Centre students walking in London with Big Ben in the background

Study Abroad in England

Study alongside British students, with Centre students and faculty, or for Centre theatre students—among theatrical peers.

Centre's study abroad experience in England is all about options. Take your pick of a more independent exchange-student experience in bucolic Reading University, or have a more traditional experience with Centre students and faculty in the bustling heart of London. Centre theatre students also have the option of participating in a small exchange with The Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance.

Centre students laughing on a grassy lawn

Program Option

Reading University

Reading University sprawls 300 leafy acres and is a quick 25-minute train ride from London. Their main campus is set in 130 hectares of beautiful parkland, so you’ll find plenty of places to relax during the day. The site has received seven consecutive Green Flag awards, recognizing it as one of Britain’s top green spaces. The university is known for its academic excellence and the professionalism of its Visiting Student Office, which organizes inexpensive and frequent trips to Edinburgh, Stonehenge, and other area destinations.

Centre student facing a red double-decker bus in London

Program Option

Centre in London

Students live and study in the Clerkenwell district—an easy walk to the Centre classroom near the British Museum, the Chancery Lane tube station (Central line), and the Farrington tube station (Circle, Metropolitan, and Hammersmith & City lines). Also within walking distance is the West End theatre district, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Saint Bartholomew the Great 1123 priory church, the Museum of London, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, and other famous London sites. This program is with other Centre students led by two Centre College faculty members.

Student theatre performers on stage

Program Option

The Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance

The Rose Bruford College is one of London’s leading drama schools and is located in the leafy south London town of Sidcup. RBC has an international reputation for top level training in all aspects of the theatrical arts. Each year two or three of their students study at Centre in the fall, and two or three of our students study there in the winter and spring terms. This exchange is designed to give their students a taste of a liberal arts approach to education and our students a taste of the conservatory experience.

Courses and Cost

Students select three or four courses totaling 25 ETCS hours (translating into either 12 or 13 Centre hours) from those available across many departments. Students should be flexible in selecting courses and should not assume that a particular class will be offered, or offered at a time that works with the student’s other selected courses, during the time they are in Reading.

The Reading term is 11 weeks long; typically, a course may have two lectures a week, occasional individual meetings with the professor, two papers, and some kind of final examination—although this regime will vary widely depending on the course and department. Students may not use a Reading English course as their required English junior seminar. Official course registration takes place after students arrive in Reading.

Students will take four of the following six courses (for the spring of 2024):

  • NSC 170 Science and technology of World War II in London and Great Britain
  • ENS 260 London: A case study in urban sustainability
  • POL 431: British Politics
  • DRA 341: Contemporary London Theatre
  • HUM 297 London Museums
  • ENG 348 Crime in Literature (subtitle:  London—A History in Mystery)

The English education system is structured quite differently from the American one. In England our students will take a series of overlapping modules that will add up to the equivalent of 15 credits at Centre. These modules will change from year to year, but one of them will be based on seeing plays currently playing in London. Our students will mostly join the American Theatre Arts course at Bruford, but there is the possibility of our students joining one of the other programs at Bruford. See their website for more information on the possibilities: www.bruford.as.uk.

The estimated cost for each of these programs is the same as studying in Danville, plus a $375 deposit (surcharge/emergency fund/carbon offset), and a $25 travel medicine fee for a total of $400. Flights to the abroad site are also the responsibility of the student and are subject to current airline industry pricing.

Study in England Information

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