Acting skills: voice, movement and characterisation at SQA National 5 Drama
An overview of acting skills at SQA National 5 Drama: how voice, movement and characterisation combine to create and sustain a believable role for the performance, and how the performance coursework is assessed.
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Acting skills are the actor's tools for creating and sustaining a believable role in SQA National 5 Drama. Voice and movement are the means; characterisation ties them together. This page maps the area and the performance coursework, and links to the detailed answers.
What this area covers
Acting skills bring together the technique of the body and voice and the craft of becoming a character. The dot points in this module cover each part:
- The performance
- The practical coursework: acting in two contrasting roles or taking a production role, marked by a visiting assessor, worth the larger share of the course marks.
- Voice
- Using pace, pitch, pause, projection, tone, clarity, emphasis, volume and accent to create character and meaning.
- Movement
- Using posture, gait, gesture, facial expression, eye contact, body language and use of space to communicate without words.
- Characterisation
- Building and sustaining a believable role from an understanding of status, motivation, relationships and inner thoughts.
How it is assessed
Acting skills are demonstrated in the performance and examined in the written question paper, where you explain your own acting choices and analyse those in a professional production. The vocabulary of voice, movement and characterisation is the language of both.
How to study it
- Learn the vocal and movement lists. Be able to name each skill and say what it can suggest.
- Always pair a choice with an effect. A vocal or physical choice earns marks only when linked to character or audience.
- Start characterisation from understanding. Decide status, motivation and relationships before choosing voice and movement.
- Practise sustaining. Stay in role and respond truthfully; consistency is what makes a character believable.
For the official course specification
The SQA publishes the full National 5 Drama course specification, including the drama lexicon, and the performance assessment task at sqa.org.uk. Always revise from the current specification.
Sources & how we know this
- National 5 Drama Course Specification — SQA (2024)