Our innovative MFA Acting is a distinguished two-year immersive training designed to develop both exceptional performance skills and pedagogic and creative leadership. You'll receive intensive, conservatoire-style training, designed for actors who want to take their craft to the highest possible level.
Building on our one-year MA Acting, the MFA provides additional time, space, and depth for you to refine your skills, broaden your artistic range, and develop as both a performer and a creative leader.
With small cohort sizes and highly qualified staff drawn from professional theatre, casting, and directing backgrounds, students receive a high level of individual attention and mentorship. Our academics are active in the performing arts industry and balance their performing commitments with their teaching duties.
GSA is situated on the Stag Hill campus in Guildford with excellent transport links to London, putting you close to the heart of the UK theatre scene.
We are ranked 1st in the UK for drama and music in the Daily Mail University Guide 2026, and 3rd in the UK for dance, drama, and cinematics in The Complete University Guide 2026.
The student body within the course is also pretty international and assorted – with everyone drawing from their previous undergrads or past performing experiences, creating a rich soup of distinct practices, skills, and knowledge from a multicultural perspective... The course is also almost entirely practical and hands-on. Everything is taught through activities and exercises, which demonstrate the theory that can otherwise be explained in a classroom setting. Safe to say, we are always in studios, theatres, or on-set.
Daniel Hintner, MFA Acting Graduate
Why Choose This Course?
- Extended, deeper training: Building on the MA Acting, the MFA gives you more time to refine and expand your craft; exploring voice, movement, text, and screen acting in greater depth.
- Teaching & creative mentorship: In Year 2, you’ll have mentored opportunities to develop your own teaching practice and creative work, equipping you for leadership roles in education, direction, or artistic development.
- Public & screen performance opportunities: Expect short film projects, public theatre productions, and an industry-digital showcase that help you build visibility and hone skills for both stage and screen.
- Supportive environment: With small classes and a collaborative community, you’ll have space to experiment, take risks, and grow.
- State-of-the-Art Facilities: Train in some of the UK's best professional facilities within the conservatoire sector. As part of the University of Surrey, you'll also have full access to the university's amenities, offering world-class conservatoire training in a top university environment.
- Proximity to London & industry connections
Located on the Surrey campus with good transport links to London, you benefit from access to the heart of the UK theatre scene and networks of agents and theatre professionals.
What you will study
Our innovative Acting MFA builds on the success of GSA’s current postgraduate course by extending the intensive training currently offered on our one-year Acting MA.
Our Acting MFA is highly selective and intensive. Over two years, you’ll train across multiple dimensions of performance and pedagogy, learning through both practical and theoretical work. The MFA programme is structured to support growth as actor, educator, and creative practitioner, and covers:
- Acting for stage & screen, voice, and movement
- Rehearsal Techniques, Text & Textual Analysis
- Performance Traditions & Styles (classical, contemporary, international)
- Screen Acting & Self-Tape / On-Set Practice
- Theoretical & Critical Studies related to acting methodologies and dramatic forms
- Mentored teaching practice & pedagogical workshop
- Creative project / independent artistic work - opportunities for students to develop their own teaching practice and creative work
- Professional development & industry readiness
- Public productions, short film project, and digital showcase
To view the course structure please click here
Our MFA in Acting will provide graduates with:
- The ability to employ a broad range of acting knowledge and skills in the creation and presentation of roles
- The ability to perform in plays of various types and from various periods
- The acquisition of advanced understanding and capabilities in voice and speech, movement, and play analysis
- A working knowledge of historical, critical, and theoretical content and the ways they inform playwriting and dramatic writing, the creation of roles, and other aspects of production
The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, skills, qualities and other attributes in the following areas:
Knowledge and understanding
- An experiential and theoretical knowledge of key practical acting methodologies
- An advanced understanding, which will inform ongoing skill attainment, of the physical and vocal techniques required to maintain an expressive body and the optimum functionality of the voice
- A critical understanding of key theoretical and methodological developments in the practice of acting
- An advanced understanding, which will inform ongoing skill attainment, of the application of technique to differing theatrical forms, styles, genres and historical contexts
- A comprehensive understanding of current industry practice
Intellectual/cognitive skills
- Recognise, interpret and contextualise approaches to performance texts
- Identify and develop an individual methodological approach to rehearsal
- Select vocal and physical techniques appropriate to voice, person and situation
- Recognise and respond appropriately to the demands of different performance media
- Critically analyse and reflect on their own and others’ practice
Professional practical skills
- Successfully apply integrated vocal and psycho-physical techniques to the practice of acting in differing media
- Sustain and develop an effective and creative individual rehearsal process
- Demonstrate creative and imaginative work in performance
- Contribute effective and appropriate practices and concepts to an ensemble process
- Demonstrate evidence of practical research and effective preparation for entry into the current performance industry
Key/transferable skills
- Be disciplined and consistent in a professional context
- Conduct themselves constructively, positively, and sensitively towards others
- Able to lead and collaborate as part of the team on practical and research projects
- Communicate effectively and at an advanced level in both verbal and written form
- Seek out, critique, and employ information appropriately
- Recognise and develop commercial and artistic career opportunities
Steps to Postgraduate Study is an official, independent guide for anyone considering a taught postgraduate course. The guide is produced by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, the Scottish Funding Council and the Department for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland.
Graduates of the MFA Acting can pursue careers in:
- Professional theatre, film & television
- Directing, dramaturgy, or creative producing
- Actor training, teaching, and academic roles
- New writing, devised performance, or interdisciplinary work
The MFA provides credentials and experience both for performance careers and roles that combine performance with education or creative leadership.
Our graduates have an unrivalled employment record in West End shows, national tours, television, radio and film. Our very distinguished alumni include performers such as:
- Brenda Blethyn OBE
- Bill Nighy
- Ella Balinska
- Owen Teale
- Celia Imrie
- Jonjo O’Neill
- Alexandra Mardell
- Kobna Holdbrook-Smith MBE
- Danielle Fiamanya
- Tam Mutu
- Caroline Sheen
- Rob Kazinsky
- Jade Anouka
- Chris Geere
- Emma Barton
- Justin Fletcher MBE
- T'Nia Miller
- Stephen Carlile
- Maiya Quansah-Breed
- Grace Mouat
- Bronagh Waugh
Our alumni have also secured employment in numerous regional theatres, opera and ballet companies, arts venues, scenic construction and prop-making companies, corporate events and lighting, sound and video hire companies, as well as attaining management and creative production roles for major venues and production companies including the Really Useful Group, Cameron Mackintosh Ltd, the National Theatre, the BBC, the Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, ATG Theatres and PRG Dubai. Other career paths have included teaching and outreach work.
To view the entry requirements please click here
For more audition information please visit AUDITIONS & INTERVIEWS
Find out all about fees and funding here.
Visit our Scholarships and Bursaries page for more details.
Thinking of continuing your education at Surrey? As an alumnus of Surrey, you may be eligible for a ten per cent discount on our taught Masters programme fees.
We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
Learn more about opportunities that might be available for this particular programme by using our student exchanges search tool.
Our Admissions Policy provides the basis for admissions practice across the University and gives a framework for how we encourage, consider applications, and admit students.
Why study at GSA
Guildford School of Acting (GSA) is one of the UK’s leading accredited drama schools, providing dedicated conservatoire training within a purpose-built environment on the University of Surrey campus.
GSA operates a pedagogic approach that utilises student-centred learning. Every module has an ethos of nurturing and enabling employability and personal development opportunities for the students. Our working practices encourage dialogue and are most effective when a collaborative approach is undertaken. Our learning environment grants our students the freedom to take risks and to embrace spontaneity.
We keep our cohorts small to ensure you get personal attention and contact from our expert teachers, who have extensive first-hand experience in professional theatre in the UK, Europe, America, and all around the world.
We are ranked 1st in the UK for drama and music in the Daily Mail University Guide 2026, and 3rd in the UK for dance, drama, and cinematics in The Complete University Guide 2026.
98.9% of our graduates go on to employment or further study (Graduate Outcomes survey 2025, HESA)
GSA is accredited by the Federation of Drama Schools (FDS).
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