstrate creative development, whether for a college project or in your personal work. By creative development, we mean:

• Ideas that have originated in your own experience and research and progressed towards potential visualisation
• Ideas, visual research and experimentation are more important than finished design solutions and can be shown in 2D work, or through 3D objects
• It’s important that the creative work you include reflects and demonstrates your thinking, initiative and personal commitment to a particular project, theme or idea.

Please remember:

• The quality of the work is more important than the quantity
• Where possible, large or 3D work should be photographed and scanned
• Please organise your work by project, with supporting work presented alongside final outcomes.

For more portfolio advice please visit: https://www.arts.ac.uk/study-at-ual/apply/portfolio-advice

Interview

Following the review of the portfolio we select a small number of applicants to move on to the next stage of the process.  These applicants will be invited to an interview either online or by telephone.

How we notify you of the outcome of your application

You will receive the final outcome of your application through UCAS track.

BA Performance: Design and Practice students leave with a broad and valuable understanding of performance practice in its many forms.

Skills acquired enable BA Performance: Design and Practice graduates to become versatile practitioners in exciting and diverse contexts including theatre, film and television.

BA Performance: Design and Practice students find success as production designers, or in related roles such as director or producer, or, increasingly, in 'hybrid' roles such as designer-director or performer-designer.

BA Performance: Design and Practice graduates also apply their knowledge outside the traditional contexts, working within the fine art industry as performance artists or within the fashion industry as creative managers, video directors and fashion show designers. Or they launch their own independent collaborative ventures, creating performance in their own image.

Recent BA Performance: Design and Practice alumni activity demonstrates the breadth of student activity within the subject:

• Garance Marneur (2007): Winner of prestigious biannual Linbury Prize for Stage Design 2007. Recent design commissions: ‘Dirty Butterfly’ (Debera Tucker Green) Young Vic Theatre, London 2008; ‘Gianni Schicchi’ (Puccini), Mariinnsky theatre, St. Petersburg, 2008 ‘Turandot’ (Brecht), Hampstead Theatre, London 2009, currently designing for RSC Aut ’11 season
• Will Bock, Georgia Jacobs and Mary Pope (2005): Formed ‘Strangeworks’ collective, creators of live performance events including ‘March of the Dead’ street performance for Halloween, Hoxton, London 2008, and drawing workshops at Tate Britain 2009 – 11
• Jing Wong (2006): Co-founder of ‘Daydream Nation’, a company creating theatrical fashion events, including ‘Good Night Deer’ at the ICA Theatre, as part of London Fashion Week 2008
• Samal Blak (2009): Winner of prestigious biannual Linbury Prize for Stage Design 2009. Design Commission ‘Otello’ (Verdi), Birmingham Opera, 2009
• Jungmin Song (2007): Performance Artist making work at Shunt Vaults, Fierce Festival (Birmingham) and Spill Festival (2011)
• Nick Docherty (2008): UK Youth Theatre coordinator for National Theatre, South Bank
• Miriam Buether (2002): Recently awarded Best Design for work at the Royal Court – Evening Standard Theatre Awards. Designed ‘Anna Nicole’ for Royal Opera House – Feb 11
• Ben Stones (2004): Winner of prestigious biannual Linbury Prize for Stage Design 2007, designs frequently in West End and most recently for newly re-opened Arcola Theatre, London.

For details of the wide range of careers support provided for students, please visit our Careers support page.