How does AQA Component 3, Making Theatre, work, and what is assessed across the three extracts and the reflective report?
Component 3 Making Theatre, including the practical exploration of three extracts from three different plays, applying a prescribed practitioner's methodology to the assessed extract, the choice of specialism, the reflective report, and how the marks and assessment objectives are distributed.
A house-style overview of AQA Component 3, Making Theatre, covering the three extracts from three different plays, applying a prescribed practitioner's methodology to the assessed extract, the choice of specialism, the reflective report, and how the 60 marks and assessment objectives are distributed.
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What this dot point is asking
Component 3 is a practical, non-exam assessment (NEA), so this is a house-style overview of how it works rather than a body of examinable written knowledge. AQA wants you to understand the structure of Making Theatre, how the marks are split, and how the work is assessed, so you can plan strong interpretations of your extracts.
How Component 3 is structured
Making Theatre is the text-based practical component. You explore three extracts, each from a different play, applying knowledge from the rest of the course. The third extract is the one performed and assessed, and it must show the influence of a prescribed practitioner whose work differs from the practitioner you used for devising in Component 2. You may be assessed as a performer or in a design or directing specialism.
What is assessed and how the marks split
- Performance or realisation of the assessed extract, 40 marks. The third extract, interpreted in your specialism and showing the prescribed practitioner's influence.
- Reflective report, 20 marks. Analyses and evaluates your interpretation of all three extracts.
- Total, 60 marks, 30% of the A-level. Marked by an AQA examiner.
Three plays in total are studied for this component, all different from each other and from your set plays.
The assessment objectives in Component 3
Component 3 chiefly assesses AO2 (apply theatrical skills to realise artistic intentions in live performance), shown in the performed assessed extract, and AO4 (analyse and evaluate their own work and the work of others), shown in the reflective report. The report is where you demonstrate AO4 by analysing and evaluating your own interpretive choices across the three extracts.
How to approach Component 3 well
Choose extracts that contrast and stretch you, plan the assessed extract around a clear interpretation shaped by your chosen practitioner, and use the reflective report to analyse and evaluate your own decisions precisely rather than retell the plays.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of AQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AQA report12 marksAnalyse and evaluate how you interpreted one of your three extracts in performance. (Component 3 reflective report)Show worked answer →
The reflective report rewards precise analysis and honest evaluation of your interpretation.
Choose one extract, explain your interpretation and the choices you made in your specialism, analyse how those choices created meaning for the audience, and evaluate how successfully they realised your artistic intention, with specific evidence and what you would refine.
Markers reward focused analysis tied to your own decisions and genuine evaluation, not a retelling of the extract's plot.
AQA report8 marksExplain how a prescribed practitioner's methodology influenced your assessed extract. (Component 3 reflective report)Show worked answer →
This rewards a clear link from a named practitioner to your assessed extract (Extract 3).
Name the practitioner, who must differ from the one used in Component 2, and the specific techniques you applied, then explain how each shaped your interpretation and the intended effect on the audience in your specialism.
Markers reward explicit, evidenced application of the practitioner's methods to the assessed extract, plus a note on the intended effect.
Related dot points
- Component 2 Creating Original Drama, including devising an original piece influenced by one prescribed practitioner, specialising as performer, designer or director, the working notebook and devised performance, and how the marks and assessment objectives are distributed.
A house-style overview of AQA Component 2, Creating Original Drama, covering devising influenced by one prescribed practitioner, the choice of specialism, the working notebook and devised performance, and how the 60 marks and assessment objectives are distributed.
- Interpreting a text for performance, including reading the play from the perspectives of performer, director and designer, and justifying choices about how a moment could be realised for a contemporary audience.
A focused answer on interpreting a text for performance for AQA A-Level Drama and Theatre, covering how to read a set play as performer, director and designer and justify choices about how a moment could be realised for a contemporary audience in Section B.
- Justifying directorial and design choices for a set play, including a coherent directorial concept and specific set, lighting, sound and costume decisions, and explaining their intended effect on a contemporary audience.
A focused answer on justifying directorial and design choices for AQA A-Level Drama and Theatre, covering how to build a coherent directorial concept and make specific set, lighting, sound and costume decisions, and explain their intended effect on a contemporary audience.
- Katie Mitchell as director, including a rigorous research-led process, a Stanislavskian focus on the actor's inner life and given circumstances, precise design and sound, and the live cinema technique of filming a performance on stage.
A focused answer on Katie Mitchell for AQA A-Level Drama and Theatre, covering her rigorous research-led process, a Stanislavskian focus on the actor's inner life and given circumstances, precise design and sound, and the live cinema technique.
- The roles and skills of theatre makers, including the playwright, director, performer, and set, lighting, sound and costume designers, and how their work combines to create meaning for an audience.
A focused answer on the roles and skills of theatre makers for AQA A-Level Drama and Theatre, covering the playwright, director, performer and the set, lighting, sound and costume designers, and how their decisions combine to create meaning for an audience.
Sources & how we know this
- AQA A-level Drama and Theatre (7262) specification — AQA (2016)