GCSE Drama
Unit 1: Drama Exploration
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You will use stimulus material as a starting point to explore a theme, topic or issue.
You will make use of the explorative strategies, drama medium and elements of
drama to create your own work and communicate meaning
You will evaluate how your exploration and use of techniques contribute to your
creation of drama.
Unit 1 is worth 30% 0f your GCSE marks
20% of your marks will be a 6 hour assessed practical exploration of Drama. This will take
place under controlled conditions, led, supervised and assessed by your teacher.
In this exploration you will use at least two stimuli, four explorative strategies and two
examples of drama medium. There will also be the opportunity to use the elements of
drama.
The remaining 10% of the marks will be for a documentary response recording the work that
you have undertaken in Unit 1. This is based on notes made during and after the exploration
and can include photographs, sketches and diagrams as well as writing. This must be no
more than 2,000 words and will be written under controlled conditions with supervision.
Unit 2: Exploring Play Texts
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You will explore the action, characters, ideas, themes and issues of a written play
text, through a range of suggested drama activities
You will use a range of explorative techniques, medium and elements of drama to
develop interpretations of the play and gain an understanding of how it might work
in performance.
You will evaluate how your exploration and use of techniques contribute to your
interpretations and understanding.
You will prepare for and evaluate a live performance, drawing on the range of skills
and strategies you have developed.
Unit 2 is worth 30% 0f your GCSE marks
You will participate in a 6 hour assessed practical exploration of Drama. This will take place
under controlled conditions, led, supervised and assessed by your teacher. You will then
write up a documentary response, under controlled conditions of no more than 1,000
words.
The mark the teacher gives you for this work will be based on:
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Your practical work during the 6 hour exploration
Your documentary response.
You will also write an evaluation of a live performance of a complete play (a maximum of
2,000 words). This will be based on informal notes written after the performance. The
formal evaluation will be written under controlled conditions and your mark will be based
on:
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Your ability to comment on a range of strategies and dramatic elements used in the
performance and their effectiveness.
How well you convey and explain these ideas.
Unit 3: Drama Performance
In this unit you will work as part of a group to create a performance. This will be shown to
an examiner who will mark you as an individual.
The theme each year is set by the exam board, for example ‘Freedom’, but there are a
number of choices for your group. You can present:
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A devised piece based in a stimulus or a devised performance of a Theatre in
Education piece.
A performance of a scripted play, which could be a complete short published play, an
extract from a longer one or a selection of extracts.
A mix of devised and scripted material.
Unit 3 is worth 40% 0f your GCSE marks
You can choose to be examined as a performer or as a designer who provides a design skill
for the production. Whichever option you choose, each of the four areas of assessment are
worth 10% of your marks.
Performers will be marked on:
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Vocal and movement skills.
Roles and characterisation.
Communication with other performers and the audience.
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Understanding of the production’s content, style and form.
Designer will be marked on:
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Response to the needs of the planned ideas.
Reasons for design decisions in the context of the production.
The design skill demonstrated during the performance.
How the design enhances the performance.
Performance times must be no less than 15 minutes for small groups and no longer than a
maximum of 45 minutes for a group of nine. It is roughly 5 minutes per performer.