{"id":6502,"date":"2024-08-16T10:01:51","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T10:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/?p=6502"},"modified":"2025-06-02T16:26:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T16:26:24","slug":"should-aspiring-actors-go-to-drama-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/training\/should-aspiring-actors-go-to-drama-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Drama School the Right Path for You?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Spotlight Prize 2024 winners and finalists share why they went to drama school and how you can tell whether this is the right path for you.<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s no longer the case that you need to have gone to drama school to have a successful acting career. Drama school can equip you with useful and essential skills through conservatoire training \u2013 which will definitely help \u2013 but actors also have the option to do more theoretical drama courses at university, part-time training, or drama classes and workshops that focus on specific skills.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With so many paths to choose from, how can an actor know if drama school is right for them? This is a question our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/spotlight-prize-2024-finalists-announced\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spotlight Prize 2024 winners and finalists<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> once faced. The choice they made led to them being nominated by their drama schools and universities for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/spotlight-prize\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the Spotlight Prize<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We asked the winners and finalists why they decided to go to drama school or university. Here\u2019s what they shared:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"umb-macro-holder mceNonEditable\">\n<p><!-- <?UMBRACO_MACRO macroAlias=\"ResponsiveEmbed\" EmbedInfo=\"&lt;iframe width=&quot;1280&quot; height=&quot;675&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hZLqgguUgdU?si=b1TK-OmIf9wc3DCM; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allow=&quot;accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture&quot; allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;\" \/> --> <ins><\/ins><\/p>\n<div class=\"responsiveEmbed responsiveEmbedInWysiwyg\">\n<div class=\"embededYoutube\" style=\"padding-top: 52.73438%; position: relative; width: 100%; display: block;\"><iframe style=\"border: 0; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hZLqgguUgdU?si=b1TK-OmIf9wc3DCM=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h3>To Become a Professional Actor<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As said, drama school isn\u2019t essential, but it is an excellent way to find and develop yourself as an actor and has a proven track record of success. Dame Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Ncuti Gatwa, Ewan McGregor, Olivia Colman and countless other well-known performers all went to drama school.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For some of our Spotlight Prize finalists, drama school was an obvious choice for the progression of their acting career. For others, it was a way to gain an introduction to the performing arts industry. Whatever the reason, the following finalists chose to go to drama school so that they could become professional actors:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Penny Morris<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cI always wanted to be an actress. There&#8217;s a lot of people who are 26 and they&#8217;re in their office job and they&#8217;re really not enjoying it. I wanted to try at my dream, and an avenue that I could access that through was by going to drama school. So I decided to go. And I got in, thank God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Alyssa Thabisile Sibanda<\/b> <b>(Stage Prize winner)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cOnce I knew that acting was an actual career that I could pursue, I was like, &#8220;Alright, I want to train.&#8221; Then I went and did some training with the National Youth Theatre. So I think it was that that cemented that I wanted to pursue training and go to drama school.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Trudy Akobeng<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cTo be honest, I just always wanted to be an actor. I didn&#8217;t really know what avenue to get there. I just used it as an opportunity to get into the industry. Whereas, because I didn&#8217;t do acting before, I didn&#8217;t really have an avenue to get in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Bethany Wooding<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cI just wanted to go to drama school for it not to be a fluke &#8211; what I was doing. I was already doing acting and stuff, but I didn&#8217;t know what I was doing or how to improve and stuff.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Alyson Handley<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cI&#8217;d always wanted to go train. And I think having three years of solid training behind you before entering into the industry was the perfect way for me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Zannie Benfield<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cI think it&#8217;s always something that&#8217;s been on my mind. I just wanted to improve, learn more, and get the technique that I needed to be a better actor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Alfanso May<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cI feel like it was the right path for me because it was more internal. My teachers were very supportive when I was in school, and they pushed me to carry on a career in acting. I decided that I was going to apply for drama school and they were really supportive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Whatever Makes You Happy<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There doesn\u2019t always have to be rhyme and reason to the choices we make. Sometimes, we choose things simply because they make us happy or it feels like the right thing to do. This is what swayed our next finalists:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Niamh-Ella McCann<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cActing and dancing and being on stage has always been the thing that&#8217;s brought me the most joy. It&#8217;s my happy place, my safe space. And drama school was a great opportunity to be in my happy place for four years straight.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Georgi Arthur<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cIt just felt like the natural thing to do. I felt like I wanted to do something practical and I wanted to do something that was really going to push me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Be Among Like-Minded Creatives<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Acting is a collaborative profession, so knowing lots of other performers is only ever going to be a good thing. When you go to drama school, you\u2019ll be surrounded by people just like you who are hoping to hone their craft and meet friends that share their passions and ambitions. You\u2019ll meet friends you can create short films with, friends who will help you record your self-tapes and showreels, and friends that will support you through the highs and lows throughout your career.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Katie Shelley<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cFor me, there was actually no other option. It was always going to be [drama school]. I couldn&#8217;t do anything else. That is what I was going to do. And I came from a very small town and I needed to be around people that were like-minded who wanted to broaden their horizons like I did. That was the way to do it and I stand by it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Jessica Oppong<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cWhen I first went for my audition, I was surrounded by a lot of people that were like-minded. I felt really comfortable with a bunch of creatives, and I felt really inspired in the building. So it was nice to be in an environment that is so separate from big institutions and nine-to-five work and be in a space where you could be quite free to be creative. And I think that led me to drama school quite easily because I was like, \u2018I can be myself here.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Scott Bowden<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cI was at college doing acting, so I just knew that I wanted to go straight in and I had a mate that also went to drama school and he was telling me all about it and I was like, \u2018Yeah, I want to live that.\u2019 And I also wanted to put myself around people that were doing the same thing as me because I&#8217;ve never done that, apart from college, but I&#8217;d never been around so many people who, well, are actors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Adam Hashmi<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cI had spoken to someone who&#8217;s an actor around 10 years ago and I&#8217;d said, \u2018What should I do? Should I go to a performing arts school instead of A levels?\u2019 And then he said, \u2018No, do your A levels, go to uni, but go somewhere where there&#8217;s a really good drama scene.\u2019 So, in my undergrad, I went somewhere. I went to Bristol, so there was a lot of good theatre going on in drama societies and stuff like that. And post-grad was just always the plan, really.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>A Creative Environment<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A typical university degree can take three years to complete, and for some, the idea of spending that time in an academic institution can be off-putting. They seek a more creative and nurturing environment while discovering what they\u2019re truly passionate about and what career they want to pursue. Drama school provided that for these finalists:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Emma Symmonds<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cI was always really fascinated with craft as opposed to the big glamour of it. I really wanted to know how everything worked. I really wanted to be in a nice environment where they allow you to make loads of mistakes, but also, you&#8217;re in a really safe environment to learn from and fail in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Gabrielle K. Appiah<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cIf I&#8217;m honest, I&#8217;d never really been the type of person who did well in straight academic things. So, uni didn&#8217;t feel right, and I wanted to continue somewhere I could be creative. And if I&#8217;m honest, I don&#8217;t know if I entirely knew what I was getting into, but I was very pleasantly surprised when I did arrive and I was there. It felt like the next progression for me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Senam Akpokavi (Screen Prize winner)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cI feel like I&#8217;ve always been very creative from a young [age], and I lean towards acting and drawing and stuff, and I just find a home and a love for it. So I feel like it was chasing that career and that dream.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Jaden Asha Evelyn<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cThe drama school that I went to, they had a drama school for a day, so I got to have a taste of what it could be like. And I just knew that that&#8217;s where I needed to be. I was like, \u201cOkay, actually, drama school is for me.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>It\u2019s Never Too Late to Go to Drama School<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019re never too old to go to drama school, and it\u2019s never too late to change the career path you\u2019re on. Our last few finalists were all studying other subjects before realising acting was their true calling. Their brave gamble to change to acting certainly paid off, as they wouldn\u2019t have been Spotlight Prize finalists otherwise!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>D\u00faa R\u00f3berts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cI always did theatre as a kid just for fun. And then I was going into the science route and I applied to wildlife biology and astrophysics, and I got into all that and didn&#8217;t feel right. So it was something in me, I was like, \u2018I haven&#8217;t gone for plan A.\u2019 So then that&#8217;s when I applied for drama school and got in and here I am.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Tsen Day-Beaver<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cI started off doing art. Both my parents are artists and I went on to do a performance art course and then decided that wasn&#8217;t right for me. So yeah, I reapplied to do acting and found that it was the best thing for me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Callum Alexander-Smith<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cI actually trained as an architect first for five years in Glasgow at the School of Art. I did it alongside that at university and I did it as a crash hire in Scotland as one of my final year subjects. And then it was just something that I knew I had to find out more about. And I&#8217;m so glad I did because I feel it fleshes you out more as a person. I think I&#8217;ve learned so much more about myself and who I am and the type of work I want to make, and all these things, and trying to be more authentically yourself, I think drama school just helps bring all that out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lastly, if you go to a drama school or university that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/join-us\/graduates\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">meets our criteria<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, you\u2019ll be eligible for our discounted <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/join-us\/graduates\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Graduate membership<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on Spotlight when you\u2019re in your final year of study.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A massive thanks to our Spotlight Prize 2024 winners and finalists for sharing their experiences!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take a look at our <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">News &amp; Advice section<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for more <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/?tag=video\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">video interviews<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/?tag=drama+school\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">drama school tips and advice<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, including:<\/span><\/i><i><\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/preparing-for-and-getting-into-drama-school\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Spotlight Podcast: Getting Into Drama School<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/tips-for-drama-school-and-after-you-graduate\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Spotlight Podcast: Thriving During and After Drama School<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/what-actors-in-training-should-read\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Book recommendations for actors in training<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Spotlight Prize 2024 winners and finalists share why they went to drama school and how you can tell whether this is the right path for you. It\u2019s no longer the case that you need to have gone to drama school to have a successful acting career. Drama school can equip you with useful and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":6504,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[75,42,95,76,52,70],"class_list":["post-6502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-training","tag-drama-school","tag-graduates","tag-interview","tag-spotlight-prize","tag-video","tag-young-performers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Is Drama School the Right Path for You? | Spotlight<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is drama school necessary? 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