First Cohort Completes Year One of Worcester Theatres Performance Hub BTEC
20 August 2026
The first year of the WT Performance Hub BTEC has officially concluded, marking a significant milestone for Worcester Theatres and the first cohort of students on its BTEC programme, which launched in September 2025. WT Performance Hub second-year students will return to the Swan Theatre in early September, alongside the arrival of a new year group commencing the 2026–2028 programme.
Worcester Theatres is one of the few professional theatres in the UK to offer a fully accredited Level 3 BTEC Extended Diploma in Performing Arts. The BTEC provides a high-quality arts education for students aged 16 to 19 across Worcestershire. The two-year course offers hands-on training in dance, drama, and musical theatre within a collaborative and creative environment. Students receive 24 hours of teaching per week from industry professionals, and the BTEC qualification is equivalent to three A-Levels, worth up to 168 UCAS points. Entry requirements are five GCSEs at grade 4 or above.
In June, the WT Performance Hub cohort concluded their first year of study with Concord Floral, performed at the Swan Studio. Written by acclaimed Canadian playwright Jordan Tannahill, the end-of-year production marked a successful conclusion to the students’ first year on the BTEC programme.
Earlier that month, students also took part in a creative pitching process, presenting their ideas to Worcester Theatres’ CEO and Artistic Director, Sarah-Jane Morgan, for the production they would like to stage in their second year of study. Working in pairs, the students delivered presentations outlining their chosen play, including a synopsis, the playwright’s intentions, their own contemporary interpretation, staging concepts, and comparisons with previous productions staged by different in-house theatre companies across the globe. The plays researched and proposed included William Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus and Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, showcasing the variety of the students’ interests and ambitions for their final year of study. The winning play will be performed by the group in early 2027.
Aaron Corbett, WT Performance Hub – Performing Arts Tutor said, “It will be a really exciting challenge for our second years to take on their UNIT 6 production. Their presentations for Sarah-Jane were all extremely unique, which is a testament to the group’s creative diversity. Now they have to come together, as this performance will be predominantly led by them.
The show will be chosen based on their research, and when they return after the summer holidays, they’ll be straight into creating it. They’ll cast it themselves, stage it, direct it, source costumes and create the marketing. This UNIT is giving them the experience of what it feels like to be a theatre company — not only putting into practice the onstage skills they’ve learnt, but also developing their offstage skills. I’m really looking forward to watching their growth and progress throughout this module.”
Worcester Theatres are still accepting late applications for WT Performance Hub BTEC 2026 entry, if you are a prospective student that’s just received your GCSE results, and you’re interested in further education and pursuing a career in the Performing Arts this is the course for you.
Applications can be made on the Worcester Theatres website, and then students will be invited to audition for their place on the course, and this will follow a two-stage process: an individual monologue audition with questions on the chosen piece, followed by a group workshop audition. Auditions for 2026 entry will be on Wednesday 26 August from 10am. For more details contact [email protected] or visit our website.
For more information about the WT Performance Hub visit our website!