Rose Bruford College is a drama school offering professional vocational training and university-level studies to almost a 1,000 students. It is located in Sidcup, London, not far from the famous West End, on a singular campus, centred around a Grade II listed building.

Background and history

The college was founded by its namesake, Rose Bruford, who was a teacher at the Royal Academy of Music, in 1951 under the name The Rose Bruford Training College for Speech and Drama. The college burgeoned in the post-war years and in 1975 created and began offering the first UK Honours Degree in professional acting and theatre practice.

Location and accessibility

Due to its location in the capital, the college benefits from excellent transport links and is within easy reach of bus, road and train commuters.Buses 51, 160, 229, 233, 269, 286, 492 and 726 all pass within a short walk of the college grounds. Trains travel to and from Sidcup every 15 minutes and the college is a short walk north from the station. For road users the A2 is the best route to the campus and there is some parking available on-site.

What's on offer?

The college has four on-site production spaces which the students have use of, whether they are studying on the college's vocational professional programmes or if they are on one of the undergraduate/postgraduate courses. Vocational qualifications are accredited by the National Council for Drama, while the University of Manchester awards the HE programmes and courses. There is also an extensive research department within the college.

The college specialises in the dramatic arts and splits its schools into: Performance, Design, Management Technical Arts, and Postgraduate Study. Within these schools the students can opt for further education studies in the college's vocational programmes or higher education studies which lead to BA (hons) and can also be taken further to Masters level.

Finance and funding

Higher Education tuition fees stand at £9,000 and there is plenty of help available in dealing with Student Finance: maintenance loans, tuition fees, college grants, as well as varying means of payment. For further education students the college has an extremely detailed and extensive support scheme with a range of financial assistance on offer, including: Access to Learning Funds, TYA-UK/ASSITEJ Bursaries, Disabled/Dyslexic student funds, and Students with dependents funds.

Theatre productions and rehearsals take place in either of the college's two full theatres:the Rose, a 330 seat theatre-in-the-round
and the end-stage Barn Theatre.

 The Costume and Wardrobe Complex is an on-site facility where students can get to grips with costume construction and maintenance.

Recording Studios feature computer laboratories and six off-line video and audio suites, all equipped with the latest recording technology.

The Scenic Workshop is specifically designed to cater for scenic arts teaching, scenery and properties fabrication.