Hello and welcome

With over 60 years experience delivering Australia’s leading training for creative artists, NIDA is recognised as one of the top 5 drama schools in the world by The Hollywood Reporter, ranking alongside New York’s Juilliard School and Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University.

In this Course Guide you’ll find information about NIDA – the National Institute of Dramatic Art – and how to apply, as well as insights into life at NIDA and the various support avenues available to you during your time studying.

In addition to our world-famous Acting degree, we offer Bachelor, Masters and Vocational Diploma courses for performers, storytellers, makers and technicians across stage, screen and beyond – providing practice-based and industry informed training for everything from Directing to Set Design and Stage Management.

What makes NIDA unique?

NIDA is dedicated to creating and nurturing the world’s best storytellers and unlocking the power of the performing arts across stages, screens, future media and beyond. You will be at the centre of a hands-on, collaborative learning experience with industry practitioners. You will be learning from expert staff, guest artists and professionals and become part of invaluable ready-made industry networks. While studying here you will learn the tools, the skills and gain confidence to develop your voice, ideas and stories. These stories will shape our culture and our great nation. Our state-of-the-art facilities will allow you to learn and experiment with the suite of resources available in the industry.

As Australia’s leading performing arts educator, this position comes with a valued responsibility to the community within our halls and beyond. We are committed to ensuring that NIDA is a genuinely inclusive environment for all and we are actively increasing the diversity of NIDA’s student cohort and staff as we actively shift our internal practices and external focus to ensure we reach all communities across the country. This year, we are extending our recruitment and waiving the application fee, giving more people the opportunity to apply to NIDA. We want to break down some barriers so talented individuals all around Australia feel represented, welcomed, and supported throughout all of our work. We are also furthering our support for First Nations and under-represented artists.

‘At NIDA we are united by the same overwhelming passion to create. We all walked into this place with passion and potential and walked out of it well equipped to turn our dreams into a reality.’