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Northern Ireland · CCEA2026

CCEA GCSE Drama: complete guide to the components, the written paper and how to study it

A complete guide to CCEA GCSE Drama (Northern Ireland). Covers the three components, the practical performance pathways, and the written paper, Component 3, studied from the perspectives of performer, designer and director, plus live theatre evaluation and how to study each examinable skill.

Browse guides →Syllabus dot points (6)

CCEA GCSE Drama is a practical subject with one written paper, set and marked by CCEA in Northern Ireland. This page is the index: below is a map of the three components, the skills the course tests, how the written paper is structured, and how to study each examinable skill.

The CCEA GCSE Drama components

The qualification is linear, with three components taken at the end of the course. Two are practical and one is written.

Component 1: Devised Performance
Practical controlled assessment in which you create an original piece from a stimulus, working as a performer (acting) or a designer (costume, lighting, multimedia, set or sound), supported by a record of your process.
Component 2: Scripted Performance
Practical controlled assessment in which you perform extracts from a published play, again as a performer or designer, realising the text for an audience.
Component 3: Knowledge and Understanding of Drama
The written exam, worth 80 marks and about 40 percent of the GCSE. This is the examinable paper and the focus of this study library.

The two performance components together make up about 60 percent of the qualification and the written paper about 40 percent.

A note on the practical components

Components 1 and 2 are assessed through performance, not by the written paper, so they are best learned in the studio with your teacher and beyond the scope of a written-exam revision guide. What matters for revision is that the practical skills and the written paper reinforce each other: the vocal and physical skills you use as a performer, and the set, lighting, sound and costume decisions you make as a designer, are exactly the vocabulary the written paper asks you to write about. Doing drama teaches you to write about drama.

Drama skills

Four assessment objectives run across the course and separate average answers from top grades.

  • AO1 ideas. Creating and developing ideas to communicate meaning for theatrical performance.
  • AO2 skills. Applying theatrical skills to realise artistic intentions in live performance.
  • AO3 knowledge. Demonstrating knowledge and understanding of how drama and theatre is developed and performed.
  • AO4 evaluation. Analysing and evaluating your own work and the work of others.

The written paper mainly assesses AO3 (the set text and knowledge questions) and AO4 (live theatre evaluation), with AO1 in design and directing ideas.

The written paper, strand by strand

Component 3 is worth 80 marks over about 90 minutes, with three questions of increasing length. It tests these written skills, each with its own dot-point page.

  • The actor's vocal and physical skills - the performance vocabulary every performer answer needs.
  • The set text as a performer - acting an extract with justified vocal and physical choices.
  • The set text as a designer - using set, lighting, sound and costume to create meaning.
  • The set text as a director - staging the whole picture with a clear concept.
  • Genre, style and stylistic features - knowledge of dramatic form, conventions and language.
  • Evaluating live theatre - analysing and evaluating a live performance you have seen.

How to study CCEA Drama for the exam

The written paper rewards precise vocabulary, deep knowledge of one set text, and disciplined evaluation.

  1. Learn the vocabulary cold. Vocal and physical skills, and the four design areas, are the language every answer needs.
  2. Know your set text three ways. Be ready to answer as performer, designer and director from any extract.
  3. Prepare your live theatre notes. Record specific moments of acting and design while the production is fresh.
  4. Always reach the effect. Move from a choice to what it does to the audience; never stop at description.
  5. Practise to time. Work through CCEA past papers, giving the long final question the time it needs.

The module, dot point by dot point

Component 3 has a specification-level overview with worked questions and cross-links, plus dot-point pages and a quiz. Browse the full set at /ccea-gcse/drama/syllabus, and start with the Component 3 overview.

For the official specification

CCEA publishes the full specification, set-text list, past papers and mark schemes at ccea.org.uk. Always revise from the current CCEA specification and CCEA's own past papers, because the set text, paper format and question style are board-specific.

Drama guides

In-depth written guides with paired practice quizzes.

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Drama practice quizzes

Multiple-choice drills with worked answer explanations. Your scores stay on this device.

The CCEA-GCSE system, explained

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Common questions about Drama

How is CCEA GCSE Drama structured?
CCEA GCSE Drama is a linear qualification with three components. Component 1, Devised Performance, and Component 2, Scripted Performance, are practical controlled assessment in which you work as a performer (acting) or a designer (costume, lighting, multimedia, set or sound). Component 3, Knowledge and Understanding of Drama, is the written exam, worth 80 marks and about 40 percent. The two performance components together make up about 60 percent.
What is examined in the CCEA GCSE Drama written paper?
Component 3 is the only written paper. It tests written knowledge and understanding of drama: your set performance text studied as a performer, a designer and a director, your knowledge of genre, style, conventions and the playwright's language, and your analysis and evaluation of a live theatre performance you have seen. The paper has three questions of increasing length and you may use a clean copy of your set text.
What are the assessment objectives in CCEA GCSE Drama?
Four assessment objectives run across the course. AO1 is creating and developing ideas to communicate meaning. AO2 is applying theatrical skills in live performance. AO3 is demonstrating knowledge and understanding of how drama and theatre is developed and performed. AO4 is analysing and evaluating your own work and the work of others. The written paper mainly assesses AO3 and AO4, with AO1 in design and directing ideas.
Are the performance components examined by a written paper?
No. Components 1 and 2 are practical, assessed through performance and controlled assessment, not by the written exam. They are best learned in the studio with your teacher. The written paper, Component 3, tests knowledge and understanding in writing, which is why this study library covers the written paper in detail and the practical components as an overview.
Why does CCEA GCSE Drama have so few written topics?
Drama is a practical subject. Most of the marks come from devising and performing, which are practical skills assessed by controlled assessment, not by a written exam. Only Component 3 is written, so the examinable written content is deliberately focused: the set text from three perspectives, knowledge of drama and theatre, and live theatre evaluation. A short, sharp set of written skills is correct for this subject.
How should I revise CCEA GCSE Drama for the written paper?
Learn the vocabulary of performance and design cold (vocal and physical skills, set, lighting, sound, costume), because the marks reward precise, justified choices. Know your set text well enough to answer as performer, designer and director from any extract. Keep detailed notes on the live performance you saw so you can evaluate it from memory. Practise CCEA past papers to time, and always move from a choice to its effect on the audience, supported by the text.