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Music and Theatre

  • Bachelor of Arts (with Honours)
  • 3 Years
  • Full-Time
  • 20 September 2027
  • Undergraduate
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2026-20272027-2028
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Course summary

Music and Theatre (BA)

BA Music and Theatre at Royal Holloway combines two major complementary performing arts. This joint degree will prepare you for a career in areas such as acting, music, broadcasting, stage management, or arts administration.

You’ll be studying at one of the largest Drama and Theatre departments in the world. And our Music department is the only one in the country to hold a prestigious Regius Professorship.

Be inspired by our team’s experience in contemporary British theatre, theatre history, and dance and physical theatre. And benefit from their expertise spanning traditional, modern, and world music.

As well as exploring issues in history, sociology, ethnology, and philosophy, you’ll also gain practical skills in composition, music technology, and performance.

Hands-on experience

  • Enjoy the buzz and creativity of our campus community

  • Get involved and work creatively in both musical theatre and pop

  • Join Student Workshop, the Drama department’s student society, or one of our many music ensembles

Find your place

Spend time exploring a variety of subjects from composition techniques to making musical theatre. Become an informed theatre goer. Increase your confidence as a performer. And gain knowledge of the industry as a whole to see where you might like to make your future.

We sometimes make changes to our courses to improve your experience. If this happens, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.

Modules

Course Modules

Core Modules

Year 1

You will take the following modules in Drama:

  • Theatre and Performance Making 1

  • Theatre and Text 1

Year 2
  • Making Musical Theatre
Year 3
  • All modules are optional

Optional Modules

Below is a taster of some of the exciting optional modules that students on the course could choose from during this academic year. Please be aware these do change over time, and optional modules may be withdrawn or new ones added.

Year 1

Optional modules in Music may include:

  • Theory and Analysis

  • Fundamentals of Music Theory

  • Creative Composition Techniques

  • Practical Composition Skills

  • A Very Short History of Music

  • Introduction to Historical Musicology

  • Introduction to World Music

  • Contemporary Debates in Music

  • Solo Performance

  • Creative Ensemble Performance

Year 2

  • Theatre and Performance Making: Devising

  • Theatre and Performance Making: Theatre Directing

  • Theatre and Performance Making: Acting for Camera

  • Theatre and Performance Making: Dance and Theatre

  • Theatre and Performance Making: Scenography

  • Theatre and Text: Staging the Real

  • Theatre and Text: Decoding debbie tucker green

  • Shakespeare, Ecology and Performance

  • Theatre and Culture: Theatre for Young Audiences

  • Theatre and Culture: Cultures of Memory

  • Dancing Bodies, Global Culture

  • Theatre and Ideas: Ideas of Gender and Sexuality

  • Theatre and Ideas: The Idea of Tragedy

  • Theatre and Ideas: The Idea of Adaptation

  • Theatre and Ideas: The Idea of the Musical

  • Theatre and Ideas: The Idea of Acting

  • Theatre and Ideas: The Idea of Money

  • Theatre and Ideas: The Idea of Casting

  • Studies in Music Analysis

  • Studies in Composition

  • Studies in Music History

  • Studies in Ethnomusicology

  • Studies in Music, Media and Technology

  • Practical Performance I

  • Solo Performance

  • Ensemble Performance

  • Composition Portfolio

  • Practical and Creative Orchestration

  • Practical Conducting (Choral and Orchestral)

  • Composing with Technology 1

  • Introduction to Jazz: Theory, Practice and Contexts

  • Popular Music and Musicians in Post-War Britain and North America

  • Korean Percussion Performance

  • Practical Ethics

  • Musical Aesthetics

  • Mozart's Operas

  • Issues in Sound, Music and the Moving Image

  • Intercultural Performance: Theory and Practice

  • Music and Society in Purcell's London

  • Contemporary Music Performance

  • Music, Power and Politics

  • Ideas of German Music from Mozart to Henze

  • Music and Gender

  • Hearing the Orient: Critical and Practical Approaches to the Middle East

Year 3

  • Love, Gender and Sexuality

  • Race Relations in Theatre, Film and Television

  • Shakespeare

  • Naturalist Theatre in Context

  • Creative Learning and Theatre

  • Physical Theatre

  • Shakespeare on Camera

  • The Actor's Voice

  • Actor Training in a Globalised World

  • Group Project

  • Final Year Project - Special Study

  • Final Year Project - Dissertation

  • Taught Dissertation

  • Solo Performance

  • Ensemble Performance

  • Composition Portfolio

  • Practical and Creative Orchestration

  • Practical Conducting (Choral and Orchestral)

  • Composing with Technology 1

  • Introduction to Jazz: Theory, Practice and Contexts

  • Popular Music and Musicians in Post-War Britain and North America

  • Korean Percussion Performance

  • Practical Ethics

  • Musical Aesthetics

  • Mozart's Operas

  • Issues in Sound, Music and the Moving Image

  • Intercultural Performance: Theory and Practice

  • Music and Society in Purcell's London

  • Contemporary Music Performance

  • Music, Power and Politics

  • Ideas of German Music from Mozart to Henze

  • Music and Gender

  • Hearing the Orient: Critical and Practical Approaches to the Middle East

  • Practical Performance 2

  • Composing with Technology 2

  • Special Study: Dissertation

  • Special Study: Theory and Analysis

  • Special Study: Solo Performance

  • Special Study: Composition

https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/undergraduate/drama-theatre-and-dance/music-and-theatre/

Assessment method

The course has a modular structure, whereby students take 12 course units at the rate of four per year. Some course units are compulsory, while others are elective, thereby offering flexibility and some choice.

You will be taught through a combination of lectures, seminar/workshops, and for Drama, presentation of your research and practical experimentation, with or without written texts. For Music, you will also have vocal or instrumental lessons. IT applications are used to explore many aspects of the subject, and we support your capability in this area through an Information Technology Skills course. You will also have the opportunity to take part in a wide variety of musical and performance activities supported by the departments, including performances by orchestras, choirs and other ensembles. Private study and preparation are essential parts of every course, and you will have access to many online resources and the University’s comprehensive e-learning facility, Moodle.

You will also take a study skills course during your first year, designed to equip you with and enhance the writing skills you will need to be successful in your degree. This course does not count towards your final degree award but you are required to pass it to progress to your second year.

All undergraduate degree courses at Royal Holloway are based on the course unit system. This system provides an effective and flexible approach to study, while ensuring that our degrees have a coherent and developmental structure.

Assessment methods match the course content. For most Drama course units, you will be assessed on two pieces of work, one of which is usually an essay, while the other might be an assignment such as a seminar presentation or a performance. You will sometimes be assessed as part of a group, and a portfolio of practical work.

Ways to study this course

Campuses

  • Main Site

Study options

  • Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) • Full-Time • 3 Years

Start dates

  • 20 September 2027

Apply by
13 January 2027

This is the equal consideration deadline. You can still apply after this date, but your application may not receive guaranteed consideration.

Application codes

Course code:
WW43
Institution code:
R72
Campus name:
Main Site
Points of Entry:
Year 1

Royal Holloway, University of London has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.

See why these ratings were awarded
What does this TEF outcome mean?

How to apply

Apply by
13 January 2027

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Application codes

Course code:
WW43
Institution code:
R72
Campus name:
Main Site

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1

Entry requirements

Typical qualification requirements

A level
ABB-BBC

Where an applicant is taking the EPQ alongside A-levels, the EPQ will be taken into consideration and result in lower A-level grades being required.
Socio-economic factors which may have impacted an applicant’s education will be taken into consideration and alternative offers may be made to these applicants.
Required:
Music A-Level or pass Grade 7 in Music Theory.
Applicants without A-level grade A in Music or pass Grade 7 in Music Theory may be eligible for the Intensive Theory entry. This requires Music GCSE grade A/7 or equivalent, plus performance at Grade 8 level. In term 1 you will be required to take Fundamentals of Music Theory, an intensive music literacy course.
Students wishing to take Solo Performance options will need to be of Grade 8 level in performance at point of entry.

If you are studying two A-level subjects, you may still be eligible for entry to the Music BMus (single honours), if you are able to provide evidence of your ongoing commitment to music.
For this pathway, the standard offer is AB including music. We require candidates to be performing to Grade 8 ABRSM standard, to have studied music theory to Grade 5 ABRSM level, and have a substantial record of musical performance or other musical achievements, which they should detail in their Personal Statement.

UCAS Tariff
Not accepted

Scottish Higher
AABBB

A in Music or or pass Grade 7 in Music Theory and Grade 7 performance.

Access to HE Diploma
Distinction: 27

and the remaining level 3 credits at Merit, plus evidence of A-Level standard Music proficiency grade A equivalent or pass Grade 7 in Music Theory and Grade 7 practical at Pass .

GCSE/National 4/National 5

We require English Language and Mathematics at grade 4 (C)

Scottish Advanced Higher
ABB-BBC

A in Music or pass Grade 7 in Music Theory and Grade 7 performance.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
DD

in a relevant subject, plus A-Level Grade B in Music or pass Grade 7 in Music Theory and Grade 7 performance.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Offer: 32

6,5,5 at Higher Level including 6 in Music at Higher Level or pass Grade 7 in Music Theory with a minimum of 32 points overall and Grade 7 practical.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
DDM

in a relevant subject, plus evidence of A-Level standard Music proficiency, Grade A equivalent or pass Grade 7 in Music Theory and Grade 7 performance.

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
H2H2H3H3H3

H2,H2,H3,H3,H3 at Higher Level, including Music at Higher Level, or pass Music Theory Grade 7 plus Grade 7 in performance.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate (first teaching from September 2016)
D

Plus A-Level Grades BB including Music plus pass Grade 7 in Music Theory and Grade 7 performance.

Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate (first teaching September 2015)

Requirements are as for A-levels where one non-subject-specified A-level can be replaced by the same grade in the Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate

Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal

Applicants with the Cambridge Pre-U are strongly encouraged to apply to Royal Holloway. Offers will be made on the basis of equivalent A-Level grades as can be found on the Royal Holloway website.

Combinations of qualifications will be considered on an individual basis, please contact us on admissions.enquiries@rhul.ac.uk to discuss your situation.

Contextual admissions

Universities and colleges consider more than grades when assessing applications and may make offers based on a range of criteria. Learn more about contextual offers.

At Royal Holloway, we know every student approaches university with different experiences and backgrounds. We look at each application individually, and different factors can affect the exact offer a student receives. For instance, our contextual offer scheme means students from disadvantaged socio-economic background can receive a different offer. For full details please see our website.

Learn more on the Royal Holloway, University of London website

Historical entry grades data

This section shows the range of grades that students who received offers were previously accepted on to this course with (learn more).

It is designed to support your research but does not guarantee whether you will or won't get a place.

Admissions teams consider various factors, including interviews, subject requirements, and entrance tests. Check all course entry requirements for eligibility.

Not enough data available

We are unable to show previous accepted grades for this course. This could be because the course is new, it's a postgraduate course, there isn't enough historical data, or the provider has opted out of sharing their entry grades data for this course - learn more.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

Per year tuition fees

LocationFeeYear
EU & International£28500*
England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland & Channel Islands£9790*

* This is a provisional fee and subject to change.

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website.

Additional fee information

Other essential costs: Students are recommended to purchase a laptop before starting their course, to assist with their studies. The optional residential field courses incur an extra fee.

*The tuition fee for Home (UK) undergraduates is controlled by Government regulations. This figure is the fee for the academic year 2026/27 and is shown as a guide. The fee for the academic year 2027/28 has not yet been confirmed.

*This figure is the fee for EU and international students starting a degree in the academic year 2026/27 and is shown as a guide. The fee for the academic year 2027/28 has not yet been confirmed.

Royal Holloway reserves the right to increase tuition fees annually for all students. For further information see fees and funding: https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/fees-and-funding/

Sponsorship information

Scholarships and bursaries 2

https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studyhere/undergraduate/feesandfunding/bursariesandscholarships/home.aspx

Related courses

At Royal Holloway, University of London

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