Level 4 Professional Diploma in Performance (ESPA)

The primary focus of the Level 4 course is to prepare students for auditioning for Higher Education training at University or conservatoire level. Many ESPA alumni have gone on to gain places at the top performing arts institutions across the UK training in all disciplines of the performing arts.

The UAL Level 4 Professional Diploma in Performance provides students who have already completed a Level 3 qualification the opportunity to engage in a period of intensive training to develop the skills required to be successful in auditions for Higher Education and vocational training courses. The course is designed to be tailored to each cohort, resulting in variations in offering from year to year.

The course consists of 15 contact hours per week delivered by our exceptional teaching team with a focus on individualised preparation for Higher Education auditions. Our Level 4 students participate in separate theory, tutorial, and audition skills classes, dedicated practical skills sessions and will join our other groups for some collaborative skills-based sessions. Timetables are designed to suit the strengths of each student and streamlined to current abilities, giving a personalised training approach for students to excel at their own pace, and in their own area of interest.

The level 4 course operates over 4 days, giving students the ability to throw themselves into high level full time practical training, preparing them for the rigorous expectations of higher education programmes at conservatoire level. The programme is constructed in a way to also allow optimum access to additional private lessons with our faculty, giving learners on Level 4 a great opportunity to expand their programme to really focus on their specialist skills in either singing, dance or acting

The UAL Level 4 Professional Diploma in Performance is made up of three mandatory units: 

Unit 1: Applied Professional Practice This unit is designed to provide students with the skills, knowledge and understanding necessary to explore, enhance and sustain their professional development and determine a standard from which all other activities and learning will develop. Students will gain an awareness of the professional characteristics needed for a career in the creative industries in order to commence planning their own career paths.

Unit 2: Specialist Performance Practice This unit carries students deeper into their respective specialist pathways by allowing them to develop and refine their technical performance skills levels by being placed directly within a professional performance environment and acquiring the discipline demanded by professional practice. The development of practical skills will be extensive and variable, depending upon the context of the work undertaken and the production team(s) the student is engaged with. The student will develop their professional practice by working within a range of styles, historical periods and creating works for distinct audiences.

Unit 3: Specialist Performance Project The unit content will vary according to the specific demands of the student’s chosen project, which is derived from consultations with lecturers. A continuous critical monitoring of the project’s progress will remain central to students’successfully satisfying the demands of this unit; typical activities that students will be engaged with may include rehearsals, workshops, research and development, planning, presentations, production meetings, drafts and/or ‘work in progress’ and performance events.