Level 3

Performing Arts, BTEC National Extended Diploma

Level 3

Performing Arts, BTEC National Extended Diploma

Take your talent to the next level with an intensive, conservatoire-style training programme designed for committed young performers. If you’re serious about a future on stage or screen, this advanced course will refine your technique, strengthen your creative voice, and give you the professional experience needed to thrive in the performing arts industry.

Course options

Start: September 2026

Duration: 2 Years

Location: KNIGHTSTONE CAMPUS

Code: ED3ACPF1KN

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Course Overview

Delivered at Loxton Campus, Weston College’s dedicated hub for Creative and Performing Arts, the BTEC National Extended Diploma offers two years of rigorous, full-time training. You will work in outstanding facilities, including fully equipped dance studios, acting workshops, rehearsal rooms, and a professional theatre space complete with industry-standard lighting, sound, and production technology.

This course replicates the expectations of drama schools and professional rehearsal rooms. You will train daily in acting, movement, voice, singing, physical theatre, and devising, while also exploring directing, choreography, and ensemble creation. Your tutors are active industry professionals—actors, directors, dancers, choreographers, and theatre-makers—who will guide you through a programme that challenges, supports, and prepares you for higher-level study and performance work.

As part of the Career Excellence Hub for Creative Arts, you will benefit from masterclasses, collaborations with external artists, and strong links to theatres, casting opportunities, professional performers, and creative employers. You’ll work on multiple productions throughout the year, taking roles both on stage and behind the scenes, and develop a technical and creative understanding of the performing arts industry.

What will I study?

You will study a wide-ranging and professionally focused curriculum that may include:

Advanced acting techniques, character development, and text work
Ensemble performance, movement training, and physical theatre
Vocal technique, singing, voice and dialect work
Devising original theatre and collaborative performance practice
Musical Theatre, choreography, and interdisciplinary projects
Contextual studies and professional arts practice
Audition technique and preparation for drama school and university
Industry expectations, professional development, and portfolio building

Your training will develop your technical skill, creative identity, and your ability to work confidently as a performer across stage, screen, and contemporary theatre-making.

How will I be assessed?

Assessment is entirely based on practical and creative coursework. This includes:

Studio-based practical assessments and live performance work
Rehearsal observations, workshops, and skills demonstrations
Written logs, research, evaluations, and creative journals
Major public performances and collaborative productions
A Final Major Project in Year 2 where you take ownership of a full-scale performance

Additional Information

Throughout your two-year programme, you will experience a wide variety of industry-relevant activities, including:

Musical Theatre cinema screenings and theatre trips
New York Performing Arts trip
Industry talks and masterclasses from actors, directors, casting professionals, and choreographers
Performance opportunities in full-scale productions, showcases, festivals, and cross-college collaborations
Professional development and employer engagement through the Career Excellence Hub for Creative Arts

Clothing Requirements: You will need movement-appropriate clothing, dancewear, specialist footwear where appropriate, a branded college T-shirt, and black professional clothing suitable for rehearsals and performance work.

Entry Requirements

A minimum of five GCSEs at grade 9–4, including English (or equivalent Level 2 qualification).English and maths must be continued if Grade 4 has not yet been achieved
A strong interest and commitment to performing arts with some prior experience
A successful audition demonstrating potential, discipline, creativity, and willingness to train
Ability to work independently and as part of an ensemble
Good written and theoretical skills to support practical projects

What can I do after this course?

The BTEC National Extended Diploma prepares you for progression into:

Drama school, dance conservatoires, or university performing arts degrees
Acting, musical theatre, dance, physical theatre, directing, or choreography pathways
Technical theatre, production arts, teaching, or community arts roles
Creative apprenticeships in arts, events, or media
Work as a performer, workshop leader, arts facilitator, or creative freelancer

What do I do now?

Ready to apply? – Please use the ‘apply now’ button on this page. From here you’ll be taken through to our application portal.

What to learn more? – Visit and see the facilities and chat to staff by signing up for our next open event

Have a quick question? – Use our Live Chat facility on the bottom right of this page.

Fees Information

Level 2 Qualifications

This course may be Free* if you live in the South West of England and:

You are defined by the Adult Education Board (AEB) as being unemployed because one of the following applies:
- receive Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), including those receiving National Insurance credits only
- receive Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- receive Universal Credit and your take home pay, as recorded on your Universal Credit statement (disregarding Universal Credit payment and other benefits) is less than £345 a month (learner is sole adult in the benefit claim) or £552 a month (learner has a joint benefit claim with their partner)
- are released on temporary licence, studying outside a prison environment, and not funded by the Ministry of Justice
You are employed, or self-employed, and earn less than £18,525.00 annual gross salary.

Level 3 Qualifications

This course is Free* if:

The qualification you have chosen to study is part of the Legal Entitlements list and you are aged 19-23 at the start of your course and you do not already have a qualification at Level 3 or higher. From April 2021, any adult aged 24 and over who wants to achieve their first full level 3 qualification will be able to access certain courses we run for free.

The full fee is payable if:

this is not your first full level 3

the qualification you wish to study isn’t on the approved list of level 3 qualifications the College can run for free.

However, you may qualify for an Advanced Learner Loan.

Apprenticeships - Information for Employers

The cost of apprenticeships will be split into 30 funding bands ranging from £1,500 to £27,000. The prices will depend on the type of apprenticeship and the level it is taught at, and are negotiable with your training provider.

For 98% of employers, the reforms mean that employing an apprentice will be better value for money than ever before. Small businesses will only have to pay 5% of the training costs, with the Government picking up the remaining 95%. In some cases, the Government will fully fund apprenticeships for small businesses.

Click here for more information about how the reforms and levy will affect your company.

Advanced Learner Loans

You may be eligible to apply for an Advanced Learner Loan from Student Finance England, to fund the cost of your course. For further information and to check eligibility, please follow the links below:

Other Important information

While every care has been made to ensure the accuracy of our prospectuses and website, errors may occur from time to time resulting in incorrect information / fees being shown / printed.

Fees quoted online and in our prospectuses are for the current academic year only, and are subject to change – two and three-year courses will have fees to pay again in subsequent years.
You may still need to buy a uniform/kit which is your professional start-up kits or pay professional/personal memberships and all students will need to provide a National Insurance number and up-to-date proof of benefits, if applicable, at the time of enrolment.
Please click here for our current term dates.

If you are 16-18 years old on the 31st August in the current academic year, this course is usually Free.
Students who are EU/EEA or Swiss Citizens who have lived in the UK before 1 January 2021 who do not have indefinite leave to enter or remain in the UK or haven’t applied for the EU Settlement Scheme and been granted pre-settled or settled status – please contact the College Registrar on 01934 411 531 for advice on appropriate UKVI student visa fees before you enrol.

Refunds

Full refunds will be payable if we need to cancel a course.
Tuition fee refunds are payable if you change your mind within 14 days of enrolling on your course and before the start of the course (10% of tuition fee or £25 administration fee whichever is larger will be charged).

If you change your mind about a course before it starts or during the first three weeks, we will happily transfer you to an alternative course - you may need to pay any difference in fees or have a credit note issued to you if the course is cheaper.
If you wish to withdraw from a course you can request a credit note for the remaining proportion of the tuition fees to a maximum of 50% of tuition fees paid (a £25 administration fee will be charged). Credit notes are valid for one calendar year.
There are different terms and conditions for Higher Education courses - please call 01934 411 409 for further details.

Discretionary Learner Support Fund

This is a College-administered fund which can support some costs associated with attending qualification courses. It is mean-tested against gross household income and limited in its amount per learner. For further information please contact Student Services on 01934 411 571.

Future

Careers

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