Our INSET days cost £950 for state-funded schools* and £1,250 for other institutions such as independent schools and universities. Our half day sessions cost £750 for state schools* and £950 for other institutions.

*State-funded schools includes local authority schools, schools within academy trusts and free schools. We are also able to offer our ‘state-funded’ rate to SEND schools.

For international schools outside of the UK, please contact us for bespoke pricing by emailing: learning@rsc.org.uk

Our professional development courses are for any teacher or educator who teaches Shakespeare’s plays in their classroom. This includes English teachers, drama teachers, primary teachers and SEND teachers.

We always work to make our courses bespoke to the needs of the people in the room, including the subject specialisms and age ranges taught by teachers on our professional development courses. We can also cater to any level of experience, from early career practitioners to experienced teachers.

Do I need to be a qualified teacher to attend?

No. Our courses are open to anyone who works with young people in education settings, and you do not need to have QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) to attend.

Our Certificate programme is currently paused as we launch our new flagship programme for teachers: the Shakespeare Curriculum. We are exploring options for hosting a certification programme offer through the Shakespeare Curriculum in the future, which will be available to teachers who are using the platform.

We will not be running any certification courses during academic year 2026/27.

During this time, if you are a teacher at a UK state school or a SEND school please sign-up to the Shakespeare Curriculum, for free, to keep up-to-date with and access our current online professional development opportunities.

If you are a UK Independent school looking to sign-up to the Shakespeare Curriculum please get in touch with schools.curriculum@rsc.org.uk.

• RSC professional development will help you to 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. 
• 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. 
• 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 educational setting. 

Through extensive research and feedback from teachers who have attended our professional development courses, we know that using rehearsal room approaches to teaching has a very tangible positive effect on children and young people. 

Our teachers say:

‘Shakespeare can truly be for everyone… these techniques are universal and inclusive regardless of your barrier.’

‘Pupils’ behaviour is excellent during these activities in the classroom and in the Drama studio… Pupils seem much more confident in speaking the language of Shakespeare, articulating what scenes are about and commenting on how characters are acting and interacting.’

Students say:

'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 because I understand the text, I understand what he is trying to get across, which is really good.'

Booking

When you are ready to book an INSET Day with us please complete our INSET Booking Form which we then use to commission your teacher professional development session.

We will get in touch to confirm details before sending an invoice to your school for the cost of the training. We then commission one of our Associate Learning Practitioners to plan and facilitate your session for a group of up to 30 teachers.

We can send our practitioner to your school anywhere in the UK, or you can choose to bring a group to Stratford-upon-Avon where we can host you in one of our creative learning spaces; please note that at least 6 weeks lead-in time is required to commission one of our INSET days and they are dependent upon our practitioners’ availability and the availability of our spaces.

We offer either a full day session of 6 hours or half day sessions of 3 hours. As the most commonly studied Shakespeare plays, our main offers focus either on Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet, however we can facilitate a session on any of Shakespeare’s plays or other texts in our repertoire.

Resources

Following an INSET day with the RSC, our practitioner will share a CPD resource pack which will include detailed descriptions of the strategies and texts used during the day to support your planning and teaching. Teachers at state-funded secondary and SEND schools also have free access to the Shakespeare Curriculum and its thousands of teaching and learning resources.

Our teacher professional development 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.

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.

We also frequently work with ITT (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 please get in touch to discuss what we can offer for your student teachers.

Yes, absolutely! Just let us know if that’s your preference when completing our INSET Booking Form. Please note that our availability of spaces is limited, so please book as far in advance as possible to ensure availability.

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.

Email learning@rsc.org.uk and a member of our team will be in touch to discuss your enquiry. For specific questions regarding the Shakespeare Curriculum, please contact: schools.curriculum@rsc.org.uk