Drama

Subject Overview

Drama GCSE is an academic course that allows students to develop their creative and analytical skills in both a practical and theoretical way. Employers look upon this as a valuable qualification as it hones skills in communication, team work, and builds confidence.

During the course students learn about different styles and genres of performance and extend their creative skills to explore plays and stimulus materials. Students get the chance to devise their own piece of drama based on their skills, knowledge and personal interests. They also explore play texts and prepare them for performance, as well as looking at the playwright’s craft and the perspective of a director and designer. We also go to the theatre and analyse live performance.

Syllabuses (Course Outline and Structure)

  • Unit 1: Devising Drama 30%
    • We explore several stimulus materials that are set by the exam board and change every year
    • You will then choose a stimulus to focus on and create your own piece of devised drama around it
  • Assessment:
    • The final performance outcome
    • Portfolio
  • Unit 2: Presenting and Performing Texts 30%
    • You will practically explore a play
    • You will then rehearse and perform 2 extracts from it
  • Assessment:
    • Live performance to a visiting examiner
    • Concept document (outlining intentions)
  • Unit 3: Performance and Response 40%
    • You will explore one of the set texts
    • You will consider all parts of a theatre production – acting, directing, design, writing
    • We will go to see a piece of live theatre and evaluate how the production was made
  • Assessment:
    • Written exam with questions on the set text and an evaluation of live theatre

You can find the full specification at the OCR website:

Activities and Trips

As part of the course we will go to see live theatre to evaluate it for the exam but also to give us inspiration for our own work.
We sometimes have workshops from theatre companies who come in to school and teach us about the way that they create drama and the styles that they use.

Complementary Subject Combinations and Enrichment Activities

There are many links between Drama and English where you also explore play texts. Studying plays practically allows you to analyse texts as they were meant to be performed from a dramatic point of view.

Drama links well with other areas of the Arts such as Music, Art and Art Photography. If students are part of extra-curricular Drama or Performing Arts groups they will find that this will enhance their work in this area.

Subject Resources

Schemes of Work

The OCR website has a wealth of information that can be useful to the areas of study

Past Papers

There are none at the moment as this is a new specification but OCR have provided some mock paper and mark schemes which we will use in class

Useful Links