Top-Tier Pre-College Acting Summer Program For High Schoolers on Cambridge Arts School Campus

Course Description: Top-Tier Pre-College Acting Summer Program For High Schoolers on Cambridge Arts School Campus

• 🎓 Course Overview

This pre-college acting summer course gives students aged 14–18 a solid foundation in acting technique, taught by working professional performers at a specialist school of visual and performing arts in Cambridge, England. Over one or two weeks, students research, train intensively and rehearse, building up to a final performance for fellow summer school students. The course is taught in English, and students are encouraged to use English with one another throughout.

📚 Academic Content

Students complete around 30 hours of tuition per week, made up of workshops and rehearsals, in classes of 10 to 18 students. An upper-intermediate to advanced level of English is required, and students take a short placement assessment on arrival.

Core Skills

• Acting technique: key actor-training exercises, actor and character work, and naturalistic and non-naturalistic approaches.

• Voice & text: voice and text technique, work with theatrical texts and an introduction to Shakespeare, including verse speaking and thought structure.

• Movement: movement and dance, using physical action to communicate with an audience, and applying movement to text.

• Improvisation & devising: playfulness, improvisation and devising skills that build confidence and creativity.

• Ensemble & stagecraft: ensemble work through song or acting, and the stagecraft needed to take work into performance.

Week by Week

Week one opens with games and exercises to build confidence and playfulness, then moves through what acting is, ensemble skills, actor and character techniques, theatrical texts and Shakespeare, finishing with an introduction to the script and the first rehearsals. Week two integrates movement, voice and text into rehearsal and character work, followed by a technical rehearsal, a dress rehearsal and, on the final Friday, performances and the presentation of certificates.

Every student receives a certificate at the end of the course and a portfolio to store their work. Completing the course can lead to progression onto the school's University of the Arts London (UAL) Extended Diploma or Foundation Diploma, subject to UAL entry criteria.

📍 Campus & Location

The programme takes place at a specialist school of visual and performing arts in the historic university city of Cambridge, England. Teaching takes place in purpose-built creative facilities, including theatres and dance studios with professional lighting and sound, open-plan art studios with high-spec iMacs, fashion workshops with garment-construction rooms and pattern-cutting stations, a photography studio, screen printing, sewing machines and print rooms. London is only about 50 minutes away by train, and the city's colleges are a short walk from the teaching campus.

🏫 Accommodation & Meals

Students stay in a residence on New Street in Cambridge, about a 20-minute walk from the city-centre campus and the city centre, with a bus stop at the top of the road served roughly every 10 minutes. Every student has a single bedroom with a private en-suite bathroom. Reception is staffed 24 hours a day, there is free WiFi and a common room, bedding is provided (towels are not), rooms are cleaned weekly and self-service laundry facilities are available. Supermarkets are within a 7–10 minute walk.

All canteen meals are included: breakfast, lunch and an evening meal served in the on-campus cafeteria, with a packed lunch on excursion days. Coeliac and other special diets, as well as halal food, are available on request.

🚌 Excursions & Activities

Every Saturday is a full-day excursion, mainly to London, with guided walks, a gallery or museum visit (for example the V&A, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, the Science Museum or the Natural History Museum) and time for shopping; Southwold Beach is another possible destination. Excursions include transport, entry tickets and a packed lunch. Sunday is a free day.

Evenings run from 19:30 to 22:00 with a varied social programme, which in the published sample timetable includes the City View Ferris Wheel, bowling or rock climbing, a talent show, cinema, a disco, a selfie orienteering challenge, park social time, ice skating, punting on the river and a dance party. Evening activities and Saturday excursions are compulsory for students under 18.

⏰ A Day in the Life

On weekdays, breakfast is followed by a morning session from 08:00 to 12:00, lunch from 12:00 to 13:00, an afternoon session from 13:00 to 16:00, dinner from 16:30 to 18:00 and an evening activity from 19:30 to 22:00. Students arrive on a Sunday (arrival, induction and a campus tour), spend Saturday on a full-day excursion and Sunday as a free day, and depart on a Sunday.

• 08:00–12:00 — Morning: acting, movement or Shakespeare workshop

• 12:00–13:00 — Lunch

• 13:00–16:00 — Afternoon: ensemble work, text work or rehearsals

• 16:30–18:00 — Dinner

• 19:30–22:00 — Evening activity, such as bowling, a talent show or punting

2027 Dates & Fees 📅

This is a residential programme. Courses start on a Sunday and finish with departure on a Sunday. Fees are quoted in pounds sterling (GBP) and include tuition, single en-suite accommodation, meals, excursions and activities.

• Sunday 27 June – Sunday 11 July — Length: 2 weeks — Residential: £4,025

• Sunday 4 July – Sunday 11 July — Length: 1 week — Residential: £2,115

• Sunday 11 July – Sunday 25 July — Length: 2 weeks — Residential: £4,025

• Sunday 18 July – Sunday 25 July — Length: 1 week — Residential: £2,115

• Sunday 25 July – Sunday 8 August — Length: 2 weeks — Residential: £4,025

• Sunday 1 August – Sunday 8 August — Length: 1 week — Residential: £2,115

Two-week courses run from 27 June, 11 July and 25 July; one-week options start on 4 July, 18 July and 1 August. Deposit, transfer and insurance details are not published on the course page and should be confirmed at booking.

✔️ What's Included

Around 30 hours of acting tuition per week with professional performers, a single en-suite room in the residence, all canteen meals (with a packed lunch on excursion days), one full-day excursion per week with transport and entry tickets, the evening activity programme, WiFi, weekly room cleaning, a portfolio and a certificate on completion.

Not included: travel to and from Cambridge, airport transfers, towels and personal spending money.

🛡️ Safety & Welfare

Dedicated Student Welfare Officers are available throughout the school day for pastoral, hygiene and medical needs, and there is on-site medical provision at the residential centre. The residence has 24-hour staffed reception and aims to balance supervision with age-appropriate independence. Centres are chosen for their safe environments, staff are trained in emergency procedures, and every student receives an induction on arrival. Younger learners benefit from 24-hour support and clear safeguarding procedures, and attendance at evening activities and Saturday excursions is compulsory for under-18s.

💡 Who This Programme Is For

This course suits 14–18-year-olds with upper-intermediate to advanced English who want to explore acting seriously, whether they are new to drama or already performing at school. It is a strong choice for students considering further study in the performing arts, offering a taste of conservatoire-style training with professional performers, a final performance, and the chance to experience life in Cambridge with weekly trips to London.

Cambridge School of Visual & Performing Arts — Google Maps ↗

13, 14 Round Church St, Cambridge CB5 8AD, United Kingdom Google Maps ↗