<p>Hi :)</p>
<p>I’m currently living in Europe (was born and brought up here) and I also applied to many universities in the UK. The thing is, the application for most universities in the UK is radically different to the US applications. In the first place, most schools (and I mean almost all) follow the UCAS system. UCAS is one application in which you choose 5 schools to apply to (no more than that is allowed). Your grades/reports, school/teacher evaluations as well as your personal statement is all attached to your UCAS application and is sent off to your five schools. Once your school receives your application and decide whether or not they want to give you a place in the fall term, they send you either an offer or decline you altogether. The offer can come in two different forms. For most British and European students, they receive an offer based on what their predicted A-Level grades will be. For instance, if in school a student is taking English Lit, Drama and History and they apply for English/Drama degree, they will often get an offer that says they must get at least two A’s and one B (this is subject to change with every different school) on their A-level exams. This kind of offer is called a conditional offer. The other type is an unconditional offer where a student is admitted to the university based on the current grades/credentials they have. This is usually quite rare and will normally only happen if the student has already taken and received their A-level grades or if the university isn’t that great… Now I’m not sure what kind of offer you’ll get as an American transfer student. You could very likely get an unconditional offer considering that you’ve already finished high-school (since most applicants are in their last year of secondary school). Now once you get all your offers from your 5 schools, you must (I believe sometime in May) narrow done your schools to two choices, one firm acceptance (which means you will take up your spot if you receive good enough grades) and one insurance (which usually tends to be a back-up in case you don’t receive good enough A-level grades for your first choice). Now all that applies to a conditional offer. It might be slightly different with an unconditional offer but I believe it is all more or less the same. </p>
<p>In terms of finding the right kind of school in the UK to study drama, it really depends what you want. If you want a more genreal BA style degree where you have acting classes as well as theory, you might be a bit disappointed. What I gathered from my application experience, is that most BA style programs in the UK are very theory heavy with little acting or performing classes. The plus side of this type of drama degree is that it allows room for a joint degree in another subject. Now if you want a more BFA style program, I think you’d be better off looking at performing arts schools which usually aren’t involved in the UCAS system. </p>
<p>I applied and have been accepted in a university in London but I’ve deferred my application for one year and am taking gap year to apply to schools in the US. I would like to have some great acting classes but also have a chance to pursue all the different aspects of theatre/drama. Thus far I believe schools in America are a better fit for me and I will most likely decline my offer in London. It all really depends on each individual person. if your more like me and want to have some great performance classes as well as all the rest, I would say the UK might not be the best fit for you. However, I think you should look into it all and decide for yourself of course. </p>
<p>As far as Cambridge goes, they barely have a drama department. It is in both the Education and English department and is taught as a form of literature rather than as an art. It is almost completely theory. Cambridge doesn’t accept transfer students, all those admitted will have to begin from year 1. The one plus though is that English Universities only have three years (as you do the first year in high-school in sixth form/year 13). Also, I’m pretty sure the UCAS deadline for Cambridge was October 15th and I know that UCAS is extremely strict about their deadlines. </p>
<p>I don’t know much about Oxford except that they do have a theatre school that is quite highly regarded. I’m not sure if you can apply to this program through UCAS though. </p>
<p>Here’s a list of some performing arts schools in the UK (which have more of a BFA style program) :</p>
<p>Urdang Academy
Italia Conti
Central School of Speech and Drama (this program is excellent and is very well regarded and surprisingly you can apply to this school through UCAS!)
Trinity College Dublin
Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Queen Margaret University
Manchester Metropolitan University
Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts
University of the Arts, London</p>
<p>and there are lots more 
I think it would be very helpful to look at the Drama Conference site as they list all the best performing arts programs in the UK. [Welcome</a> to the Conference of Drama Schools](<a href=“http://www.drama.ac.uk/]Welcome”>http://www.drama.ac.uk/)</p>
<p>List of BA style programs (there’s LOADS and these are just a few) all of which you can apply to through UCAS :</p>
<p>Queen Mary University of London
East Anglia University (This program is actually strangely unique as it does offer some great acting classes)
Warwick University
Manchester University
Kent University
Royal Holloway University of London
University of York </p>
<p>and lots more </p>
<p>Go to this link, it’s an official ranking of all the accredited universities in the UK. Look under the Drama, Dance and Cinematics section as it’ll give the rankings of the best BA style Drama programs. It doesn’t rank the performing arts programs though. </p>
<p>[Top</a> UK University League Tables and Rankings 2012 - Complete University Guide](<a href=“http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings]Top”>University Rankings and League Tables 2024)</p>
<p>Anyways, I hope this was all very helpful and I hope you find exactly what you’re looking for.
</p>
<p>Oh yeah! By the way, I almost forgot to mention that in the UCAS system, if you get declined to all your Unis, you go through a process of clearing where you try to find a place on any course in the UK that is similar to what you want to do. I actually know many people who did this by choice as they found more universities they wanted to apply to after they submitted their UCAS app. The only problem with this is that you’re not guaranteed a place and might have to go to a program that isn’t exactly what you want. This probably won’t be a problem for you though since you are also applying to schools in the US.</p>
