French and Drama (BA)

While French normally requires a minimum B grade at A2 level, the department will consider applications from students presenting an A grade in the language at AS level.

Applicants come from a diverse range of backgrounds and we accept a broad range of qualifications. Special consideration will be given to mature applicants, and we are happy to consider applicants with other qualifications, including QAA-approved Access to HE courses.

Students from overseas should visit the International| pages for further information on the entry requirements from their country and English language requirements.  Royal Holloway International offers an International Foundation Programme and English language pre-sessional courses, allowing students the opportunity to develop their study skills and English language before starting their undergraduate degree.

We make decisions based on achieved or predicted grades, personal statements and references. More information on how your application will be assessed, and tips for your personal statement can be found on our Applying| pages.

All applicants will be invited to a UCAS day, where you will have an interview with the Department of Drama and Theatre. You will take part in various group activities and a half-hour small group seminar interview with a member of staff; the interview is not an audition and does not involve any testing of your performance skills. You will also have the opportunity to visit the School of Modern Languages to meet current staff and students and discuss aspects of the degree course in more depth.

Applicants who are unable to attend the interview day, such as overseas students, will be asked to submit a written piece of work before an offer is made.

• You will be studying at a top-ranking languages department with an outstanding research record.  
• The Drama Department has a strong research culture: all staff are active researchers and over 95% of our research is recognised internationally (RAE 2008).
• You will be able to take advantage of excellent quality equipment and dedicated language learning facilities, as well as drama resources that include three major performance spaces, a workshop, two rehearsal rooms and a digital studio.
• We have strong links with major universities in metropolitan France as well as Belgium, Switzerland and La Réunion.
• Our proximity to central London offers students easy access to the capital's many theatre productions.

Each year you will take two course units in each subject. The French course units focus on spoken and written language. Language course units exploit film resources and computer programmes designed by the Department, with language laboratories, satellite television and internet available all day for personal study.

In the first year, optional course units introduce key areas such as history, linguistics, politics, literature, theories of communication, cinema and the visual arts, which equip students with foundational knowledge, critical tools and skills. By the final year, the range of course units allows students to specialise in aspects of particular interest.

Drama explores a wide range of dramatic and theatrical forms, conventions, periods, traditions and activities. You'll learn to communicate intellectual ideas through seminar presentations and creative performance work and how to work effectively in teams. 

In the first year foundation course you only take four of the eight components: contemporary theatremaking, critical theories I, boundaries of performance, and staging histories. In your second and your final years you study alongside single honours students, taking half the number of courses in drama.

Throughout the course, you will:

• learn to converse and write confidently in contemporary French
• analyse and critique French materials in a wide variety of media
• explore the complex relationship between texts and performance in drama
• acquire critical, analytical and group-working skills.

All undergraduate degree courses at Royal Holloway are based on the course unit system. This system provides an effective and flexible approach to study, while ensuring that our degrees have a coherent and developmental structure. In the case of combined degree courses, this approach also makes it possible to change the balance of your subjects during your time at Royal Holloway.

The websites of the School of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures| and the Department of Drama and Theatre| give detailed lists of the course units taken for each different degree.

View the full course specification for French and Drama (BA) in the Programme Specification Repository|.

The course has a modular structure, whereby students take 14 course units at the rate of four per year in years 1, 2 and 4, and two units during the year abroad. Some course units are compulsory while others are elective thereby offering flexibility and choice.

Assessment is by a mixture of coursework and end-of-year examination. In the final year, you can choose to write a dissertation which you will research and write with individual guidance from your tutor. For drama assessment also includes seminar presentations and practical assignments and you are often assessed as part of a group.

The first year is foundational and marks do not count towards your final degree. The second year, year abroad and final year marks do count, with more importance being given to the final year marks in order to reward progress and achievement.

Our graduates are highly employable and, in recent years, have entered many different language-related fields including international management, consultancy, sales and marketing, media and publishing, banking, the arts, politics, the Civil Service, teaching, travel and tourism, translating and interpreting. The drama training will also equip you for careers in fields such as actor training, arts administration, management and stage design.