Work Experience, Placements, Volunteering and Shadowing

Please read all the information below first as your query may already be answered.

Work Experience for Students in Year 10 and 11

What will I do on work experience?

For students in Year 10 and 11 we offer what is known as a “Carousel” placement. This means that you move around the theatre, spending time with lots of different departments. This may include Communications / Marketing, Front of House, Café Bar, Finance, Costume Hire and Creative Engagement. You may have the opportunity to observe some rehearsals and assist with backstage work but we can’t guarantee this. You will probably spend a lot of time doing administration (office work), and you may be asked to assist with youth theatre and schools projects. The placement is designed to offer an overview of the organisation, giving you an insight into the broad range of careers in theatre which are available. Please note that you will not have the opportunity to do any acting work during your placement, however, you should be prepared to join in with any drama games or activities which take place as part of our Creative Engagement work.

As an extra option, we also offer the opportunity for you to gain an Arts Award qualification through your work with us. We charge a small fee (£20) for this opportunity which covers the costs of resources and the external moderation. .  If this is something you are interested in please let us know. If you don’t know what Arts Award is, check out their website. www.artsaward.org.uk

How do I get a placement?

We work with North Yorkshire Business Education Partnership to offer two-week carousel placements to students aged 14-16. Your careers advisor at school will explain how the application process works. If you want to work with us, you must put York Theatre Royal as your first choice and you must be able to demonstrate an interest in the production and technical elements of theatre; not just performing. You will not get to do any acting while on work experience. We usually offer about six placements per year and the dates available do change regularly so that we can offer opportunities to students from different schools each year.

There are some schools in North Yorkshire who do not offer placements through NYBEP. If you go to one of these schools, please contact us directly to discuss work experience. We will need to know the dates that you want to do the placement, the name of your school and the name of your work experience coordinator / careers advisor. Please make sure you also include your own name, address, telephone number, and an email address if you have one, so that we can get back to you! We can’t guarantee that we will be able to offer a placement, as it really depends on what is going on at the theatre at the time, but we will do our best to help.

Please contact Joy Waters, Creative Engagement Officer, on 01904 715468 or email joy.waters@yorktheatreroyal.co.uk for more information.

College, University and Drama School Placements

How to apply for a placement linked to your course.

If you are looking specifically for a placement as part of a course at college, university or drama school, you need to email us and tell us the following information:

1.    Your full name

2.    Your age

3.    Your contact details; please include your address, telephone number and an email address

4.    The name of your course and the name of the institution where you are studying

5.    Which theatre department you want to work with, or the type of role you are looking for.

6.    The learning objectives or the requirements of your course that the placement needs to meet, for example, if you need to undertake a particular task or work a certain number of hours

7.    The dates you would like the placement to happen

8.    Your availability during that time (you’d be surprised at the amount of people who forget to mention that they have evening jobs and are therefore not available when the shows are actually on!)

9.    The level of skill / experience you have already; (a CV would be useful).

10.  What you want to get out of the placement. Don’t just put “experience”, what kind of experience are you looking for? Be specific.

Please email this information to Joy Waters, Creative Engagement Officer, joy.waters@yorktheatreroyal.co.uk 

Joy will pass it on to the relevant Head of Department. If we have a suitable opportunity available during the dates you have requested, the HOD will contact you directly.

If you are based outside York you will need to organise your own accommodation and travel. Unfortunately we are not able to contribute to these expenses, however, the Placement Coordinator for your course or your Student Services department will be able to give you information about grants and bursaries which are available from your institution and other organisations.

Volunteering and Shadowing

General advice and information about volunteering and shadowing

We don’t offer generic volunteering and shadowing opportunities. You need to apply for a specific project or department.

Some departments will only offer volunteering opportunities to people who are over the age of 18 and have significant experience already, or who can demonstrate a serious commitment to working in that area of theatre. This is because there may be health and safety restrictions, or technical skills and knowledge required to work in these areas.

We get two to three enquiries per week about volunteering, shadowing, work experience and placements. We would love to be able to accommodate everybody who requests a placement, but we just don’t have the time or the space to fit everyone in. Don’t let this put you off. Keep an eye on our website as we recruit volunteers for specific projects fairly regularly. If we can’t offer you an individual placement at the time you ask, you can still get involved with our work through volunteering on one of our projects.

Volunteering for specific projects

We recruit volunteers throughout the year for various projects and events, for example, TakeOver Festival, or the York Mystery Plays. All these opportunities will be advertised on our website with details of how to apply.

Volunteering for specific departments

We may be able to offer volunteering or shadowing opportunities in specific departments at certain times of year. We will treat this like a college / university / drama school placement. Please use the guidelines above for how to apply, but instead of telling us about what course you are doing and the learning objectives, please tell us what your career goals are. Give us an idea of your dream job and how this opportunity will help you on your career path.

For more information contact;

Joy Waters

Creative Engagement Officer

01904 715468

joy.waters@yorktheatreroyal.co.uk