Trinity College London's Director of Performance, Professor Gregg Whelan, unwraps Trinity's dynamic screen acting qualifications, built on over 150 years' experience of accrediting performing arts.
Screen acting is embedded in our everyday lives. We stream TV on-demand, we binge-watch series (well, some of us do) and we eagerly await the next instalment of a favourite film franchise. In our digital age, the demand for the skills needed to produce high-quality, on-screen entertainment is greater than ever before.
Screen acting skills are an essential part of every aspiring actor's toolkit. Today, performers breaking into the acting industry are more likely to audition for screen-based roles than for live theatrical work. It's essential therefore, in order to pave the way to a career in acting, for today's drama students to master screen acting techniques. Drama schools are increasingly offering screen training, across all ages, as the professional contexts in which performers can use screen-specific skills increase at pace.
Teachers recognise that training screen actors requires a tailored approach that differs from traditional theatre-focused training. Screen acting requires distinct technical and performance skills, and the industry has its own auditioning and casting process.
Trinity's Acting for Screen qualifications
The team at Trinity introduced our groundbreaking Acting for Screen qualifications in 2023. Created by screen-acting industry experts, the exams offer a staged progression route for learners aged 8 and over.
This, alongside Trinity's long-standing experience as an awarding organisation, has produced a suite of industry-aligned screen acting qualifications that offer candidates a truly robust and relevant experience.
For learners
Designed to promote professional-level screen acting competency, the ‘real-world’ tasks of Trinity's Acting for Screen qualifications build the skills needed to succeed in film and TV. These encompass technical skills, such as understanding framing and eyeline, performance skills including expressing emotions, responding to dialogue and listening ‘in character’ and the personal development skills of self-reflection and evaluation.
Importantly, the qualifications also develop an understanding of the techniques required for auditions, showreels and self-taping, like speaking to camera naturally and introducing yourself for the ‘ident’ feature of a self-tape; one of the exam tasks speaks directly to this key – but often over-looked – skill.
For teachers
The needs and priorities of teachers were one of our key considerations in the development process. We consulted teachers at every turn, making sure to thread their feedback into the design of the qualifications.
Teachers will often tell us of the challenge of retaining students, especially as they progress beyond initial levels of development. Our Acting for Screen qualifications encourage learners to work with material that truly inspires and excites them; the exams allow completely free choice of performance pieces from film and TV scripts. Working with real screenplays, with the characters and scenes that mean something to a student can make all the difference.
Not only are our Acting for Screen exams hugely motivating and rewarding, they're also academically rigorous, ensuring a robust experience for all candidates. This can be especially influential in maintaining all-important parental support for school-age learners. The three qualifications are aligned to the Regulated Qualification Framework and sit at Level 1, 2 & 3, with valuable UCAS points attached to the highest level.
Crucially, no special equipment is needed to film students' work. Exam submissions can be captured using nothing more than a smartphone, opening the qualifications out to the broadest spectrum of learners and widening the appeal to teachers.
For schools
The UK film and TV sector make an enormously significant contribution to the creative industries, the fastest growing sector of the UK economy. In 2024 the sector created revenues of over £17 billion and employs thousands of actors and performers – it's easy to see why it's the clear choice for today's drama students looking to kickstart their professional careers.
By developing skills that sit at the heart of this key UK industry, it's our hope that Trinity's Acting for Screen exams can support schools in creating an offer that is relevant and contemporary, and create real opportunities for growth in schools.
From their first steps in screen acting to advanced training, Trinity's Acting for Screen exams are here to support today's learners become the performers of tomorrow.
For more information visit: trinitycollege.com/acting-for-screen