University/ drama school for autistic academic son which isn't too dance based

[swipeup347]

We are currently looking at options for my son for uni/drama schools from September 2026 or possibly 2027.

He is a great singer and actor and can dance but it isn't as strong as his other disciplines. Unfortunately we aren't able to afford a wide range of classes for him so he attends a part time theatre school on a Saturday where he studies musical theatre for 3 hours and we also pay for an advanced dance session. He has never done ballet but I see a few places ask for ballet in the audition process.

He is also autistic and dyspraxic, so we need a uni or drama school that is just the right fit for him, but he is also extremely confident, loud and extroverted. He excels at everything he does works exceptionally hard and is also very academic. He does between 2 and 3 shows a year between school and his theatre school also in our regional theatre. However he does not completely live and breathe theatre like some of his friends who are parts of 3 different am drams and are literally at rehearsals for something 24/7 or if not rehearsing are gigging or busking somewhere. He likes his downtime too which isn't seen as a good thing in the performing world apparently.

He is currently studying BTEC in performing arts and English Language A level with consistently good grades.

The whole application process is such a minefield. He knows he wants to work in the industry ideally TV presenting or West End performer!! (like everyone I am sure!!)

He has friends from his theatre school that have got into some really good drama schools : Italia Conti, Bird, Mountview and Performers to name a few.

We cannot afford the fees of some of them so we have discounted them.

He loves the look of Chichester but notices he has to do ballet in the audition and he has never done ballet, also likes Winchester. GSA would be great but chances are slim as only 30 places but will definitely apply.

I don't know if drama school would be too pressurised for him and maybe uni would be a better fit. I would feel happier if he could be in a uni where he can live in halls and I think uni life would suit him down to the ground.

He doesn't struggle writing essays and enjoys academic work just as much as practical acting/musical theatre.

Because he is weaker at dancing he wonders whether he should look at just straight acting.

But both of us are concerned that if he goes to University as a pose to a drama school is he less likely to find an agent and work when he graduates. Although he knows several people who have been to drama school (don't know anyone who has been to university to study musical theatre) he doesn't know anyone that works in the industry most are baristas or work in hospitality and if they can't find work how can a graduate of a university which has less calibre find work or because uni has more of an academic part to is it easier to find work.

So any ideas of any musical theatre or acting courses at a nice university or drama school where he can get support if he gets overwhelmed.

Dd2's at Chichester doing Musical Theatre.

They have plenty of people who start not having done dance before, and especially plenty of non-ballerinas. They set them for dance in the different disciplines, so he'd go into a bottom ballet set who haven't done it before probably.

One thing I suggested to her (she hadn't done ballet for about 6 years when she auditioned) is that she wanted me to buy shoes for the audition, and I suggested I didn't, because it made it clear to the people auditioning them that she wasn't currently doing ballet.

She has a meeting once a fortnight with a mental health mentor, and your ds would probably be entitled for that, through the student disability. They'd be there to talk things through and advocate for him. He'd also have a good chance of being able to stay in halls if that suited him better.

However he does not completely live and breathe theatre

With that and your other comments in mind, I agree that a uni sounds a better option for him. It's so hard even to get into drama school and the odds are so high against 'making it' that you have to live and breathe it. And if he's not done ballet by this age, it's probably not his thing. Not in the way it is for those who are obsessed. I'd look into the entry requirements of theatre studies degrees, with or without english (depending on how much he's into that), at unis. Choose a uni with a decent drama society and do all that on the side and then do a one-year post-grad at a drama school if he's still wanting that kind of training and agent showcase. But there's nothing stopping him courting agents and going up for roles or even generating his own work/putting on shows in the meantime.

Plenty of successful actors never trained if they found another way in - I work with actors a lot and some of the best learned on the job, though they have to be very driven/self-starting. If you look at the drama school threads on here, you'll see how hardcore it is, a whole eco system of its own, and the outcomes are so limited, I wouldn't advise anyone who's not 1000% into it to put all their eggs in that basket. If you talk this through, explore the uni route, and it makes him react like he adamantly wants to try the drama school route instead, then that's clear. Show him the options that are out there and then it has to come from him.

What about Exeter or Manchester for drama and theatre degrees? Both very good departments. No dance required tho there are bound to be classes nearby if he wants to continue it in some way.

rose Bruford for acting or American theatre arts?

there is a drama schools thread on here for more ideas too

Whilst I agree that if it's not his abiding passion, he's going to find drama school quite intense, if he truly wants a career in the industry I don't think doing drama at a traditional or newer university is the right route for him. Drama at university may prepare you for teaching drama or for working in other roles in the industry, but it doesn't often help you get an agent or work as a performer. If he's not ready to commit to full-time drama school right now, how about a normal English degree at uni and then (if he is a seriously talented singer and remains keen by that point) hope for the Masters at Royal Academy? (Expensive but there are bursaries and it does launch careers).
Actors can do degrees in other things and find their way into the industry - sometimes. Musical theatre performers, unless they are the Strallens and already well known at 18, are better off going to a good training college, as this will put them in front of agents in their final year, and that's the route to working. Be careful - some of the uni-based MT courses may not have the contact hours needed to be eligible for Spotlight or really get students to the required standard, so check contact hours, alumni success etc.
Good schools to consider where the dance content is relatively lighter would be Central (Acting with MT), Royal Welsh and Italia Conti, which has a recently launched Acting with MT course that is separate from its other MT course that does involve a lot of dance. GSA does involve dance but it's not as dance-heavy as some places and very talented boys can get in without much dance experience - but as you say, there are so few places. Another up-and-coming one would be Leeds Conservatoire - I would go there over some of the uni MT courses.
In the meantime, how about applying for NYMT/BYMT next year? If successful, he would do a residential with long days doing MT among talented, like-minded souls - that might allow him to see if it's for him or not.
Just to sound a final word of caution - at the risk of sounding pessimistic - this is SUCH a difficult world to be in. Even Arts Ed and GSA grads who are bursting with talent can struggle to get work. It takes someone with not just massive talent but huge determination, and real resilience in the face of repeated rejection to make it work. If this doesn't sound like your son, I'd be encouraging him to do an academic degree since he is academic, and keeping the performing as a hobby. There are excellent student theatre societies at many universities and then good am dram groups crying out for talented young men!

I agree with others voting for a uni degree, given a few things. He is academic and not having any trouble with writing essays. An academic degree will mean has more options at the end of the course, than just acting.

Drama schools ALL have some element of dance in their training and they all focus on physical movement. So there are classes where you might roll on the floor like an octopus, or dance with your eyes shut, or free dance with a partner, or learn medieval dance steps, or spend one day a week on sword-fighting and stage combat.

Stage craft is a very physical medium, so it is integral in all the drama school courses. There may be places like Kingston that only do "film acting" when its very close up and you're working with cameras, but for the most part Drama school is physically demanding and will expect a lot of you both when you audition and as a student.

Have a look at LIPA as a middle ground

He could do a Drama degree, do lots of student theatre, as well as the actor & technical training of a Drama degree, then prepare for doing a one-year vocational Masters degree - LAMDA and Bristol Old Vic offer good ones. By then he'll know whether he's really good enough (most non-theatre people underestimate just how extraordinarily good & hard-working you have to be - leads in schol shows isn't what the profession is about).

Don't discount the academic AND professional expertise of university Drama teaching staff. A member of my family teaches in one of the top ones in the country, having had a freelance career as actor & director (after training in dance), and now teaches acting and directing to university students.

Things to look at for university courses would be the hours in studio/practical modules, and the facilities fr teaching those.

But he really needs to work on his dancing - at least to think about the ability to channel ideas/emotions/character through movement.

A list of Drama departments whose alumni have gone on to professional careers (not comprehensive - just off the top of my head) - look at Single Honours, rather than combined as that doubles the number of practical modules.
Birmingham
Exeter
Royal Holloway
Bristol (although that's a small rather quiet department)
Manchester
Glasgow

Agree with this. And Exeter has brilliant extra curricular performing arts opportunities too (Manchester probably does too)

What about lipa? Haven’t read the full thread so not sure if it’s already mentioned…

Some good ideas here. Thank you. It is just such a cut throat industry. He would love GSA as is a drama school within a university but loads of people audition and they only take a very small number.

He went to s UCAS convention with his school and liked chichester and winchester as well as Falmouth and Farnham ( but much lower UCAS points and less contact hours) so actually don't know what he will gain from going to either of these.

I think we are going to disregard drama school. He enjoys socialising abd going to the theatre and watching any type of live performing and people from his Saturday theatre school who are at drama school have no time for anything else. He also needs to work part time to fund his theatre trips and he doesn't want to give these up!

Thanks for suggestions of LIPA and Exeter will look at these and also straight acting. He has a friend at Bournemouth and Bath so are going to look at those too.

DS did BA Drama at Exeter and it was the best decision ever! 50% of the course is practical/studio-based, and while it's not the same as drama school, it gives you an excellent foundation in the subject/craft. The drama societies are brilliant - shows every term and often take shows to Edinburgh Festival etc.

His degree actually gave him Spotlight membership after Year 2 and nearly all his friends have gone on to do MAs/MFAs afterwards at drama schools (RADA, LAMDA, GSA, Oxford, Mountview, Bristol). Some went directly into the industry and managed to get agent representation.

Doing uni first gives them a much more rounded higher education first - and contacts beyond just the acting community. DS has a lot of friends who studied English, Film, Liberal Arts etc. He got involved with people writing plays, directing shows, making short films etc.
Also means they have a humanities degree from a strong university to fall back on if the acting doesn't work out.

I honestly think this would be the best route for your son.

Drama at university may prepare you for teaching drama or for working in other roles in the industry, but it doesn't often help you get an agent or work as a performer. If he's not ready to commit to full-time drama school right now, how about a normal English degree at uni

A Drama degree doesn't offer the same intensity as a conservatoire, but - as lovely as an English degree is - if Drama is offered at a really good university (not a post-92, I'm afraid) he'll get a real introduction to a much wider range of performance styles and history than in either an English degree or a conservatoire. It won't be the intensity of actor training of LAMDA etc, but it will be far more than an English degree!!

Drama schools tend to teach to market demand. University drama departments do it differently by challenging students (my Drama teaching lecturer relative says they try to challenge & widen the breadth of what undergrads think of as "performance.")

Exeter university drama produced, for example, the companies Punchdrunk and Forced Entertainment. Both companies changed the way theatre is done (Forced Entertainment won the theatre world's equivalent of the NObel prize - the Ibsen award). Manchester University drama department has produced many really long lived activist/theatre in education companies. Lancaster trained Andy Sirks (sp?). Glasgow hosted the immersive work of Adrian Howells. And so on.

He went to s UCAS convention with his school and liked chichester and winchester as well as Falmouth and Farnham ( but much lower UCAS points and less contact hours) so actually don't know what he will gain from going to either of these.

What are his A Level predictions? these are pretty small and low-ranked departments, and in the current bonfire of the arts and humanities, they are all vulnerable. He won't be studying with other students who are challenging him intellectually.