All over the world, eager students pursue music as a hobby and career, taking instrumental lessons at school and sitting examinations as a means of quantifying their success.  This probably happened to you, to your son or daughter, or someone you know.  That means you're probably also familiar with the Music Support Services that exist around the UK, to help foster the musical talents of our youngsters.

But have you heard about Drama Support?

The TARGET Drama Service works on exactly the same basis as the Music Support Services around the country, whereby qualified, enthusiastic and passionate drama teachers visit your child weekly within the school environment to offer instruction in his/her chosen subject.  After working on certain chosen pieces for a number of months, the children are invited to sit an exam trhough the LAMDA examination board that provides them with a sense of achievement and success, and you with something concrete for your investment.

As with music qualifications, there are 8 main graded exams that can be taken, plus three lower level examinations meaning that children can start even younger on the ladder of attainment in drama.

By the time the children reach the higher grades (6,7 and 8), the result that is achieved translates directly into a certain number of points that can contribute towards the number required to gain entry to University or other Higher Education.  For example, if a University asks for 360 points (3x A grades) then a Distinction at Grade 8 can gain a student 65 points towards this total. 300 points is equal to 3x B grades, meaning that the pressure on the student to succeed at A2 level is significantly reduced. 
Click here to read about how UCAS accredits these qualifications.

So why is nobody else offering this?

Well, to be honest, we don't know!  Music Support Services are so widely known and highly regarded that it seemed inevitable that one day someone would offer drama in the same way.  However, as yet, nobody else, outside of Performing Arts schools and private education instituitions seems to be offering drama qualifications.  Furthermore, there is certainly no other Drama Support Service in the UK (that we can find!) and nobody to implement or organise schemes on such a large scale as this one.

How do I get involved?

To date we have a 100% success rate with examinations at the Drama Support Service!  TARGET can assist you/your child in taking drama examinations in two ways:

1) If your school wishes to offer drama tuition as a peripatetic (i.e. extra-curricular) subject, ask your teacher to read our Drama Support for Schools page and contact us to arrange for one of our tutors to attend your school.