Our courses cost from as little as £32 per teacher for a full day, or £25 per teacher for a half day.

Depending on circumstances, we may also be able to offer reduced prices. To discuss your requirements, please contact: teachers.courses@rsc.org.uk

We can run a bespoke course at a school or venue of your choice for up 30 staff. Or you can choose to bring a group to Stratford-upon-Avon where we can provide the venue and arrange the day for you. We currently offer whole-day sessions (~6 hours) or half-day/twilight sessions (~3 hours).

These can focus on any of Shakespeare’s plays and specific curricula or exam boards, including GCSEs and A-levels. Just let us know your specific needs when completing our INSET booking form.

Following the course, each participant will receive a set of high quality resources which include detailed descriptions of the strategies and texts used during the day to support their planning and teaching. Completion of three days of INSET also qualifies teachers for our Intermediate Certificate in Teaching Shakespeare.

• INTRODUCING SHAKESPEARE IN EYFS AND KS1
• SHAKESPEARE IN THE PRIMARY CLASSROOM
• DEVELOPING LITERACY THROUGH SHAKESPEARE
• TEACHING SHAKESPEARE AT KS3
• TEACHING SHAKESPEARE FOR GCSE & A-LEVEL CURRICULA
• SHAKESPEARE IN SEND SETTINGS
• VOICE TECHNIQUE FOR TEACHERS
• DIRECTING AND PRODUCING SHAKESPEARE PRODUCTIONS IN SCHOOLS

Our practitioners are experienced at adapting courses for your bespoke needs, so if you would like to discuss specific outcomes not listed here please email teachers.courses@rsc.org.uk or include those details when completing our INSET booking form.

Our bespoke CPD courses are led by one or more of our team of Associate Learning Practitioners, all of whom have direct experience of RSC rehearsal rooms, either as actors, directors or other creative theatre specialists, plus extensive experience of working with children, young people and their teachers.

Our certificate courses are also run by at least two RSC practitioners, who are experts in their field and have years of experience in teaching Shakespeare, as well as other professionals and specialists from either within the RSC or from our partner theatres and organisations.

Yes, we can run INSET for non-Shakespeare productions in our repertoire, including Matilda the Musical, My Neighbour Totoro, and The Empress (an Edexcel GCSE English Literature text). We can also offer INSET on a variety of topics such as Voice, Directing, or Producing Theatre with Young People. For more information, please feel free to reach out to us at teachers.courses@rsc.org.uk and we can discuss your bespoke aims and needs.

Our courses are geared for teachers or trainee teachers at all phases of education, from EYFS to HE, who encounter Shakespeare in their classroom. This includes secondary English teachers, drama teachers, primary teachers and SEND teachers. Our courses can also be designed to meet the development needs of teaching assistants and other support staff.

We have worked with teachers with a variety of experience, from those who have never taught Shakespeare to those who have been doing so for decades. Our rehearsal room approaches are a valuable addition to any teacher's pedagogy and our Associate Learning Practitioners are equipped to support the needs of all teachers in the room.

No. Our courses are open to anyone who works with young people in education settings, and you do not need to have QTS to attend. In the past we have welcomed a range of practitioners from freelance LAMDA teachers to education consultants to working actors and directors looking to diversify their skills.

Please note that to qualify for our ECT (Early Career Teacher) discounts for our CPD courses, you must be within the first two years of qualified teaching or currently on an accredited teacher training course working towards QTS.

Yes. Our Creative Learning and Engagement work reaches participants of all ages, from young children to experienced adults. Our work in the past includes collaboration with and events for academics and practitioners from drama schools, higher education institutions and partner theatres across the UK and around the world. If you would like to discuss specific opportunities for professionals in higher education please get in touch by emailing teachers.courses@rsc.org.uk, and keep an eye on our website for any relevant upcoming events.

We also frequently work with initial teacher training providers to equip their students with the skills and confidence to be able to teach Shakespeare in their classrooms. If you are an ITT provider, from a SCITT to a university, please get in touch to discuss what we can offer for your student teachers of all subjects and specialisms.

Yes, absolutely! Just let us know if that’s your preference when completing our INSET booking form.

Through extensive research and feedback from teachers who have attended RSC courses, we know that using rehearsal room approaches to teaching has a very tangible positive effect on children and young people. Below are some quotes from teachers about the impact of developing these methods with their students:

• It has had a surprisingly radical impact on the students’ attitude to Shakespeare.'

• 'But you can get to shape and develop the work with the students in a learning together way which empowers them and so it is very good in that way.'

• 'Historically when somebody said that we are studying Shakespeare maybe the response would have been a grunt but now it is greeted enthusiastically.'

Our recent research project, Time to Act, revealed profound benefits for children in the schools using RSC teaching approaches. As part of this project, teachers undertook five days of professional development with the RSC. The study revealed that after their intervention with the RSC, these teachers' pupils then:

• employed richer, broader and more sophisticated vocabulary;
• showed a better grasp of linguistic structures and devices;
• were better at writing in character and expressing emotion;
• demonstrated a broader understanding of abstract terms and descriptions;
• produced more expansive descriptions of setting, place and atmosphere;
• showed greater optimism and resilience when imagining character outcomes; and
• demonstrated better inferencing skills, imagining what might come next.

Additionally, through our TALE research (links to separate website) we identified some key benefits of using RSC rehearsal room approaches. 

• Improved well-being, self-belief, confidence and resilience;
• Understanding;
• Raised aspirations;
• Appreciation of difference and diversity; and
• Development of a sense of belonging.

Here are just a few quotes from children and young people about the impact these approaches has had on them:

• 'I feel like if we opened up a drama club a lot of people would have more confidence, not just in English but pretty much everything.' 
• 'It may sound strange but it has changed me.'
• 'I never thought I’d be able to do that.' 
• 'When you act something out, you can put your own interpretation and you can see what kind of feelings that character is feeling. When you’re not really acting it out it is hard to picture where that character is coming from.'
• 'Whereas I used to quite hate it, now I don’t cause I understand the text, I understand what he is trying to get across which is really good.'
• 'It’s meant to be acted out, isn’t it? It’s not meant to be sitting down in a class, reading, where you’re annotating it.'
• 'You have to see the emotion and the passion and you can’t get that just by reading it.'
• 'When you do it with the RSC you are in it instead of being separated from the story.'

• RSC CPD will help to you develop skills, expertise and confidence in the teaching of Shakespeare – we have proven that there is no reason to fear the teaching of Shakespeare!
• You will work with theatre and pedagogy experts in workshops that are teacher-focused, not ‘actor-focused’. 
• Many of our practitioners were teachers themselves, and fully understand the school landscape, including the expectations of teachers and the pressure they are under.
• It's a great forum for sharing best practice with other teachers. 
• You can use CPD experiences with us to count towards further training. For example attending 3 INSET days would qualify you to joint the RSC Certificate in Teaching Shakespeare at Intermediate level. 
• Following the courses we encourage you to reflect on their impact in your classroom and stay in touch with us. We love to hear what you are doing in your schools and greatly value any feedback you give us. 
• Our CPD provides you with excellent opportunities to explore cross-curricular links, helping to develop a rich and inclusive arts environment across your whole setting. 

We have a vast evidence base gathered from extensive research with schools and young people over more than a decade. This research suggests that young people get the most out of Shakespeare's plays when they experience our rehearsal room approaches.

For more, read about research into our work with young people.

Have a question that isn't answered here? Email teachers.courses@rsc.org.uk and a member of the Learning team will be in touch to discuss your enquiry.