Rose Bruford College

Rose Bruford College (formerly Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance) is a higher education institution in the Greater London borough of Bexley. Bruford has degree programmes in acting, actor musicianship, directing, theatre arts and various disciplines of stagecraft.

Its undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications and programmes were validated by the University of Manchester, until it received taught degree awarding powers in 2017. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools.

History
In 1950 Rose Elizabeth Bruford established The Rose Bruford Training College of Speech and Drama, with the help of poet laureate John Masefield and actors Laurence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft, who formed part of the Board of Governors. Rose Bruford "pioneered the first acting degree in 1976".

The Kent Education Committee offered to lease to her Lamorbey House, an 18th-century, Grade II listed manor house in the Lamorbey district of Sidcup, for £5 per year. Grants helped sustain the college in its early years, and it eventually became profitable.

The campus has since been expanded. Construction of several new buildings was completed in 2002. The college's research facilities and archives include the Stanislavski Centre and the Clive Barker Library. Members or former members of its faculty serve as editors and/or on the editorial boards of such performing-arts journals as New Theatre Quarterly and Performance Prompt.

In 2014, The Stage reported that 91.6% of Rose Bruford students were from state schools. In the same year, Rose Bruford College scored an overall satisfaction rating of 90% in the National Student Survey.

In April 2022. when Academy of Live and Recorded Arts closed, Rose Bruford offering a place to all ALRA's students.

Alumni
College alumnus Bernardine Evaristo, the 2019 Booker Prize winner, succeeded Richard Eyre as college president in 2021. Other alumni include Hayley Squires, Gary Oldman, Mathew Baynton, Tom Baker, Tom Hopper, Graham Hamilton, Edward Peel, Christopher Pizzey, Lake Bell, Rosalie Craig, Giovanna Fletcher, Stephen Graham, Nick Darke, Sam Palladio, Jessica Gunning, Kerry Godliman and Marc Duret.