The intensive one-year MA programme trains postgraduate (or equivalent) students for a career in musical theatre.
It provides a direct link into the profession by combining regular class work and one-to-one tuition with practical opportunities.

The course has been highly successful in providing a multi-skilled training programme at the highest level in a professional environment. Graduates enjoy outstanding success in major West End shows and international productions.

A close-knit and very active department, the Organ Faculty offers programmes for organists to study solo repertoire, hone technical skills and learn the crucial aspects of playing in a wide variety of contexts and styles.

This is for gap-year students preparing for an Oxbridge organ scholarship, or for those who wish to develop organ/choral direction skills before formal university or conservatoire training.
This is for you if you would like to receive Academy training but do not require a full programme of study that leads to a degree. Organ Foundation students are considered as fully-enrolled members of the Academy’s student body, and have equal access to the Academy’s resources (library, computers, practice rooms etc).

Tailor your studies to suit your musical interests on our four-year Bachelor of Music (BMus) degree course.

THIS COURSE IS RIGHT FOR YOU IF…
You’re passionate about music and your specialism (or instrument). The BMus provides a solid foundation for a career in music, whether you’d like to be a performer, composer, teacher or to work in another related field.

CORE ELEMENTS OF THE BMUS
1. Principal study

This is the focal point of your musical development and includes individual lessons as well as a combination of masterclasses, performance classes, chamber music, concerts and everything else you do in your specialism. The focus for performers is on gaining experience in public concerts.

2. Artist development

We offer a wide range of activities, events and modules for you to hone your skills in studio recording and editing techniques, self-promotion and marketing, writing CVs, making funding applications, understanding the music business and working in arts management.

You can also get involved in Open Academy, which has an active programme aimed at helping people in the community. If you want to develop your teaching skills, you can study for the Academy’s teaching licence (LRAM), too.

3. Academic study

Academic study is essential to your creative and intellectual development. Core modules in Aural, Analysis and History reinforce your awareness as a listener, develop your interpretative abilities and extend your knowledge and imagination.
ONE YEAR COURSES – THE OPTIONS
The BMus is our main undergraduate course, but it isn’t the only one. We also offer three one-year options, which let you study at the Academy as an enrolled member of the student body without committing to a full degree course with us.

This means you’ll benefit from all the facilities offered to our degree students, including the library, computers and practice rooms, as well as enjoying a variety of performance opportunities.

1. Gap year course

This course is right for you if you love music but know you want to study something else for your main degree in future. It’s the ideal fit if you’re finishing secondary school (high school) and are looking for a gap-year opportunity, enabling you to reach a high level of achievement in music, while also allowing you to pursue another career path.
2. Organ foundation course

This is for gap-year students preparing for an organ scholarship at Oxford or Cambridge, or for those who want to develop organ and choral direction skills before starting formal university or conservatoire training.

3. Exchanges and study abroad schemes

The Academy has exchange and study-abroad agreements with conservatoires across the world. Placements are normally for a full academic year, although shorter times may be possible. This allows non-UK students studying for a music degree elsewhere to benefit from a conservatoire education as part of their degree studies at their ‘home’ institution.

The curriculum offers skills classes in:
- acting technique (focusing on Stanislavski and Meisner)
- movement
- voice
- singing (group and solo)
- text analysis

Specialist classes in:
- acting for screen
- introduction to playwriting
- introduction to filmmaking

Rehearsal projects:
- contemporary playwrights
- Realist movement
- Shakespeare

During the course you will have the opportunity to explore careers in theatre and related industries, and will be introduced to practitioners who can discuss the range of career options available.

Exploring techniques applicable to both interpretative and original work, the MA Theatre Lab expands your ability to work collaboratively and independently in various contexts. Working rigorously with expert practitioners, you will experiment with a range of practices empowering you to play a revitalising role in today’s theatre-making landscape.

The MA Theatre Lab is a four-term course, running from January to January each year. The course is ideally for applicants who already have strong experience in performance, extending existing training with rigorous experimentation. Instead of replicating RADA's three-year training in one year, it aims to build on applicants’ experience, giving them the tools to further both their independence and their ability to collaborate in the creative process.

Each term, learning and assessment will be focused on practical exploration, followed by written assignments reflecting on your experience.

In your third term, you will work over the summer as an ensemble (in one group or more where appropriate) alongside a professional director to create a full-length piece of work for public performance. The rehearsal process, performance and accompanying reflective document will together constitute your MA dissertation project.

Whilst continuing your training and study in a fourth term, you will make small-scale, original performances as a part of the Development of Performance module (either in companies or as solo makers) for an end of year Lab Festival. Supervised and mentored by members of staff and people from the industry, you’ll be able to develop these pieces through research and development ‘sharings’ in the autumn, as a part of the New Wave section of the Bloomsbury Festival.

Throughout the year there will be further opportunities to share your work and receive extensive feedback from staff and visiting professionals.

Our BA (Hons) in Acting develops the talent and potential you bring with you to RADA, training you in techniques and approaches that will confidently equip you for a successful and long-term career in the industry.

You will start by building foundation skills through class work, before putting these into practice in sharings and open classes to small groups within RADA, and finally through public performances and film-making in your final year. We are currently undergoing a process of decolonising our curriculum, so there may be some changes to texts or areas of study outlined below.

The course will help you to develop a spirit of curiosity and discovery that will enrich your personal and professional development.

It is designed to help you reach your full potential through vocal, physical and imaginative techniques, and provide you with the ability to continue learning and developing beyond these three years and throughout your professional life.