Fiducia TogetherDevising
Creating a piece from a stimulus rather than performing a script. Assessed on process as much as performance.
Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.
What it is
Devising is creating original drama from a stimulus — an image, a text, a theme — usually in a group, with a written portfolio documenting the process.
Where it applies
GCSE drama, where devising is a major assessed component.
How it works
The portfolio or log carries a large share of the marks, and it is about decisions: what you tried, why you changed it, whose work influenced it, how the audience responded.
How to use it in your work
Keep the log during rehearsals, not afterwards. It is the difference between recording decisions and inventing them.
Name your influences — a practitioner, a style, a specific production — and say what you took.
Evaluate honestly. Writing about what did not work and what you changed scores better than claiming everything succeeded.
Where to get help
Your teacher and your board's assessment criteria — these subjects are marked against four or five stated objectives, and reading them is the single most useful hour you can spend.
Revise this with a song
These are ours. We write revision songs because a lot of people remember a tune when they cannot remember a page, and because revising out loud in the kitchen beats staring at a highlighter.
- The Drama Song The GCSE drama topics and terminology, set to music.
Where to read more
Last reviewed 2026-08-28 by Fiducia Together · Next review due 2027-08-28
Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.