What is a Performing Arts degree?
A Performing Arts degree trains you in performance, technique and creative practice within Drama, Dance or Music, combining practical training with theoretical and contextual study of the art form.
"Performing Arts" isn't one single subject, most students apply to a specific discipline (Drama, Dance, Music, or occasionally Musical Theatre combining elements of all three) rather than a generic combined degree, since the practical training required differs significantly between them.
University degree vs conservatoire: which route is right for you?
This is one of the most important decisions in Performing Arts specifically, and it doesn't come up in most other subjects. A university degree and a specialist conservatoire training are genuinely different in focus, not just in name.
A university Performing Arts degree typically combines practical training with academic and theoretical study (theatre history, critical theory, musicology, and so on), and usually offers more flexibility, including the option to pivot toward directing, production, arts administration, or an entirely different career if performance itself doesn't work out. A specialist conservatoire (such as a dedicated drama school or music conservatoire) focuses far more intensively on practical training and technique, generally with less academic content, and is often viewed as carrying particular weight for certain professional performance careers, though this varies by discipline and by the specific conservatoire's reputation. Neither route is universally "better," the right choice depends on how set you are on a specific performance career versus wanting to keep other options genuinely open.
What do you actually study on a Performing Arts degree?
Content varies significantly by discipline, but most Performing Arts degrees combine substantial practical training with theoretical and contextual study.
Common areas of study include:
- Practical Training and Technique, the core, ongoing skill-building specific to your discipline (acting technique, choreography and dance technique, or instrumental/vocal performance)
- Performance Projects, working toward staged productions, recitals or showcases, often the centrepiece of assessment
- History and Theory, covering the critical and historical context of your art form
- Composition, Choreography, or Directing modules, for students interested in the creative and production side rather than performance alone
- Professional Practice, covering the practical realities of building a freelance or portfolio career in the performing arts
Do you need to audition for a Performing Arts degree?
Yes, in almost all cases. Performance-based Performing Arts courses require an audition or practical assessment as a core part of admission, generally weighted as heavily as, or more heavily than, academic grades.
Audition formats vary significantly by discipline and institution, prepared monologues or scenes for Drama, a technical class and choreography for Dance, a prepared programme and often sight-reading or aural tests for Music. Always check the specific audition requirements and format for each course you're applying to well in advance, since preparation genuinely affects outcomes.
What skills does a Performing Arts degree develop?
A Performing Arts degree builds strong practical performance skills alongside genuinely valuable transferable skills around discipline, collaboration and presenting under pressure.
Skills you can expect to build include technical performance skill specific to your discipline, collaboration and ensemble work, the ability to perform and present confidently under pressure, project and time management (often juggling multiple productions or performances), and resilience, a skill that becomes genuinely important given the competitive and often freelance nature of performance careers.
What careers can a Performing Arts degree lead to?
A Performing Arts degree can lead directly into performance careers, but many graduates build careers across a wider range of creative and non-creative roles that draw on the same underlying skillset.
Roles directly related to performance include actor, dancer, musician, and related freelance performance work, often combined with other income streams, especially early in a career.
Roles where the degree and skillset are valued more broadly include arts administration and production, teaching (drama, dance or music, typically requiring further training), events and creative industries roles, and, given the confidence and communication skills the degree builds, roles in sales, training and public-facing business roles.
What do Performing Arts graduates actually do after graduating?
Outcomes vary considerably and are genuinely harder to generalise than for most subjects, given how much of the performance industry itself runs on freelance and project-based work rather than standard employed roles. Many graduates combine performance work with teaching, arts administration, or work in an entirely different sector while continuing to pursue performance opportunities alongside it.
How much do Performing Arts graduates earn?
There's no single salary figure for a Performing Arts graduate, earnings in performance careers specifically are often irregular and project-based, especially early on, and vary enormously from graduates working steadily in relatively stable roles (such as teaching) to those building a freelance performance career.
Rather than relying on a single average, research income realities for your specific discipline directly, professional bodies and unions relevant to Drama, Dance and Music (such as Equity in the UK for performers) often publish useful guidance on typical rates and working conditions.
Is a Performing Arts degree worth it?
For students with a genuine passion for performance and a realistic understanding of the industry, yes, it can be a meaningful route in. It's worth going in with open eyes about the financial unpredictability of many performance careers, particularly early on.
Its biggest advantage is direct, structured training in your chosen discipline, alongside a genuinely transferable skillset (confidence, collaboration, resilience) valued well beyond performance itself. Its main trade-off is the financial unpredictability common to much of the performance industry, especially in the years right after graduating, worth planning for realistically rather than assuming steady employment will follow immediately.
How can you strengthen your application and career prospects during a Performing Arts degree?
Your degree is one part of building a career in a genuinely competitive industry, and the strongest graduates tend to build a real network and body of work throughout their studies, not just at the end.
Worth prioritising: seeking out performance opportunities beyond the required coursework, student productions, local companies, or independent projects, to build a genuine, visible body of work; building relationships within the industry through work experience, internships or networking, since much performance work comes through connections; developing complementary skills (teaching qualifications, technical or production skills) that provide more stable income alongside performance work; and researching the specific professional landscape (unions, typical rates, common entry routes) for your discipline realistically before graduating.
Not sure whether Performing Arts, or another course entirely, actually fits your grades and interests? Try StudyDecidr's free course matching tool to get a curated shortlist based on your predicted grades and career ambitions. (International and postgraduate course matching is coming soon.)
Curious what studying different subjects is actually like day to day? Read real Student Experiences from current students, in their own words.
Sources and methodology
General claims (typical course structure, audition expectations, career realities) reflect common patterns across UK Performing Arts degrees rather than a single official source, and individual courses and disciplines vary considerably, so always check specific university or conservatoire course pages directly. Entry requirements, fees and career outcome data change regularly, so always check the latest information directly with the relevant institution.