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BA Film & Theatre

  • UCAS code
    W480
  • A level offer
    ABB
  • Year of entry
    2024/25 See 2023/24 entry
  • Course duration
    Full Time:  3 Years
  • Year of entry
    2024/25 See 2023/24 entry
  • Course duration
    Full Time:  3 Years

Pursue your love of making and thinking about film and theatre – two major cultural industries in the UK – with our BA Film & Theatre course. 

Develop your own creative confidence and voice through experimentation and exploration in the Minghella Studios, a dynamic, collaborative environment in which film, theatre and television makers in the Department of Film, Theatre & Television work with and alongside each other.

Film, theatre and TV shape the world around us and have the power to change minds. The creative arts are recognised by audiences, creators, and policymakers as powerful areas for economic growth, cultural debate and rights advocacy. In this degree, you’ll examine the cultural impact, cultural legacies and digital futures of these art forms, studying a diverse and international range of practices – from the mainstream to radical and experimental works – and the contexts from which they emerge. 

Your practical work will be informed by the critical study of film and theatre, with the opportunity to also engage with TV. The aim is to enable you to specialise in your developing creative interests. You’ll experience all three media through collaborative practice of films, performances and television programmes, while applying theoretical knowledge to your work.

You will be taught by cutting-edge academics, industry professionals and a dedicated team of technicians. We support our students to become critically thinking, ethical practitioners, learning flexible strategies of design, knowledge exchange, and creative collaboration with other makers, as well as with communities, organisations, and funders.

You will also have the chance to undertake industry placements, professional collaborations, and study abroad opportunities, to develop your practice in a range of contexts.

In the National Student Survey 2023, 90% of our students said that teaching staff were good or very good at explaining things (89.92% of respondents studying in the School of Arts and Communication Design).

Our studios are situated on the University of Reading’s green campus, a leader in sustainable practice across the higher education sector.

Albert Education Partnership logoArri Certified Film School logoFEST logoRabble Theatre logoReading Rep Theatre logoResource Productions logoSouth Street Theatre logo

Our department proudly subscribes to the industry-leading BAFTA Albert scheme, which supports film-and-television makers in their efforts to work sustainably and to limit their environmental impact.

The first year of the course will offer you an equal balance of foundational knowledge and supported practice, delivered by the lecturers, researchers and technicians who lead our core modules. You’ll engage in critical discussions and hands-on exploration as you are introduced to the histories, practices and critical frameworks that inform theatre and film, and help you develop a range of creative, academic and technical skills that will prove invaluable throughout the degree and beyond.

The second year is your chance to specialise based on your own interests, either collaborating with a professional theatre company to create a performance project, or forming your own company of film-makers to devise, develop and produce your own film project. Throughout this year you’ll enhance key skills and develop more specialist technical and production expertise. You will delve into work within and beyond classical and conventional theatre, film and TV traditions and contexts.

Optional modules will allow you to expand your interests and investigate various areas in detail, such as:

  • authorship and genre
  • industry practices
  • key socio-political and cultural issues
  • acting, directing and dramaturgy
  • reworking Shakespeare
  • the employment landscape in the arts sector.

In your final year, you’ll enrich your expertise as a skilful and knowledgeable creator and critical thinker, culminating in a collaborative performance, a written dissertation, or an independent creative research project. The course will give you the tools and independence to select your path with confidence by the third year of your degree.

Optional, research, and practical-based modules will deepen your knowledge of film, theatre and TV; these modules are based around our academics’ current world-leading research and practice. 

Overview

Pursue your love of making and thinking about film and theatre – two major cultural industries in the UK – with our BA Film & Theatre course. 

Develop your own creative confidence and voice through experimentation and exploration in the Minghella Studios, a dynamic, collaborative environment in which film, theatre and television makers in the Department of Film, Theatre & Television work with and alongside each other.

Film, theatre and TV shape the world around us and have the power to change minds. The creative arts are recognised by audiences, creators, and policymakers as powerful areas for economic growth, cultural debate and rights advocacy. In this degree, you’ll examine the cultural impact, cultural legacies and digital futures of these art forms, studying a diverse and international range of practices – from the mainstream to radical and experimental works – and the contexts from which they emerge. 

Your practical work will be informed by the critical study of film and theatre, with the opportunity to also engage with TV. The aim is to enable you to specialise in your developing creative interests. You’ll experience all three media through collaborative practice of films, performances and television programmes, while applying theoretical knowledge to your work.

You will be taught by cutting-edge academics, industry professionals and a dedicated team of technicians. We support our students to become critically thinking, ethical practitioners, learning flexible strategies of design, knowledge exchange, and creative collaboration with other makers, as well as with communities, organisations, and funders.

You will also have the chance to undertake industry placements, professional collaborations, and study abroad opportunities, to develop your practice in a range of contexts.

In the National Student Survey 2023, 90% of our students said that teaching staff were good or very good at explaining things (89.92% of respondents studying in the School of Arts and Communication Design).

Our studios are situated on the University of Reading’s green campus, a leader in sustainable practice across the higher education sector.

Albert Education Partnership logoArri Certified Film School logoFEST logoRabble Theatre logoReading Rep Theatre logoResource Productions logoSouth Street Theatre logo

Our department proudly subscribes to the industry-leading BAFTA Albert scheme, which supports film-and-television makers in their efforts to work sustainably and to limit their environmental impact.

Learning

The first year of the course will offer you an equal balance of foundational knowledge and supported practice, delivered by the lecturers, researchers and technicians who lead our core modules. You’ll engage in critical discussions and hands-on exploration as you are introduced to the histories, practices and critical frameworks that inform theatre and film, and help you develop a range of creative, academic and technical skills that will prove invaluable throughout the degree and beyond.

The second year is your chance to specialise based on your own interests, either collaborating with a professional theatre company to create a performance project, or forming your own company of film-makers to devise, develop and produce your own film project. Throughout this year you’ll enhance key skills and develop more specialist technical and production expertise. You will delve into work within and beyond classical and conventional theatre, film and TV traditions and contexts.

Optional modules will allow you to expand your interests and investigate various areas in detail, such as:

  • authorship and genre
  • industry practices
  • key socio-political and cultural issues
  • acting, directing and dramaturgy
  • reworking Shakespeare
  • the employment landscape in the arts sector.

In your final year, you’ll enrich your expertise as a skilful and knowledgeable creator and critical thinker, culminating in a collaborative performance, a written dissertation, or an independent creative research project. The course will give you the tools and independence to select your path with confidence by the third year of your degree.

Optional, research, and practical-based modules will deepen your knowledge of film, theatre and TV; these modules are based around our academics’ current world-leading research and practice. 

Entry requirements A Level ABB

Select Reading as your firm choice on UCAS and we'll guarantee you a place even if you don't quite meet your offer. For details, see our firm choice scheme.

Typical offer

ABB 

International Baccalaureate

32 points overall

Extended Project Qualification

In recognition of the excellent preparation that the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) provides to students for University study, we can now include achievement in the EPQ as part of a formal offer.

BTEC Extended Diploma

DDM

UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma

Merit

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5, with no component below 5.5

For information on other English language qualifications, please visit our international student pages.

Alternative entry requirements for International and EU students

For country specific entry requirements look at entry requirements by country.

Pre-sessional English language programme

If you need to improve your English language score you can take a pre-sessional English course prior to entry onto your degree.

  • Find out the English language requirements for our courses and our pre-sessional English programme

Structure

  • Year 1
  • Year 2
  • Year 3

Compulsory modules

Analysing Theatre and Performance

Critically interpret theatre texts and performances, enhancing your understanding of the conventions of production, the organisation of meaning in performance, and deviations from mainstream conventions. Engage with performances from the late nineteenth century to the contemporary, focusing on their historical, cultural, stylistic and performative contexts.

Approaches to Film

Critically interpret film texts and discover the conventions of fiction and non-fiction cinema. Explore cinema as a diverse, global and transcultural medium, focusing on historical and cultural contexts.

Introduction to Filmmaking 

Explore the methodologies and working practices related to the creative production of film and television texts, learning about the relationship between development of meaning and creative decision-making in these forms. Gain hands-on experience of the practices and processes involved in planning, documentation and analysis of critically engaged moving image production, and use specialist equipment necessary for production work.

Introduction to Scriptwriting 

Develop in-depth knowledge of scriptwriting and analysis of creative works and enhance your own scriptwriting skills with creative and intellectual tools. You’ll explore personal storytelling in cultural and intellectual contexts, as well as following script development – from the final draft through to creative production. 

Staging Texts: Production Skills, Design and Performance

Explore how texts are realised in production, and how making meaning influences creative decisions, as you analyse texts through audio and scenographic design projects and learn about the practices and processes of engaged theatre practice. You’ll study the work of leading practitioners and develop key practical skills through a series of workshops

Approaches to Television

Gain a critical understanding of central issues in television texts and fiction and non-fiction programming. You’ll examine television forms and narratives, industrial contexts, digital platforms and new delivery technologies, as well as the role of the audience and public service broadcasting.

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

 

Optional modules

Professional Roles and Screen Industry Pathways

Gain lived experience of professional roles and industry pathways in film and television production. You’ll develop knowledge and skills in a specific department of production and have the chance to experiment and reflect on future career directions.

Film Forms and Cultures

Discover the rich variety of film forms and explore critical and conceptual issues of form, including theoretical perspectives, questions of form, and form’s meaning and politics. 

Placement and Employment Skills

This module provides you with an opportunity for reflective learning and intensive research through an industry role of your choice. You’ll reflect critically on your career development and acquire transferable skills for future employment.

Documentary

Develop skills to critically analyse and produce non-fiction films and television through close analysis of texts and engagement with various industrial and technological contexts. You’ll engage with critical debates and conceptual issues and put ideas into practice. You’ll understand documentary-makers' creative decision-making and their connection to ideological concerns.

Television and Contemporary Culture

Engage with issues of genre, globalisation, industry, and representation. You’ll examine the construction of critical and contextual frameworks that underpin television studies. Explore television’s international flows, build a picture of national industrial practices, and analyse digital media practices and platforms. You’ll develop a critical understanding of conventions and histories of selected genres and explore the implied impact of ideologies of representation.

Identity, Performance and Culture

Understand the construction, representation and performance of diverse modes of identity in theatre and in culture. You’ll develop skills of close textual and performance analysis, and learn how local, national and global contexts have influenced playwrights, theatre makers and theatre cultures. 

Reworking Shakespeare in Performance 

Understand Shakespeare as a powerful signifier of culture, explore adaptations of Shakespeare and learn how these relate to broader cultural and political contexts. You’ll learn about the practices and preoccupations that currently affect the interpretation of Shakespeare and gain the ability to make connections between social and cultural concerns and their presentation on stage.

Directing and Dramaturgy

Explore a culturally diverse range of directing and dramaturgical approaches to creating performance. You’ll be equipped with a toolbox of critically informed and aesthetically exciting strategies, an understanding of the significance of research-informed performance practices, and gain confidence in leading theatre-making processes. 

From Acting to Performance

Analyse the role of actors in theatre and performance-making and explore various acting approaches. Engage effectively with dramatic constructs of character using a creative and critical toolbox and develop confidence in solo performance making.

Community and Collaborative Performance Practices

Develop your performance-making competence by collaboratively researching, planning, devising and executing a practical project in a specific community or theatre company. You’ll learn to relate critical and theoretical issues to decision-making, conduct independent research and have supervised studio time, enhancing your analytical and evaluation skills.

Independent Critical Project

Apply your knowledge and research skills to an area of interest with an extended research project that includes a creative component. You’ll develop your research project independently under the guidance of your supervisor.

Creative Screen Practice

Understand how creative processes relate to research, critical analysis and industry practices. You’ll develop your skills in collaborative production by working on a short practical project. You will also critically analyse and evaluate theoretical issues that are crucial to filmic or television decision-making, and enhance your professional skills in the fields of film and television.

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

Optional modules

Advanced Theatre-making Project

Apply the knowledge and skills you’ve gained to a practical, research-based project, that you will develop independently under the guidance of a supervisor. 

Creative Research Project

Apply your previously gained knowledge and skills to a significant research-based project that includes a creative element and critical research and reflection. You’ll develop the project independently under supervision.

Dissertation: Film and Theatre

Apply the knowledge and skills you’ve acquired in the previous modules to a major piece of independent work around an area you are interested in. Independently initiate and develop the project under the guidance of a supervisor.

Performance and Design: Site, Scenography and Installation

Critically explore theatre and performance design by engaging with historical and contemporary scenographic practices. You’ll learn about the role of designers in shaping and reimagining theatre and performance. You’ll advance the ways you read, see and encounter the visual, aural, spatial, material and technological elements of design. Get involved in critical reading and discussions on a diverse range of international designers, methods and performance environments. You’ll gain exposure to professional contexts through visits to archives, talks or masterclasses from visiting designers and/or scholars.

Advanced Film/TV Project

Apply the knowledge and skills you’ve gained to a practical, research-based project, independently developed by you and your group under the guidance of a supervisor.

Development and Pre-Production

Strengthen your understanding of film and/or TV idea development and pre-production processes. You’ll reinforce your knowledge of industry practices attained in prior practical modules while working towards the production of a substantial practical project. You'll reinforce the mutually beneficial relationship between critical thinking and creative practice.

Commercial and Community Filmmaking

Develop your filmmaking competencies and professionalism through a short film-based project. You’ll develop specialisms in film as well as critical understanding of film, industry practices and community contexts. You’ll apply relevant knowledge to the practical project, creating a project that responds clearly to the needs of community partners or commercial clients. You’ll also engage with perspectives and practices in film accessibility, sustainability and social engagement as part of the project.

Other optional modules

  • Adaptions across Stage and Screen

  • Advanced Scriptwriting

  • Screen Bodies

  • Musical Theatre

  • Film Festivals and Programming

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

Fees

New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £9,250

New international students: £22,350

* UK/Republic of Ireland fee changes

UK/Republic of Ireland undergraduate tuition fees are regulated by the UK government. These fees are subject to parliamentary approval and any decision on raising the tuition fees cap for new UK students would require the formal approval of both Houses of Parliament before it becomes law.

EU student fees

With effect from 1 August 2021, new EU students will pay international tuition fees. For exceptions, please read the UK government’s guidance for EU students.

Additional costs

Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.

Financial support for your studies

You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.

Careers

As a student on our BA Film & Theatre course, you’ll study the industrial, economic and cultural contexts in which film, theatre and television work is produced, and understand your own identity as a creative practitioner who is making change in the world. You will develop both your critical and practical skills to open multiple employability avenues or prepare you for postgraduate study.

Graduates of this degree have gone on to work in:

  • film-making or theatre-making
  • production
  • fundraising and development
  • cinematography
  • performance
  • teaching and education
  • community arts
  • arts management and administration
  • academia
  • publishing and media
  • film and theatre criticism
  • advertising and marketing.

BA Film and Television

Contextual offers


We make contextual offers for all our courses.

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  • Film & Television
  • Drama
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