Make magic happen! Know what it means to have a career in performance. Collaborate with other starry personalities and become the industry professional you dream to be!
Subject Information
A 2 year programme of pre-professional, musical theatre training which is the equivalent of 2 A Levels (up to 84 UCAS points).
Through the RSL Level 3 Diploma qualification, you will be working to industry briefs and experiencing employer engagement through performing arts practice.
There are four bands of assessment (Pass, Merit, Distinction* and Unclassified) for each unit of the course. In order to achieve the minimum of a Pass grade, learners must pass every individual assessment criterion within every learning outcome.
The RSL Level 3 Diploma offers different pathways in Performing Arts. Here at Chesterton, the course will lead you through a Musical Theatre Pathway. Students will develop their technical and performance skills in this specialism, as well as their creative and producing skills during devising and choreographic projects. Students will study current practitioners and their working methods and techniques, as well as developing their written analytical skills.
Musical Theatre Learners will demonstrate that they can:
- Perform effectively
- Rehearse and display musical theatre skills
- Initiate and develop repertoire
- Understand contextual issues relating to performance styles and genres, and the performing arts industry
Course Details
Assessment takes place over 7 units, 1 of which is externally assessed and 6 units which are internally assessed through coursework.
The externally assessed core unit is a major component of the course: Performance Preparation. The internally assessed core unit is Planning for a Career in the Creative and Performing Arts and will take up approximately half the guided learning hours or the external assessment.
The five optional units are the remainder of the course (approximately 300 guided learning hours in total). At Chesterton, following the Musical Theatre Pathway, learners must pass both core units, and undertake the following units selected by the department:
- Audition Techniques
- Musical Theatre Performance
- Vocal Techniques (Acting)
- Vocal Techniques (Music)
- Ensemble Dance Performance
Our interests and strengths lie in training actors who show the potential to sing and dance to an industry standard; and in turn, MT performers who have the emotional intelligence of classical and contemporary actors. We want you to leave with a skills set that might be seen as a triple threat!
Super Curriculum
Here at Chesterton, your course would naturally lead to activities and opportunities that extend beyond the college day:
- Opportunities to take part in masterclasses and workshops with celebrated professionals [Chesterton Drama Department has established links with world famous director Ian Rickson, Golden Globe award- winning actress Rosamund Pike and West End star Ryan Hutton], among others. We most recently had workshops with Complicite.
- Chances to perform in extra-curricular events, plays and musicals with Chesterton Youth Theatre, both at Chesterton [our sister Company, Achilles’ Heel, has toured to Edinburgh Festival Fringe; our NT Connections performances at the Royal & Derngate Theatre, Northampton, have been professionally reviewed with a critic’s acclaim that “Chesterton’s…was the greatest Connections (he had ever) seen. Just so truly brilliant from the cast and director…”. We most recently had fun performing ‘High School Musical’ with a cast and crew spanning from Year 8 to our sixth form stars. Former Chesterton students have come back from other sixth form centres to be in our musical productions like ‘Les Miserables’.
- Invitations to receive coaching for auditions for drama schools with experienced professionals [10 members of Chesterton Youth Theatre were awarded places with National Youth Theatre / National Youth Music Theatre, following Chesterton-based workshops and with Chesterton-facilitated financial support in 2023].
- Theatre trips to see cutting-edge productions in the West End and in a range of local venues [Chesterton students have frequently received reduced price/free upgrades for tickets at Cambridge Arts Theatre and the ADC; we have also been given tailored workshops at London’s Royal Court Theatre prior to seeing its new plays]. We most recently went to see Disney’s ‘Newsies’ at the Troubadour Theatre, Wembley and are about to go and see ‘Dear England’ in London’s West End.
- We plan to extend our annual drama retreats to Burwell House and introduce residential visits to Disneyland, Paris.
- Spaces for rehearsal and performance at Chesterton are plentiful, from the homely Drama Studio; to the newly built Atrium Theatre which is being developed further into a dedicated theatre space.
- Students will also have access to state-of-the-art LED and halogen lighting fixtures in our performance spaces; plus sound equipment and a large store of costumes and props.
In summary, Chesterton drama & performing arts department is a boutique-like centre for excellence and our teachers come from professional performer backgrounds, touring the world in classical and musical theatre and cruise ship entertainment. We always aspire to mirror the best of professional practice from what we know it to be.
You can expect personalised provision from what will be a growing team of passionate, experienced and diverse MT practitioners who are dedicated to their roles as teachers. The ethos will be one which balances hard work with team play to nurture talent and unearth creativity in every individual.
Subject Specific Entry Requirements
A good grade in GCSE drama (9 – 6) / Btec performing arts (merit +) will provide you with a strong foundation for the RSL Level 3 Diploma in Performing Arts, but is not a necessary entrance requirement here.
Those beginning the course without KS4 qualifications in Performing Arts might have experiences of performance/musical theatre outside of school; and/or you might have good GCSEs in English, Film Studies, History and/or Languages.
You will be asked to audition at Chesterton prior to your starting the RSL Diploma in Performing Arts. This will involve you showcasing your abilities in Musical Theatre so that we can check this is the right course for you.
Where could the RSL Level 3 Diploma in Performing Arts take me?
We want those taking the course to be ambitious in their hopes and dreams for the future. The Performing Arts Level 3 Diploma could lead to a degree in Musical Theatre, as well as professional training for a future career within the arts sector. The qualification supports progression to higher education when taken as part of a programme of study that would include at least 1 other A Level (eg. Drama, Music or English). It also enables students to be ready for employment upon completion of the course, should they wish to start work/apprenticeships rather than continue in HE.
Did you know that for every £1 of salary paid by the arts and culture industry, an additional £2 is generated into the wider economy? Arts Council research in 2020 also deduced how much of a ‘draw’ theatre is in the UK for international visitors, attracting at least £856m of tourist spending.
Being a professional performer means to play an important role in supporting the UK’s wider commercial creative industries, such as film production, social media, advertising, design and crafts, here and overseas. It may mean working on cruises, in theme parks, castles and other tourist attractions, as well as in corporate training events and in coaching at stage schools for children. It may mean performing on screen – there is such a wide range of platforms from television to gaming.
Performing Arts can additionally lead to other exciting vocations and careers which are similarly uplifting and lucrative: your teachers will be able to name countless students they know who have become PR consultants, Project Managers, Agents, Events Organisers and Sales Executives to name but a few possibilities.
It can also, of course, be the starting point for a successful working life in theatre itself, whether that is behind the scenes, or whether it is one on stage in the spotlight, as many former Chesterton students can currently testify!
