The Fulbright/John Wood LAMDA Award is a Fulbright U.S. Student Program partnership award that sends one American graduate to the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art (LAMDA) for its one-year MA Classical Acting for the Professional Theatre.
The course centres on classical repertoire; for graduates eligible to work in the US it ends with industry showcases in Los Angeles and New York.
Benefits & funding
- Full tuition waiver for the first year of study (the whole one-year MA)
- Living stipend of £22,363 (£2,236.30 a month) over a 10-month grant
- US$1,500 travel stipend, plus travel and accommodation for required Fulbright Commission enrichment events
- Accident and sickness cover and a 24/7 mental health line
- 12 months of non-competitive eligibility (NCE) for US federal hiring afterwards
Eligibility
- US citizens or nationals at the deadline; permanent residents are not eligible; dual UK citizens may apply
- A bachelor’s degree conferred before the grant starts (final-year students may apply); in the arts, four years of professional training or experience can stand in, confirmed with IIE first
- Not eligible: PhD holders, or anyone who lived abroad five or more of the six years before the deadline
- Not eligible: six or more months in the UK in the year before the grant, unless on an undergraduate study abroad programme
- Must win a place on the LAMDA MA
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
“Applicants must have a conferred bachelor's degree or equivalent before the start of the grant period. … In the creative and performing arts fields, four years of professional training and/or experience meets the basic eligibility requirement. … Applicants who currently hold or will hold a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) by the national application deadline. … Anyone who has resided abroad for five or more years in the six-year period preceding the national application deadline.” Eligibility
Eligible nationalities
USA
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Application process
- 1Submit the Fulbright online application, with an acting portfolio and three recommendations, by 6 October 2026, 5pm ET (your campus adviser may set an earlier date).
- 2Apply separately to LAMDA through its own admissions, ideally before 6 December 2026; LAMDA gives no affiliation letters to master’s applicants.
- 3Semi-finalists audition with LAMDA in New York.
- 4Hold a LAMDA acceptance letter before the grant starts.
Program timeline
6 October 2026, 5pm ET
Fulbright deadline (2027–28 cycle)
LAMDA application, ideally by
6 December 2026
recommended / not recommended notice
End of January 2027
final decisions, on a rolling basis
March–June 2027
grant starts
Fall 2027