A LEVEL
Drama & Theatre
Drama & Theatre is about telling stories, exploring ideas, and discovering what it means to communicate through performance.
Develop your confidence, creativity and understanding of how theatre connects people, both on stage and beyond.
You arrive as you are, and you’re celebrated for it. You leave ready to take on the world.
— Sixth Form student
Drama in Action
Why Choose Drama at St Paul’s?
In Drama & Theatre at St Paul’s, we learn through rehearsal, teamwork and trust. It’s a place where you can experiment, make mistakes, and grow in confidence together.
- In our studio spaces, you will experiment with movement, voice, and character, developing the confidence to perform and the insight to understand the craft behind great theatre.
- Our teachers bring professional experience and a genuine passion for performance, helping you stretch your imagination and refine your technique.
- You will work as part of an ensemble, learning how powerful theatre can be when every voice contributes to the story.
- Many of our students continue their journey into theatre, film, and performance-related study, taking with them the confidence, creativity, and communication skills that set them apart.
- Drama and Theatre at St Paul’s is ultimately about discovery, of ideas, of others, and of yourself.
Where Drama Can Take You
Students often go on to study acting, directing, stage design, writing or film at university or drama school. Others use the skills they’ve developed: teamwork, creativity, empathy and communication – in a wide range of careers.
Whatever path you take, Drama helps you grow in confidence and gives you the ability to bring stories and ideas to life.
I thought about leaving, but I realised no one else would care about me the way St Paul’s does. Here, I’m not starting over, I’m moving forward.
— Student Name
What You’ll Study
The course gives you the chance to see theatre from every angle: acting, directing and analysing how performances work. Through practical workshops and rehearsal, you’ll build confidence, creativity and an understanding of what makes powerful storytelling.
Practitioners in Practice – Research and explore the work of theatre practitioners and performance texts, then devise and perform an original piece inspired by your findings. Develop your ideas through a practical portfolio and realise your final performance for an audience.
Exploring and Performing Theatre – Study and perform an extract from a chosen play, working collaboratively to bring the text to life. Demonstrate your artistic intentions through a written concept outlining your creative approach.
Analysing Performance – Analyse and interpret extracts from performance texts, exploring characterisation, style, and context. Evaluate live theatre and examine how themes such as conflict, family, or heroism can be expressed through performance.
Deconstructing Texts for Performance –Â Take on the role of director to explore how a chosen play can be staged and performed. Practically investigate the text, analyse its structure and meaning, and develop creative ideas for communicating it effectively to an audience.
Full details of the course can be found in the exam board’s official OCR specification.
Drama builds confidence, teamwork and creativity. You’ll leave the course able to express ideas clearly and work with others to make something meaningful.
You arrive as you are, and you’re celebrated for it. You leave ready to take on the world.
— Sixth Form student
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Drama & Theatre Exam Results
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PASS RATE
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achieved
A* to C
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achieved
A* to B
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achieved
A* to A
Entry Requirements
This course does not have additional entry requirements beyond our standard entry requirements. However, it is preferred that you have a GCSE in Drama.
These requirements are in place to help set you up for success and make sure you have the right foundation to enjoy the challenge of Sixth Form study.
I thought about leaving, but I realised no one else would care about me the way St Paul’s does. Here, I’m not starting over, I’m moving forward.
— Student Name
Hear From Our Students
It's refreshing to study a subject where you're not stuck behind a desk - it's engaging, enjoyable and so much fun!
I loved watching and studying live theatre - it has hugely helped develop my own practice
We study really interesting and powerful texts that challenge our perception of the world we live in
Mr M Joyce
SUBJECT LEADER FOR DRAMA
Thank you for your interest in studying Drama & Theatre at St Paul’s. Our department is full of energy, creativity and support, and we’re proud of the way our students grow in confidence and skill through their work here.
If you’d like to find out more about the course or where it could take you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch, we’d be delighted to hear from you.
Send me a message
We’d love to hear from you, whether you want to talk about subject choices, entry requirements, or your future career ideas.
Are you ready to step onto the stage, embrace new challenges, and express powerful stories that move and inspire your audience?
Start your Drama journey at St Paul’s.
Whatever course you choose, you’ll be joining a community where every student is known and loved. Our mission is not just to help you succeed academically, but to help you grow as a person, supported and celebrated every step of the way.
Drama & TheatreCourse Content
Offering students the freedom of expression through drama performance and theatre, see how this course is assessed and the topics you will learn and develop during the time on the course
| UNIT 1Practitioners in Practice | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Unit 1 is divided into three sections:
- Section 1 – Learners will research and explore practically the work of others including:
- Two practitioners of the centre’s choice
- One extract from a centre-chosen performance text
- Section 2 – Learners create a devised performance influenced by their exploration of the work of others from Section 1. In this section learners complete a portfolio of evidence of the practical work they have created and developed during the devising process. This will include analysis and evaluation of their own work.
- Section 3 – Learners design for the final polished devised piece of drama or theatre and realise their designs in a performance for an audience. This section requires learners to create and develop ideas to communicate meaning, gaining an understanding of the skill set needed to work on a performance.Â
| UNIT 2Exploring and Performing Theatre | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Learners are required to study one performance text in its entirety and work collaboratively to performance part of the text. The text to be studied will be selected by the centre. Texts should allow sufficient opportunity for learners to work in depth on their acting skills.
Learners will explain their artistic intention for their performance in the concept pro forma found on the OCR website
Â
| UNIT 3Analysing Performace | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Unit 3 is divided into three sections:
- Section A – The aim is to enable learners to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how extracts from the chosen texts can be rehearsed and interpreted in performance, showing an awareness of characterisation, performance style, genre and context.
- Section B – The aim is to allow learners to analyse and evaluate live theatre. Leaners will explore how characters can be interpreted and developed ready for a performance. This component is assessed through a written exam but preparation must include practical study. Section A will include study of two different performance texts which explore one of the following themes:
- Conflict
- Family dynamics
- Heroes and Villians
| UNIT 4Deconstruction Texts for Performace | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Learners will explore the creative possibilities of staging the chosen performance text. This component is assessed through a written exam but preparation must consist of practical study. Leaners are required to explore the performance text practically through the role of the director. Learners will deconstruct the text and explore how any of its scenes can be staged and performed for an audience. Leaners will analyse and interpret the performance text in depth. Learners are required to study one performance text, and they are not permitted to have access to the text in the elimination.
