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Is it better to go to acting school in London?

I'm 15, and am starting to think about what university I would like to go to. I want to do acting, and I want to go into acting as a career afterwards (on stage and on camera). What I'm not sure about is whether acting school in London is better than elsewhere, like Birmingham or Manchester, because it is the centre of careers in acting. Does anyone have some good advice for this?
You probably want to look more at accredited drama schools more than universities if you want to me an actor - but to answer your question, yes and no. It's advantageous since a lot of the big agencies are located in London, as are many of the top drama schools, but you will also have more competition when auditioning for jobs.

In the North you have schools such as Royal Scottish, Man Met, LIPA, which are all very good - and not to mention you have Littlewoods filming studios set to open in Liverpool, the BBC & ITV based in Manchester, Channel 4 moving to Leeds, ect, and with them many production companies follow so the work is definitely there.

London for an actor isn't the be-all-and-end-all as many like to think. Many actors come out of schools such as LAMDA and RADA and are never heard from again, but as you're only 15 I'd just focus on your GCSEs and then going to college before any of that.
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Avatar for Joe Bynoth
Joe Bynoth
OP
2
Ok, thank you! This is really helpful
Original post by RedKitchen
You probably want to look more at accredited drama schools more than universities if you want to me an actor - but to answer your question, yes and no. It's advantageous since a lot of the big agencies are located in London, as are many of the top drama schools, but you will also have more competition when auditioning for jobs.

In the North you have schools such as Royal Scottish, Man Met, LIPA, which are all very good - and not to mention you have Littlewoods filming studios set to open in Liverpool, the BBC & ITV based in Manchester, Channel 4 moving to Leeds, ect, and with them many production companies follow so the work is definitely there.

London for an actor isn't the be-all-and-end-all as many like to think. Many actors come out of schools such as LAMDA and RADA and are never heard from again, but as you're only 15 I'd just focus on your GCSEs and then going to college before any of that.
Reply 3
Avatar for CandyAnn
CandyAnn
6
Have a look at the list of Acredited Drama Schools under CDS (Conference of Drama Schools). There are 21 to choose from and they are the best in the country.
If you do decide to go to university to study Drama, be aware that actual acting classes may be a very small percentage of the overall curriculum and not really adequate to prepare you for life as a professional actor/ actress. Also the contact hours at university are far less than at Drama School. My brother is at GSA and he is taught from 8.30am to 6pm, sometimes 7pm., Monday to Friday. You get so much more for the £27K fees at an acredited Drama school. You have plenty of time to decide. Good luck!
Reply 4
Avatar for Bribelle
Bribelle
2
It’s never too early to start thinking about the future especially if it’s for drama school. Whilst you’re training to be a professional London certainly isn’t the be-all-and-end-all but it’s definitely advised, this is because most of the best drama schools are situated there, that being said not every single reputable school is in London so definitely look around. Your best bet is to have a look at the websites and make a list of all the schools you might like to apply to and the requirements for them to get ahead start a couple of years early. When looking at drama schools you should also check to see if they are spotlight accredited, this means that when you leave drama school you are entitled to have a spotlight account even if you don’t manage to get an agent straight away. Another fantastic option that some drama schools now offer are summer courses, this allows you to trial out what life would be like if you decided to join a full time course and meet potential tutors, unfortunately this is a rather spend experience but well worth it if you can afford it.
Get ahead of the game if you can, read as many plays as you can stomach contemporary and Shakespeare, Greek theatre plays, Jacobean plays. Read fiction books, books on your craft, auto biographies of performers. Watch all genres of film and tv series old and new. Finally try and see live plays, musical theatre and fringe stuff but if you can’t afford it sometimes you can find the shows online on platforms like YouTube or interviews of the actors from the show. Ultimately if you work hard and put the time in you’ll achieve your dreams no matter what school or university you go to, it’s a long road that’s sometimes extremely difficult but the end result is definitely worth the blood sweat and tears x
Original post by Joe Bynoth
I'm 15, and am starting to think about what university I would like to go to. I want to do acting, and I want to go into acting as a career afterwards (on stage and on camera). What I'm not sure about is whether acting school in London is better than elsewhere, like Birmingham or Manchester, because it is the centre of careers in acting. Does anyone have some good advice for this?

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