Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London

At Central, we challenge students to be original thinkers, inventive and effective collaborators, and creative entrepreneurs who go on to make a difference. 

With 15 courses at undergraduate level and 14 Master’s programmes, alongside an expansive and award-winning Research department, we offer Europe’s most comprehensive choice of specialist higher education drama, theatre and performance training.  We have an unrivalled range of international partners and collaborators, strong industry links, a wide portfolio of professional placement opportunities and some of the highest graduate employment rates in the sector. 

Students from all over the world come to study at Central, not only to train in their chosen discipline, but also to learn about all the other related subjects and how they interrelate.  We are a truly international community drawn from some 50 different nations across the globe. 

These are undoubtedly extraordinary times and we are acutely aware, as are you, that the theatre, festivals and live events industries will face enormous challenges arising from Covid-19 until such time as audiences are willing and able to reassemble in physical spaces.  During this period, drama schools will be among the organisations best able to continue to make new work, online or in physically distanced ways.  And through it all, Central remains a safe and supportive environment where students are encouraged to experiment with practices at the forefront of theatre and performance, and to interrogate the great traditions that are part of the School’s long history. 

The immediate future poses challenges but, at Central, you can be part of the solution. Central’s current and future students, our staff and partner arts organisations, will work together to find innovative ways to overcome the obstacles Covid-19 has placed in front of the traditional ways of making and seeing performance. The performing arts will adapt and thrive again, and it will be today’s students that shape the future, with a blend of traditional skills and new techniques and understanding.  

 

Why choose Central?

We’re a specialist college for the performing arts and offer everything from evening courses, diplomas and summer schools to undergraduate degrees, MA/MFAs, and research programmes. Our areas of specialism cover performance (acting, voice, movement), creative, design and production (theatre practice) and applied theatre.

Our Alumni

You’ll probably have heard of, or seen our alumni on or off stage. Central graduates are starring in and producing television, theatre, films and festivals all around the world, from theatre producer Sonia Friedman, award-winning sound designer Gareth Fry and War Horse puppeteer Toby Olié to James Bond’s Dame Judi Dench, Game of Thrones‘ Kit Harington and Spiderman’s Andrew Garfield.

State-of-the-art facilities

Our facilities are state-of-the-art: we have everything you’d expect from a world-famous drama school, and more – along with plenty of rehearsal and practice spaces - and an experimental lighting studio.

The Buzz

The building is a hive of activity and constantly buzzing with creativity. Students cluster on the steps and in the atrium rehearsing lines, or discussing projects; and you can almost always hear the sound of music practice coming from somewhere. It’s best to book onto an open day to see us in full flow.

Students’ Union

But it’s not all work: in the evenings the Students’ Union bar is a great place to socialise and be entertained, and the SU offer lots more to get involved with (as does the wider University of London’s Student Central).

Our London location

We’re in a great position in London: we’re directly opposite Hampstead Theatre, a short walk from some of London’s iconic parks (Hampstead Heath and Primrose Hill), and only 3 tube stops away from Central London (for the West End theatre district, shopping and nightlife).