Creative & Performing Arts - Vocational

This course allows you to develop your technical and performance capabilities whilst studying current practitioners and their working methods and techniques, as well as honing your written analytical skills.  If you have an interest in or passion for Drama, Music and Performing Arts, enjoy practical performance, challenging styles and texts, and are excited to experience all types of performance, then this is the course for you!

The course is be made up of 7 different units:

• Performance Preparation
• Approaches to Acting
• Audition Techniques
• Musical Theatre Performance
• Ensemble Dance Performance
• Vocal Techniques (Music)
• Planning for a Career in the Creative and Performing Arts

This course is assessed through a combination of internally and externally assessed units. Each unit requires a practical performance alongside evidence which can be presented as written, audio or visual responses.

• Five 9-4 grades at GCSE with a minimum of a grade 4 in English Language.
• A minimum of a grade 6 in Drama, Music or Dance is desirable but not essential.
• It is not necessary to have taken a Performing Arts subject at school.  A willingness to develop an independent approach to taking direction and developing both practical and academic skills is most beneficial.  If you love theatrical performance and are willing to work at all three skills, committing your time, energy and creativity to your work, you will have a wonderful time on this course.

Alongside the core qualification, this course offers a rich menu of extra-curricular opportunities that let students stretch their creativity beyond the timetable.  Learners will take part in full-scale productions, showcases and performance projects, gaining real rehearsal discipline and audience experience. There are opportunities to audition for productions, join dance, acting, or musical theatre clubs, and work with visiting industry professionals through workshops and masterclasses. There will be many opportunities to visit the theatre.

Students are also encouraged to enter competitions, festivals and community performances, building confidence, resilience, and a strong performance CV. These opportunities help learners develop teamwork, leadership, and professional conduct, while nurturing a genuine sense of ensemble and creative ambition.

Here are just a few of the extra-curricular experiences students have recently enjoyed:

• Residential trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
• Theatre trips to see Paddington, Stranger Things, Les Miserables, Into The Woods and more
• Showstoppers Musical Theatre Competitions (our Senior Team are 2026 Showstoppers Champions!)
• Performance at Royal Holloway University for National Drama's Annual Conference
• Remembrance community performance to commemorate 100 years of the New Malden War Memorial
• Inter-house Performing Arts competitions
• Coombe Cluster Concerts at The Rose Theatre
• Regular vocal training from professional voice coach.
• Whole school production of Guys & Dolls

Drama Schools, Conservatoires and Universities value this qualification and it also enables direct progression into the world of work within the Performing Arts industry.

For students for whom an element of performing arts would be complementary, the qualification supports progression to higher education including Russell Group Universities when taken as part of a programme of study which includes other vocational or A Level qualifications.

Our Performing Arts students have recently secured offers of degree places at:

• Royal Central School of Speech and Drama - Acting
• Mountview - Acting
• Leeds Conservatoire - Acting
• LIPA - Acting
• Italia Conti - Acting
• Rose Bruford - Acting
• University of Chichester - Screen Acting & Film Production
• Royal Holloway - Film Studies
• University of Brighton - Film
• Bournemouth University - Film Production
• Bournemouth University - Television & Film Production
• University of Southampton - Film Studies
• University of Portsmouth - Film Production
• University of Sussex - Law & Criminology
• University of Southampton - Law
• The University of Law - Law & Criminology
• University of York - Business Management
• University of Exeter - Business Management
• University of Reading - Business Management
• University of Surrey - Entrepreneurship & Innovation
• University of Leeds - History
• University of Southampton - History

And one has secured a Degree Apprenticeship in Financial Services with JP Morgan at University of Exeter.

The diploma offers excellent opportunities for those considering a career in the performing arts, by working to industry briefs and experiencing employer engagement throughout the course. This includes but is not limited to:

• Professional Actors

• Voice Coach

• Singing Coach

• Directors

• Choreographers.

What is the difference between the RSL Creative & Performing Arts Course and A Level Drama and Theatre Studies?

EXAMS

• The RSL Creative & Performing Arts Course has no written exams.  All units are coursework based, assessed over Years 12 and 13 so there is no exam to revise for at the end of the course.  If you are taking this course alongside A Levels then this can help as you have one less subject to revise for final exams, as your final Performing Arts coursework is already complete in time for exam season.
• The A Level course consists of a final 2.5 hour exam which accounts for 40% of your final mark.

LEARNING STYLE

• There is more focus on performance work in the RSL Creative & Performing Arts course. Students perform, analyse and evaluate in every unit of the course through coursework submission.
• In A Level Drama and Theatre Studies you still perform and create work but there is a stronger emphasis on analysisng plays, studying practitioners and writing about theatre.  Performance work counts for 30% of your final mark. The A Level course suits students who enjoy both performance and essay writing.

UCAS POINTS VALUE

• The RSL Creative & Performing Arts course is the equivalent to 1.5 A Levels due to the rehearsal time required to successfully complete the course.  The maximum UCAS points achievable is therefore 84 for a Distinction*.
• The A Level Drama and Theatre studies course is worth a maximum of 56 points for an A*.