Specification: AQA-A-Level-Drama
The AQA A-Level Drama specification covers 1 topic with 0 learning objectives (AQA-A-Level-Drama). Use the topic browser below to explore subtopics, exam tips, common mistakes, and key terminology for each area of the course.
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AQA A-Level Drama and Theatre Studies offers a dynamic blend of creative exploration and academic rigour, ideal for students passionate about performance, design, and critical analysis. The course introduces you to a diverse range of influential plays, theatre practitioners, and live productions, encouraging you to think like a director, actor, and designer. You will develop your own artistic ideas while building a deep understanding of how theatre communicates meaning to an audience.
The specification is structured around three interconnected components. Component 1 is a written exam assessing your knowledge and interpretation of two set plays and a live theatre performance. Component 2 involves devising an original piece of theatre, supported by a working notebook. Component 3 is a practical text-based performance, where you apply the theories of a chosen practitioner to an extract from a published play. Together, they balance theory and practice to nurture both analytical and creative skills.
Key themes across the course include interpreting drama for performance, understanding genre and historical context, and exploring the collaborative nature of theatre-making. You will engage with texts from different periods and styles, from classical Greek tragedy to contemporary political drama, learning how to shape theatrical choices to create meaning. The course is designed to develop your independence, critical thinking, and ability to articulate informed responses both verbally and in writing.
The A-Level is assessed through three components. Component 1 (Drama and theatre) is a 3-hour written exam worth 80 marks, contributing 40% of the final grade, where you answer on two set plays and analyse a live production. Component 2 (Creating original drama) is a practical devising unit, internally assessed and externally moderated, worth 60 marks (30%). You work in a group to create a piece and submit a working notebook. Component 3 (Making theatre) is another practical, externally examined by a visiting examiner, worth 60 marks (30%), involving a rehearsed extract from a published play and a reflective report. All components are taken in the final year as the qualification is linear.
Create and develop ideas to communicate meaning as part of the theatre making process, making connections between dramatic theory and practice
Apply theatrical skills to realise artistic intentions in live performance
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how drama and theatre is developed and performed
Analyse and evaluate their own work and the work of others
Demonstrates comprehensive and accurate knowledge
Applies knowledge effectively to new contexts
Develops sophisticated analytical arguments
Give a single fact or term
Name, select, or recognise
Set out main features briefly
Give an account of what something is like or what happens
Give reasons with developed cause→effect chains
State similarities AND differences (both required)
Examine in detail showing cause→effect→consequence chains
Weigh up BOTH sides, reach JUSTIFIED conclusion
Make judgments about importance with justification
Show formula→substitution→calculation→answer with units
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