Acting and Performance HND

Course overview

Acting and Performance HND is a two-year course designed to support you to realise and achieve your performance potential. From the hundreds of applications we receive, each year we accept two cohorts of driven and committed students who aspire to become the next generation of performers and makers.  Upon completion of our HND our students successfully go on to work as actors and performers in the Scottish Theatre sector and beyond, create their own theatre companies, or undertake further study on our BA (Hons) Dance and Drama Degree or at other institutions.

During your HND you will gain essential experience in working in professional environments led by our exceptional lectures, many of which continue to work in the industry, and will work with you to develop your skills in acting, voice, movement, and production. 

This highly practical course is centred around key production projects aimed at developing and promoting your performance skills.  Students in this course will collaborate with other students in the Performing Arts Studio Scotland faculty, including make-up artists, costume designers, and technical theatre designers.  Further opportunities for collaboration include working with students from the film department to create short films and an external site-specific project with the dance department.

For more information please follow us on:

Instagram:  @passedcoll

Facebook:  @PASS - Acting, Musical Theatre, Technical Theatre & Costume for Stage

What you will learn

• Creating Devised Theatre
• Physical Theatre: Skills for Devising and Performance
• Theatre Styles
• Live Performance
• Voice, Acting and Movement Development Skills
• Text and Performance
• Acting for Camera

Placement information

No assessed placements but students have had the opportunity to participate in Cultural Exchange Trips with Edinburgh Festival Carnival to South Africa, Brazil, Costa Rica and Cuba where they have worked with arts organisations in a variety of contexts. 

How the course is assessed

• You will be assessed through; practical performance, self-evaluation through portfolios, logbooks or Vlogs and theoretical/research assignments

Number of days per week

• 3 - 4 days per week however this will be increased when working towards performances

Entry requirements

• Two Highers, one of which should be Higher or Advanced Higher Drama
• Level 6 Full time qualification in Acting and Performance
• A personal statement that shows a desire to make a career in the performing arts

Please note: Due to the volume of applications we receive, the audition and interview process is particularly important and plays a large part in the decision-making process of suitability when choosing potential students.

Information on Tests / Auditions / Interview Requirements

To successfully gain a place on our course, all candidates must take part in an audition at Granton Campus. The audition process will likely last between two and three hours and contain four sections: 

•  A tour of our facilities with current HND students
•  An induction session
•  A workshop with fellow auditionees
•  An audition monologue performance followed by an interview

The piece you perform should be one short monologue from a published play. This should be no longer than 2 minutes in duration. We recommend you choose a contemporary piece and character who is about your age, please do not perform any classical pieces, including Shakespeare.

Please also avoid pieces that you have done in Higher/National 5 Drama or English or any of the plays listed below as these pieces tend to be very popular at auditions:

• The Letterbox or Tally’s Blood by Ann Marie de Mambro
• The Steamie by Tony Roper
• Men Should Weep by Ena Lamont Stewart
• Passing Places by Stephen Greenhorn

Immediately after the performance of your monologue, you will have a short interview where we will ask you about your reasons for wanting to train to become an actor and about the kind of theatre that interests you.

If you have difficulty finding suitable monologues ask your English or Drama teacher for suggestions. If you are looking to buy plays the Traverse Theatre offers an extensive back catalogue of their productions for sale at their box office at very reasonable prices. Good quality monologue/audition books are also available online and in most of the larger bookshops in town. Please note that we expect you to have read the play from which your audition piece originates.

AUDITION DATES: Granton Campus

• January 2025
• February  2025
• March 2025
• April 2025
• May 2025

Further Dates will be added if needed in June.

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Progression and Articulation Routes

• Dance and Drama BA Hons at PASS Edinburgh College with Kingston University 
• Year three BA (Hons) Acting for Stage and Screen at Queen Margaret University 
• Year three BSc (Hons) Acting for Stage and Screen at Edinburgh Napier University 
• Progress to drama schools such as Italia Conti RCS, RADA Central School of Speech and Drama, LIPA Rose Bruford Manchester Metropolitan University, Birmingham School of Acting and The Drama Centre 
• Drama school BA Drama and Performance at Queen Margaret University 
• Year 2 BA (Hons) Drama and Production at University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI)

Career options

• Directing
• Teaching
• Writing
• Performing
• Production