Master's Programme in Acting

All courses within the program are based on and related to one's own artistic practice, and can to some extent be adapted to the student's own plan for its presentation.

The program consists mainly of three parts:

• method courses that prepare you for artistic research,
• thematic courses with different perspectives on performing arts practice,
• the completion of an independent artistic project that constitutes your degree project.

In addition, an elective course is included, where you have the opportunity to broaden your practice.

In the method courses, you develop your understanding of artistic research as a field and orientate yourself in the field's understanding of knowledge and key concepts. You work with, among other things, what method of understanding artistic research is based on, and what this means for the carrying out of artistic research processes. This course is given together with other master's programmes at SKH to create an exchange of experience across disciplinary boundaries and art forms.

The master's programme also contains four thematic courses where you immerse yourself in different perspectives on performing arts processes to support the development of your independent project. The courses relate to SKH's research profile areas and focus on:

• body and voice
• concept and composition
• technology and materiality
• place and audience

In the thematic courses, you develop your contextual and theoretical understanding of performing arts, as well as your artistic methods and attitudes.

The actor's practice forms the basis for two years of in-depth studies with compulsory elective courses. Within the programme, one's own practice is discussed in relation to others' practice and formulates an artistic method for how it should be presented. The education ends with the completion of an independent artistic project that constitutes your degree project.

The programme is conducted partly through distance learning. It contains intensive compulsory teaching periods on site at SKH, while other parts of the education is conducted through distance learning. There are three meetings of four full days per semester compulsory teaching at SKH.

Other times there is one day of teaching via Zoom per week. In addition, independent work with preparation, assignments, literature studies and more is included. The method courses (1-3) and the elective course can be followed digitally or on campus.

To guarantee the opportunity for high quality education, the program collaborates with other departments within SKH as well as with other higher education institutions nationally and internationally.

General entry requirement for studies at the second cycle (a Bachelor's degree or the equivalent).

Specific entry requirements:

• A bachelor in fine arts or the equivalent
• English 5 or the equivalent
• A grade of Pass in the qualification test showing artistic ability in acting

If you don’t fulfil the formal entry requirements for the programme you may apply for recognition of prior learning, in other words that the knowledge and competence you have acquired through other activities are assessed as the equivalent of the formal merits that are required. Submit your application for recognition of prior learning with your application for the programme.

You may also apply for an exemption/a waiver, that allows you to proceed to the selection process even though you don’t meet the general admission requirements. Submit your application for an exemption/a waiver together with your application.

Read more about how you can show that you meet the entry requirements.

Start your application early

Don’t delay in submitting your application! You may run into trouble if you wait until the last day and your internet connection happens to be down, or you find that your files are in the wrong format. You will not be able to apply once the last date for applications has passed. Keep in mind that your application has to be turned in by 23:59 (Swedish time).

When you have entered the application system:

1. Register by stating your name and e-mail address.
2. Fill in your personal data (including your Swedish civic registration number if you have one).
3. Fill in the application form and upload the required documents.

Before uploading your documents, they must be prepared as follows:

• You must scan your original documents. If the document is in colour, scan it in colour.
• Be sure to scan ALL pages in the document, even those that just contain instructions or other information that is not necessarily information about your grades. It must be the complete document and all the pages should be in the same file.
• If you upload copies of original documents, (degree certificates, transcript of records etc.) they must be certified/attested! This means that another person must sign their name, write their name in block letters and provide their telephone number on each document copy you submit. This person, by signing, is certifying that the copy you submit is an exact copy of the original.
• All documents must be in PDF-format.
• Please name the file with content and your name for example: CV_ first name_ family name

The following documents have to be uploaded for your application to be complete:

1. A copy of your passport or national identity card (unless you are a Swedish Citizen)

Applicants from non-EU, EEA-country, or Switzerland, need to pay application fee for higher education in Sweden, and if admitted a tuition fee. If you are a citizen in an EU, EEA-country, or Switzerland, you do not have to pay application or tuition fees. Please upload a copy of your passport/valid national identity card as we need to check your nationality. If you have a Swedish civic registration number, or Swedish citizenship, you do not need to upload a copy of your passport. Remember to state your Swedish civic registration number when you fill in your personal data.

2. Documentation showing that you meet the general entry requirements for studies at second cycle/advanced level

• A certificate of a Bachelor's degree including the transcript of records.
• If you are in your last year of studies please upload a certificate that shows completed and current Courses
• If you do not have the required courses from university studies you can apply for recognition of prior learning (see below).
• We only accept documents in English, Swedish, Danish or Norwegian. Regarding documents issued in another language, you must upload the original document along with a translation made by an authorized translator.
• Please note that we do not accept print outs from Antagning.se. We do not accept e-mails as certificates.

3. Documentation showing that you meet the specific Entry Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts, or the equivalent.
• English 5, or the equivalent.
• If you do not have the required courses from university studies you can apply for recognition of prior learning (see below).

4. Letter of Motivation

Describe why you are applying to the programme. Please write max 1 A4 (max 4 000 characters).

5. Project description

A project description where you describe the individual artistic project that you would like to develop during the education and finalize in the degree project. Please write max 2 A4 (max 8 000 characters). 

You can start from the following questions:

• What would you like to explore within the project?
• In which context/contexts are the project based, and how does it relate to others who have been working with similar questions?
• How do you expect the project to contribute to your current artistic practice and to the field of acting?

6. Your CV

List your education, professional experience and other relevant experiences that you want to refer to.

7. Documentation of previous work

Please upload information about 2-3 examples of your artistic work. Please also include a description of the submitted previous work, including production year, production company/organization and your role in or contribution to the work.

You can upload the following kinds of material:

• Film: Max 5 min film (.mp4, max.150 MB), and/or
• Photos: Max 10 photos (.jpg, max 150 MB), and/or
• Sound: Max 5 min soundfile (.mp3, max 150 MB)

Instructions on how to compress your files can be found HERE.

Applying for recognition of prior learning

If you do not meet the general requirements and/or specific requirements you can apply for recognition of prior learning. When you apply for recognition of prior learning you should upload:

• a letter explaining why you think that you will manage the studies even though you do not fulfil the general entry requirements and/or specific entry requirements.
• signed documents/certificates that confirm your merits/experiences that you refer to in your letter and CV. The documents you upload need to be signed and dated by the person/s that wrote them. We only accept documents on in English, Swedish, Danish or Norwegian. We do not accept e-mails as certificates.

Here you can find more information regarding prior learning/exemption.

Admission to the program takes place in several steps. In a first step, the applicants' eligibility is assessed. If there are more eligible applicants than the number of places on the program, a selection is made.

Selection is based on submitted material and interviews. The interviews are conducted via Zoom. The assessment is made by an admissions group as well as a student representative. The student representative has the right to express an opinion but not the right to make a decision.

Schedule for admission process

The last day to submit your application is January 15 at 23.59.

Interviews step 1: Week 11

Interviews step 2: Week 12

Assessment of eligibility

The assessment of eligibility is divided into two parts:
A. The general entry requirements  and the academic special entry requirements, ie. Bachelor's Degree, Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts and grades in English 5 or equivalent. Any application for recogntion of prior Learning is assessed by a specially appointed teacher.
B. Assessment of the special requirement Passed eligibility test that shows artistic ability in acting.

Eligibility test

The eligibility test that shows artistic ability in acting is assessed by an admission group. The assessment is based on the submitted material: Documentation of previous work, project description and motivation letter.

The admissions group assesses the level of the applicant's artistic work,  and evaluates:

• level of craftsmanship
• clarity of artistic expression 

Based on the project description and motivation letter, the admissions group assesses the applicant's ability based on:

• the motivation to apply for the program
• expectations of the studies within the program
• the clarity and relevance of the project idea in relation to the program
• possible challenges of the project
• contextualisation of the project in the field of performing arts
• proposal for documentation of the project

The applicant must have passed both parts of the eligibilty test in order to meet the entry requirements.

The grading scale for the assessments is:

• Pass: The applicant demonstrates the required ability
• Fail: The applicant does not demonstrate the requested ability

Selection

This part of the admission process consists of interviews with the admissions group. The applicant is given the opportunity to describe his / her practice and project in more detail. The admissions group will focus on the applicant's conceptual, aesthetic and theoretical interests, as well as expectations and visions for two years of master's studies. Assessment is made based on the interview as well as submitted material.

Assessment criteria

• The applicant's ability of artistic figuration
• The applicant's potential ability to pursue the programme
• The assessment must be made on artistic basis

 
Important to know

As an applicant, you will receive continuous information from us whether you will proceed to the next step or not and, if so, how you may need to prepare. All correspondence takes Place via the Varbi application system and the e-mail address you used in your application. You are yourself responsible for monitoring your e-mail, including your spam inbox, so you do not miss important information from us!

If you are a Swedish citizen or a citizen of another EU or EEA country you are not required to pay application or tuition fees. Some other groups are also exempt from the requirement to pay application and study fees.

If you are not a Swedish citizen or a citizen of another EU or EEA country you are required to pay application and tuition fees. The level of the study fees depends on which course/programme they are for, and the level is set in order to cover the actual costs of the course/programme in question. SKH has some possibilities of offering scholarships that cover the study fees for programmes.

If you are required to pay an application fee, the Swedish Council for Higher Education needs to receive your payment by the last date for paying the application fee. The application fee is SEK 900. If you are required to pay the application fee and the Swedish Council for Higher Education has not received your payment by the last date for paying the tuition fee, they will not process your application. Read more here.

The tuition fee for the Master's programme in Acting is 245 600 SEK per term and 982 400 SEK for the whole programme.

Scholarships to Cover the Tuition Fee

If you are obliged to pay a tuition fee you can apply for a scholarship which covers the tuition fee. The scholarship does not cover any private costs during your studies. Please note that you still need to pay an application fee (900 SEK). The application fee is non-refundable.

Read more about tuition fees and scholarships.