The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts or LAMDA is one of the flagship drama schools in the UK. Widely regarded as one of the best acting schools in London, the UK, Europe and indeed worldwide.
Putting aside the fact that LAMDA is the oldest drama school in the UK and is the founder of the “Federation of Drama Schools” it still has great contemporary acting training. This article goes into detail about where LAMDA is based and whether you should consider applying if you’re interested in acting training.
If you want more history on drama school accreditation then check out our article here which goes over the history of Drama UK. This explains some background as to what the “Federation of Drama Schools” was and also Drama UK. Otherwise, if you’re thinking of applying to LAMDA then read on.
Strengths of LAMDA
It goes without saying that many of Britain’s best actors trained at LAMDA. A very brief list of some of the alumni that trained at LAMDA:
- Benedict Cumberbatch
- Chiwetel Ejiofor
- Jim Broadbent
- Dominic Cooper
- Brian Cox
- Rory Kinnear
- David Suchet
If you want to see a longer list then you can see it here: https://www.lamda.ac.uk/graduates/who-trained-at-lamda
What’s great is that LAMDA has a very diverse cohort of alumni. When I say diverse I mean that some of them trained on the three years Bachelor of Arts course whereas others trained on a masters course.
This is important to take note of because there are other drama schools that have much more success with one course over another. Some drama schools are excellent at providing two-year masters whereas there are others that are much better at an undergraduate. LAMDA is an example of a drama school that provides excellent undergraduate and post-graduate courses.
Contemporary training and their new building
What’s great is that LAMDA hasn’t rested on its laurels when it comes to its alumni. There are a few drama schools that are guilty of relying on their alumni to sell their contemporary courses for them but LAMDA is certainly not one of them.
They have recently unveiled a brand new £28m building which I had the honour of attending recently to see a few shows. All I can say that the facilities are state of the art and I would encourage you to visit just to see the standard that is possible.
A virtual tour can be seen on LAMDA’s website here.
The faculty is led by Rodney Cottier who has been a mainstay for a long time. The full list of staff can be seen here but it’s important to do your research depending on what course you’re thinking of applying for.
The course that would be relevant for the readers of howtodrama.com would be:
Depending on your level of education the relevant course may be a post-graduate, BA or foundation course.
LAMDA foundation course
Of all the drama schools LAMDA provides one of the best foundation courses out there. One of our editors can personally attest to the quality of this course because they attended in 2012. It’s not a course that solely focuses on acting and is more a general diploma in theatre but great for certain people to consider.
Transport Links
The school is based right next to Barons Court station which has fantastic transportation links on the District and Central line. I used to commute from Putney every day and it was a breeze compared to some horrific route that I know acting students have to take.
Things to consider
One of the main choices you have to make when considering drama school is whether you want to train in a big city or not. It depends on whether you prefer an urban environment or a rural one.
LAMDA is situated very close to Hammersmith and definitely a great place to study if you wish to be connected to the best of London nightlife. If you wanted to have the option of partying whilst studying then LAMDA ticks the boxes nicely.
Where to apply
It’s important to note that in order to apply for LAMDA you have to do it directly. There are some colleges such as the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama where you apply through UCAS. LAMDA is not one of those colleges, you have to apply direct.
The student gateway and the place to apply is here.
Conclusion
If you’ve made up your mind that you want to go to drama school then you can’t go wrong with choosing LAMDA. It’s got a fantastic brand which is backed by state-of-the-art facilities and great contemporary training. Some of our editorial team trained at the academy so we may be slightly biased. However, it’s difficult to argue that it’s not an objectively great training route.
If you wanted to apply then you can do so here.
Any questions?
This website is the main source of information for the majority of UK drama students applying for higher education. Fun fact – there are about 20,000 a year. Feel free to email us at team@olcan.co or sign up to our free training on our homepage.
team@olcan.co
