The Urdang International Speech, Drama and Acting Examinations are designed to develop confident, expressive, and technically skilled communicators and performers.
Speech, Drama and Acting Examinations
These qualifications support candidates at all stages, from introductory levels through to pre-professional performance, providing a structured pathway that combines technical communication skills, performance technique, and creative interpretation.
These qualifications support candidates at all stages, from introductory levels through to pre-professional performance, providing a structured pathway that combines technical communication skills, performance technique, and creative interpretation.
The examinations foster essential skills not only for theatre and performance, but also for public speaking, academic success, and professional communication.
The examinations foster essential skills not only for theatre and performance, but also for public speaking, academic success, and professional communication.
Aims of the Acting Programme
Aims of the Acting Programme
The Acting Programme aims to:
Promote a clear understanding of the key qualities, disciplines, and techniques required for acting in the theatre , enabling candidates to adapt their performance appropriately.
Provide a safe, structured, and progressive training pathway, allowing candidates to develop the technical, expressive, and interpretative skills required to become confident, capable, and versatile performers.
Guide candidates through a systematic and professional training framework, supporting progression towards auditions for full-time vocational training institutions, conservatoires, and entry into the professional performing arts industry.
Encourage intellectual engagement with the craft of acting, fostering self-reflection, creative exploration, and critical analysis of performance styles, practitioners, and dramatic texts, supporting the candidate’s ongoing artistic and personal development.
Develop confidence, resilience, and professionalism, enabling candidates to present themselves effectively in audition, rehearsal, and performance environments.
The Acting Programme aims to:
Promote a clear understanding of the key qualities, disciplines, and techniques required for acting in the theatre , enabling candidates to adapt their performance appropriately.
Provide a safe, structured, and progressive training pathway, allowing candidates to develop the technical, expressive, and interpretative skills required to become confident, capable, and versatile performers.
Guide candidates through a systematic and professional training framework, supporting progression towards auditions for full-time vocational training institutions, conservatoires, and entry into the professional performing arts industry.
Encourage intellectual engagement with the craft of acting, fostering self-reflection, creative exploration, and critical analysis of performance styles, practitioners, and dramatic texts, supporting the candidate’s ongoing artistic and personal development.
Develop confidence, resilience, and professionalism, enabling candidates to present themselves effectively in audition, rehearsal, and performance environments.
Objectives of the Acting Programme
Objectives of the Acting Programme
The programme has the following core objectives:
To develop transferable professional skills, including effective communication, confidence, focus, adaptability, discipline, and collaborative awareness, supporting both audition success and broader professional and workplace readiness.
To build and refine essential technical acting skills, including:
Vocal technique, projection, clarity, and articulation
Physical awareness, posture, gesture, and movement
Character development and emotional authenticity
Script interpretation and textual understanding
To enable candidates to communicate character, intention, and narrative clearly and convincingly, demonstrating emotional truth, imaginative engagement, and performance commitment within a structured examination setting.
To develop interpretative and analytical skills, allowing candidates to understand the context, themes, and dramatic intentions of performance material, and apply this understanding effectively in performance.
To promote confident and sustained performance presence, enabling candidates to maintain focus, engage an audience, and demonstrate artistic maturity appropriate to their level of study.
To prepare candidates for progression into higher-level training and professional practice, ensuring readiness for vocational auditions, diploma-level study, and industry engagement.
The programme has the following core objectives:
To develop transferable professional skills, including effective communication, confidence, focus, adaptability, discipline, and collaborative awareness, supporting both audition success and broader professional and workplace readiness.
To build and refine essential technical acting skills, including:
Vocal technique, projection, clarity, and articulation
Physical awareness, posture, gesture, and movement
Character development and emotional authenticity
Script interpretation and textual understanding
To enable candidates to communicate character, intention, and narrative clearly and convincingly, demonstrating emotional truth, imaginative engagement, and performance commitment within a structured examination setting.
To develop interpretative and analytical skills, allowing candidates to understand the context, themes, and dramatic intentions of performance material, and apply this understanding effectively in performance.
To promote confident and sustained performance presence, enabling candidates to maintain focus, engage an audience, and demonstrate artistic maturity appropriate to their level of study.
To prepare candidates for progression into higher-level training and professional practice, ensuring readiness for vocational auditions, diploma-level study, and industry engagement.
Speech, Drama and Acting Graded Examinations
Speech, Drama and Acting Graded Examinations
Structure and Progression
Urdang International Awards offers a comprehensive programme of graded Speech, Drama and Acting examinations, providing a structured and progressive pathway from Entry Level and Primary Grades through to Advanced Grade 8. Examinations can be taken in both solo and group formats.
The graded examination structure is designed to support the progressive development of performance skills, communication ability, technical understanding, and artistic confidence, ensuring candidates are prepared for both further training and professional performance environments.
Structure and Progression
Urdang International Awards offers a comprehensive programme of graded Speech, Drama and Acting examinations, providing a structured and progressive pathway from Entry Level and Primary Grades through to Advanced Grade 8. Examinations can be taken in both solo and group formats.
The graded examination structure is designed to support the progressive development of performance skills, communication ability, technical understanding, and artistic confidence, ensuring candidates are prepared for both further training and professional performance environments.
Progressive Development Pathway
Progressive Development Pathway
The Urdang International graded system is carefully structured to enable candidates to develop skills incrementally, with each grade building upon the knowledge, technique, and performance confidence established in the previous level.
The programme begins with:
Entry Level-Primary Grade – introducing fundamental communication and performance skills
Progressing through:
Foundation and Intermediate Grades (Grades 1–5) – developing technical acting skills, interpretation, and performance confidence
Leading to:
Advanced Grades (Grades 6–8) – demonstrating mature performance technique, detailed characterisation, and professional presentation standards
This progressive framework ensures candidates are supported at every stage of their development, regardless of age or experience.
The Urdang International graded system is carefully structured to enable candidates to develop skills incrementally, with each grade building upon the knowledge, technique, and performance confidence established in the previous level.
The programme begins with:
Entry Level-Primary Grade – introducing fundamental communication and performance skills
Progressing through:
Foundation and Intermediate Grades (Grades 1–5) – developing technical acting skills, interpretation, and performance confidence
Leading to:
Advanced Grades (Grades 6–8) – demonstrating mature performance technique, detailed characterisation, and professional presentation standards
This progressive framework ensures candidates are supported at every stage of their development, regardless of age or experience.
Core Examination Components
Core Examination Components
The graded examinations are structured around four key performance and communication disciplines:
Acting
The acting component develops the candidate’s ability to:
Create believable and engaging characters
Interpret and communicate dramatic text
Demonstrate emotional authenticity
Use voice, movement, and expression effectively
Perform with confidence and clarity
Candidates perform prepared monologues, or scripted extracts appropriate to their grade level.
Devised Drama
Devised Drama encourages creativity, imagination, and independent performance skills.
Candidates are assessed on their ability to:
Create original performance material
Communicate ideas clearly through character and situation
Demonstrate creativity and imagination
Sustain performance focus and intention
This component develops problem-solving, originality, and artistic independence.
Speech
The Speech component focuses on developing confident and effective communication skills.
Candidates perform selected material such as:
Poems
Prose extracts
Dramatic readings and speeches
Examiners assess:
Clarity of speech
Vocal projection
Articulation and diction
Communication with audience
Interpretation of text
Viva Voce
The Viva Voce (oral discussion) component develops the candidate’s ability to reflect on and articulate their understanding of performance.
Candidates may be asked questions relating to:
Their character and performance choices
The story and context of the material
Emotional intentions and character motivations
Their preparation and rehearsal process
This element encourages:
Intellectual engagement
Self-awareness
Critical thinking
Confidence in professional discussion
The graded examinations are structured around four key performance and communication disciplines:
Acting
The acting component develops the candidate’s ability to:
Create believable and engaging characters
Interpret and communicate dramatic text
Demonstrate emotional authenticity
Use voice, movement, and expression effectively
Perform with confidence and clarity
Candidates perform prepared monologues, or scripted extracts appropriate to their grade level.
Devised Drama
Devised Drama encourages creativity, imagination, and independent performance skills.
Candidates are assessed on their ability to:
Create original performance material
Communicate ideas clearly through character and situation
Demonstrate creativity and imagination
Sustain performance focus and intention
This component develops problem-solving, originality, and artistic independence.
Speech
The Speech component focuses on developing confident and effective communication skills.
Candidates perform selected material such as:
Poems
Prose extracts
Dramatic readings and speeches
Examiners assess:
Clarity of speech
Vocal projection
Articulation and diction
Communication with audience
Interpretation of text
Viva Voce
The Viva Voce (oral discussion) component develops the candidate’s ability to reflect on and articulate their understanding of performance.
Candidates may be asked questions relating to:
Their character and performance choices
The story and context of the material
Emotional intentions and character motivations
Their preparation and rehearsal process
This element encourages:
Intellectual engagement
Self-awareness
Critical thinking
Confidence in professional discussion
Development of Skills and Confidence
Development of Skills and Confidence
Through participation in the graded examination programme, candidates progressively develop:
Confidence in performance and communication
Vocal clarity and expressive range
Character development and interpretation skills
Creative imagination and artistic expression
Analytical and reflective abilities
Professional discipline and performance awareness
The programme supports both personal development and preparation for vocational training and professional industry entry.
Through participation in the graded examination programme, candidates progressively develop:
Confidence in performance and communication
Vocal clarity and expressive range
Character development and interpretation skills
Creative imagination and artistic expression
Analytical and reflective abilities
Professional discipline and performance awareness
The programme supports both personal development and preparation for vocational training and professional industry entry.
Progression to Advanced Training
Progression to Advanced Training
Successful completion of the Urdang International graded examination pathway provides strong preparation for progression into:
Advanced Specialist Skills examinations
Professional Diploma qualifications (Levels 3, 4 and 5)
Vocational performing arts training
Conservatoire and professional auditions
Industry performance opportunities
The Urdang International Speech, Drama and Acting graded examination structure reflects a commitment to developing confident, articulate, creative, and technically skilled performers, providing a clear and supportive pathway from early participation through to advanced, pre-professional level.
Successful completion of the Urdang International graded examination pathway provides strong preparation for progression into:
Advanced Specialist Skills examinations
Professional Diploma qualifications (Levels 3, 4 and 5)
Vocational performing arts training
Conservatoire and professional auditions
Industry performance opportunities
The Urdang International Speech, Drama and Acting graded examination structure reflects a commitment to developing confident, articulate, creative, and technically skilled performers, providing a clear and supportive pathway from early participation through to advanced, pre-professional level.
Introduce Urdang International Awards to Your School
Introduce Urdang International Awards to Your School
If you are interested in introducing the Urdang International Awards Acting, Drama and Speech Programmes to your school, college, theatre school, or educational organisation, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Our graded examination programmes provide a structured and progressive pathway from Entry Level through to Grade 8, supporting the development of:
Acting and performance skills
Communication and vocal confidence
Creative thinking and devised performance
Professional preparation for further training and industry progression
Urdang International Awards work with schools, studios, and educational partners both nationally and internationally, offering recognised qualifications, examiner support, and clear progression routes.
If you are interested in introducing the Urdang International Awards Acting, Drama and Speech Programmes to your school, college, theatre school, or educational organisation, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Our graded examination programmes provide a structured and progressive pathway from Entry Level through to Grade 8, supporting the development of:
Acting and performance skills
Communication and vocal confidence
Creative thinking and devised performance
Professional preparation for further training and industry progression
Urdang International Awards work with schools, studios, and educational partners both nationally and internationally, offering recognised qualifications, examiner support, and clear progression routes.
To find out more or to register your centre, please contact us
To find out more or to register your centre, please contact us
Get in touch with our team to discuss your needs and find the right pathway for you
Get in touch with our team to discuss your needs and find the right pathway for you
Get in touch with our team to discuss your needs and find the right pathway for you
