About Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and more about the role of Head
of Development and the application process
Thank-you for taking the time to download our application pack and for your interest in Bristol
Old Vic Theatre School. We are a unique and inspiring institution and we look forward to hearing
from those who genuinely want to make a difference amongst a community of like-minded,
committed and dedicated individuals.
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School’s vision
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School will be an exemplar in modern international drama training,
preparing exceptional young professionals to forge their careers in tomorrow’s creative
industries.
Our values:
Belong: we are sincere, we accept uniqueness and we adapt to include everyone who is part of
our diverse and welcoming cultural community.
Challenge with a safety net: we are always learning in a practical and dynamic way; creating
and collaborating within a forward-looking, safe and caring environment.
Identify great talent: we look to all backgrounds and communities tofind the creative potential
who will join us in setting the tone for excellence in our industry.
Inner confidence: we are proud of our expertise and passionate about passing it on to the next
generation of industry professionals, knowing they will make a difference.
Work productively & properly: we are efficient, respectful and collaborative and understand
that everyone needs down-time.
Our strategic priorities:
1. Support our staff: To encourage and resource our staff to be dynamic in their roles,
enabling professional development and providing support from them to be happy,
healthy and efficient in their work.
2. Deliver excellence: delivering courses that reflect our vision and progressing with
changes that ensure our students’ training adapts to the fluidity of the creative
industries’ landscape.
3. Raise profile: To be an integral part of Bristol’s cultural and creative heritage, celebrating
and reflecting the diversity of our city. To enhance our local, national and international
partnerships in order to create opportunities for our students, share our expertise, learn
from our global peers and broaden our multi-cultural perspectives.
4. Financial Health: To sustain, grow and embed a robust and responsible business model.
5. Where we work: To occupy spaces that we can learn, thrive, innovate and create in, and
that help us to deliver our exceptional conservatoire training.
Background to the Theatre School
The Theatre School celebrated its 75
th
year anniversary in 2021. The School trains students in
acting, design, costume, technical skills, writing and directing. It operates across three sites in
Bristol: the main Downside Rd site in Clifton, the centre for Film, TV and Audio production,
currently at Christchurch Studios, and the scenic workshops in south Bristol.
Oscar-winning alumni include Sir Daniel Day-Lewis (Best Actor in 1990, 2008 and 2013), Jeremy
Irons (Best Actor, 1991) and Olivia Colman (Best Actress, 2019). The accolade of three Best
Actor/Actress Oscar winners amongst the graduates of a single drama school is, to our
knowledge, unmatched at any higher education institution globally. Both the Artistic Director and
Deputy Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company are BOVTS alumni (Gregory Doran
and Erica Whyman, respectively) as is the intimacy coordinator Ita O’Brien, who has been
recognised for her pioneering work on award-winning dramas such as Normal People, I May
Destroy You and Gentleman Jack for the BBC, and Sex Education for Netflix.
The success of BOVTS graduates and the quality of the School’s training is reflected in fierce
competition for places. In the 2023-entry admissions cycle, the School received 2,010
applications for the 28 places on its BA (Hons) Professional Acting course, a 70% increase on the
number received just a decade before. All applicants are guaranteed to be seen at a preliminary
audition. On average over the past three admissions rounds, just 1.5% of applicants to this
course have been made an offer of a place.
Student productions take place across the City: along with those at Bristol Old Vic Theatre, they
are also performed in local venues, including the Tobacco Factory theatres, Circomedia in St
Pauls, the Redgrave Theatre in Clifton, and the Wardrobe Theatre in Old Market.
The School also has a thriving Sunday Youth Theatre group and runs a range of year-round short
courses. For further information about the School, please visit: oldvic.ac.uk.
Governance at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
In addition to the Council of Trustees there are sub-committees of the Trustees – the Audit
Committee and the Finance Committee. Terms of reference can be found here .
The School’s current higher education courses are validated by the University of the West of
England (UWE). The validation relationship with UWE is governed by an academic agreement
renewed every five years and subject to regular reporting on academic standards. The School is
an associate school of UWE, and sits within the College of Arts, Technology and Environment
The shared vision:
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (BOVTS) and UWE, Bristol will form an enhanced strategic
partnership with a shared vision to deliver sector-leading performanceskills and training.
More information about this role
The School is a busy and vibrant place with experienced and committed tutors and talented
students. Students are told that their first day at the Theatre School is the first day of their
professional career, and their training reflects this.
With the appointment of the Principal & CEO, Fiona Francombe, in August 2020, this is a time of
positioning and planning the Theatre School for its future. There are challenges and
opportunities in equal measure and every aspect of the School will need to adapt and be open to
positive change. The formation of the Head of Development role will be an essential factor in the
future prosperity of the Theatre School.
Fiona will be leading on this work, working closely with Trustees to take the School in the
direction it needs to go, realising the strategic objectives and negotiating the partnership with
UWE, whilst also running the School on a day-to-day basis.
The Director of Drama, Ali de Souza, will continue to develop the School’s creative work –
appointing visiting directors and designers, choosing the productions and supporting the
School’s strategy.
The Director of Studies, Stuart Harvey, has made great progress over his first year in post and
students are feeling more connected, heard and have clarity about their academic journey
through the School.
The successful candidate will demonstrate expertise in leadership skills, effective
communication, strategic thinking and fundraising, across the fundraising mix. They will
powerfully engage the whole School community in recognising the importance and value of
sharing our charitable mission/vision and case for support. Encouraging all who engage with the
School to share in our story, build long lasting relationships with us and support us in
diversifying our income streams. Alongside this delivering innovative ideas and events
representative of the proudly independent and unique School that we are.
At a minimum you will deliver against the required income identified in the five year strategy,
and do so according to the Theatre School’s ethos, values and tone.
You will be highly organised, adaptable, flexible, patient, self-motivated and happy to step into a
busy, chaotic and friendly workplace. You will inspire our staff and students to embrace the
sharing of our story and charitable mission, to encourage fundraising opportunities, whilst being
empathetic towards them and their workloads. All our staff are dedicated, hard-working and
supportive of each other at all times. They are accepting and welcoming to everyone and are
innate problem solvers and enablers. Their commitment gave the students a very high level of
training during lockdown and a level of support and care that enabled those, and future,
students to remain happy, healthy and engaged.
Our students are very talented, dedicated, and challenging of the School and of themselves. Our
student reps make sure student voices are heard. Task and finish groups ensure progress is
made in key areas. Regular meetings and open and robust discussion have led to changes and
to insight into all aspects of School life from mutual perspectives. This provides opportunities for
our students to experience how to challenge in a professional way, to listen and to continue the
journey towards becoming valued members of the wider industry.
Work arrangements
The Theatre School is committed to helping its employees achieve a balance between their
working life and other priorities such as parental and caring responsibilities, leisure activities,
charity work and other interests. We will, as far as possible, support employees in suitable roles
to work more flexibly – whether in the hours they work or where they work. In return we ask
that careful consideration of the impact of working flexibly is given, and that a mutual agreement
is reached that works well for both the Theatre School and the employee.
Being present in the School’s buildings during the day for the majority of the working week will
be necessary to enable the employee to feel part of the School and to help with communication
and the flow of information.
The Head of Development will be part of the Theatre School’s Senior Management Team, and will
be required to attend weekly meetings on a Wednesday morning 08.30 - 09.30 in person.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI)
The School recognises that its Trustees and staff cohort is not representative of Bristol, and the
91 languages spoken in the city. On the student body, the acting courses have a 30%
representation, however, technical and creative courses have as low as 5% representation.
Over the last few years the School has changed a lot of its practices, which include (but aren’t
limited to) introducing more visiting external tutors and lecturers from diverse backgrounds,
discovering more modern and representative writers for the students to study, and providing
extensive training to staff on helping under-represented groups express themselves whilst
training in a creative environment.
The Principal is most concerned that all students, but particularly those who are unrepresented
in the School, feel that they belong in a City that is facing its own challenges through BLM and its
history. They must also know that the School accepts that it has its own journey to take, and that
we want and need them to join us on that journey.
An Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Action Group has been established, made up of staff and
members of the Student Representation Group to work towards bringing about genuine,
effective and long-standing change. The role of EDI Manager has recently been established to
support this work across all areas of School life.
The application process
We hope you find this pack provides all the information you need in order to consider your
application for this post. If, however, you have any further questions please e-mail our HR &
Business Operations Manager:
[email protected]
Applications must be received by Monday 16 October 2023 at 12 noon. If you decide to apply
for this post, please download a copy of the Application Form and Equal Opportunities
Monitoring Form from oldvic.ac.uk/jobs
Application forms, with a covering letter of no more than one side of A4 describing what attracts
you to this role, your experience and how it relates to the opportunities and challenges
presented by this post and the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form should be returned by
email to [email protected] or by post to:
Recruitment Office
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
1-3 Downside Road,
Clifton,
Bristol
BS8 2XF
Shortlisting
To ensure the fairness of the selection process, shortlisting will be based upon the information
which you provide in your application and assumptions will not be made about your experience
or skills. We will look for demonstrable evidence that you meet the criteria set out in the job
description.
Please also refer to the Equal Opportunities section of the job description, which explains the
Theatre School’srecognition ofthe positive value of diversity, promotingequality and
challengingunfair discrimination.
All applicants will be notified of the outcome of the shortlisting process.
The interview process
The interview will take place over Zoom / at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, 1-3 Downside Road,
Clifton, Bristol BS8 2XF in the week beginning 23 October 2023.
It is anticipated that second stage interviews will take place at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, 1-3
Downside Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 2XF in the week beginning 30 October 2023.
Both these timescales are subject to change.
The appointment will be subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks.