Eduqas A-Level Drama and Theatre (A690): the three components, the practitioners, the set texts and the written exam

WJEC Eduqas A-Level Drama and Theatre (specification A690) is a two-year linear course assessed by two practical components and one written exam at the end of Year 13. It is built around making theatre in the style of recognised practitioners, exploring texts as scripts for performance, and analysing and evaluating live work, all assessed against the same four assessment objectives. This page is the index: below is a map of the three components, the practitioners and theatre makers, the four objectives, the exam structure, and how to study each part. Always confirm your centre's chosen practitioners and set texts against the current Eduqas specification.

The three components of Drama and Theatre

The specification is built around three assessed components: two practical and one written.

Component 1: Theatre Workshop

A practical component worth 60 marks (20 per cent), internally assessed and externally moderated. You reinterpret an extract from a chosen text using the techniques and working methods of one practitioner or theatre company from the approved list, as a performer or a designer, and submit a creative log documenting and reflecting on the process. It assesses AO1 and AO2.

Component 2: Text in Action

A practical component worth 120 marks (40 per cent), assessed by a visiting examiner. From a WJEC-provided stimulus you create two pieces: a devised piece influenced by a different practitioner or company, and a performance of an extract from a professionally produced text. You also submit a process and evaluation report. It assesses AO1, AO2 and AO4. This is the single largest component.

Component 3: Text in Performance

A written exam worth 120 marks (40 per cent), 2 hours 30 minutes. Section A is structured questions on one complete set text (open book). Section B is an essay on a second complete set text from a different period (open book). Section C is a question on an extract from a third contrasting text (the extract is printed in the paper). One set text must be written before 1956 and one after 1956. It assesses AO3 and AO4, answered as a theatre maker. Together the three components total 300 marks.

The practitioners and theatre makers

You apply practitioners' methods in Component 1 (one practitioner) and Component 2 (a different one), and their approaches also inform how you write as a theatre maker in the exam. Eduqas's list commonly includes the following; confirm the current approved names against the specification.

• Konstantin Stanislavski - psychological realism: objectives, units, given circumstances, the magic if, emotion memory.
• Bertolt Brecht - epic theatre: the alienation effect (Verfremdung), gestus, episodic structure, placards, song, direct address.
• Antonin Artaud - the Theatre of Cruelty: sensory assault, non-verbal communication, ritual, breaking the actor-audience barrier.
• Steven Berkoff - stylised physical theatre, mime, exaggeration, ensemble and direct address.
• Frantic Assembly and Complicite - contemporary devised and physical ensemble theatre (Building Blocks, transformation of performer and object).
• Kneehigh and Punchdrunk - storytelling theatre and immersive, site-responsive work.
• DV8 Physical Theatre and Katie Mitchell - dance-theatre with a verbatim and political edge, and a meticulous director's realism.

The four assessment objectives

Every component is assessed against the same four objectives, so mastering them as transferable theatre-making skills matters more than memorising notes on a single text.

• AO1 - create and develop ideas to communicate meaning as part of the theatre-making process, making connections between dramatic theory and practice.
• AO2 - apply theatrical skills to realise artistic intentions in live performance.
• AO3 - demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how drama and theatre is developed and performed.
• AO4 - analyse and evaluate their own work and the work of others.

Across the whole qualification the headline weightings are AO1 20 per cent, AO2 30 per cent, AO3 30 per cent and AO4 20 per cent. AO2 (realising intentions in performance) and AO3 (knowledge of how theatre is made and performed) carry the most marks; AO4 (analysis and evaluation) is earned in the process and evaluation report (Component 2) and across the written exam. By component: Component 1 assesses AO1 and AO2, Component 2 assesses AO1, AO2 and AO4, and Component 3 assesses AO3 and AO4.

Exam and assessment structure

Drama and Theatre is assessed by two practical components and one written paper.

• Component 1: Theatre Workshop - 60 marks, 20 per cent, practical (internally assessed, externally moderated). A reinterpreted extract performance or design realisation in the style of one practitioner, plus a creative log. Assesses AO1 and AO2.
• Component 2: Text in Action - 120 marks, 40 per cent, practical (visiting examiner). A devised piece influenced by a different practitioner and a performance of an extract from a professionally produced text, plus a process and evaluation report. Assesses AO1, AO2 and AO4.
• Component 3: Text in Performance - 120 marks, 2 hours 30 minutes, 40 per cent, written. Section A (one complete set text, open book), Section B (a second complete set text essay, from a different period, open book), Section C (extract from a third text, printed in the paper). One text pre-1956 and one post-1956. Assesses AO3 and AO4.

How to study Drama and Theatre

This subject rewards practical thinking over memorised content.

1. Read every text as a script. Convert plot and character into staging, blocking, vocal and physical choices, and design states. AO2 and AO3 carry the most marks and demand realisation, not retelling.
2. Justify by effect on an audience. Every practical choice should be tied to the meaning, mood or response it is designed to create for a watching audience.
3. Learn two practitioners deeply. Know one practitioner for Component 1 and a different one for Component 2, well enough to apply their methods to any extract or stimulus.
4. Document the process. The creative log (Component 1) and the process and evaluation report (Component 2) reward genuine reflection: what you tried, what changed, and why.
5. Bank your live production. Keep a detailed record of specific moments, performances and design states from a production you saw, ready to inform your written answers.
6. Use the open book wisely. Sections A and B are open book on your two complete set texts, but only clean, unannotated copies are allowed, so know the texts well and cite precise moments rather than reading on the day.
7. Prepare for the printed extract. The Section C extract is printed in the paper, so rehearse close reading and staging an unfamiliar extract at speed under timed conditions.

The components, dot point by dot point

Each component has specification-level answer pages with practice questions and cross-links, plus deep-dive overview guides. Browse the full set at /a-level-eduqas/drama/syllabus.

For the official specification

Eduqas publishes the full specification (A690), the set text list, the practitioner list, past papers, mark schemes and the non-exam assessment guidance at eduqas.co.uk. Always revise from the current specification and Eduqas's own past papers and sample assessment materials, because set texts and the practitioner list are board-specific and reviewed periodically.