Speech & Drama · United Kingdom
The Rochester and North Kent Music and Drama Festival’s Speech and Drama classes (50th year): 2 real classes (Audition Piece, Verse Speaking) across a real NC-year age ladder, built from the festival’s own official 2026 syllabus.
A compact speech and drama section with one solo acting class and one verse-speaking class, graded by National Curriculum year from primary to sixth form, with a time limit that grows with each tier.
This template models the Speech and Drama classes of a long-running music and drama festival in north Kent, in south-east England. Each entrant performs alone in front of an adjudicator, who gives a short spoken critique and a mark. It is built from the festival’s own published 2026 syllabus, so the two classes, the age tiers and the time limits are real. Syllabuses change from year to year, so check the current one before reusing dates, fees or entry rules.
Two competitions are modelled. Audition Piece is the syllabus’s solo dramatic performance, where the entrant chooses a piece of acting and presents it as if auditioning for a part. Verse Speaking is the entrant’s own choice of verse, spoken rather than sung, judged on how well the words are understood and brought to life. Both are open to boys and girls and performed in English, so a school or drama teacher can enter the same child in either class or both.
Entrants are grouped by the National Curriculum year they are in on the day of the festival, which gives three age groups: Years 1 to 6, Years 7 to 9 and Years 10 to 13. The same three tiers apply to both classes. Time limits rise with age, from three to five minutes for Audition Piece and from two to four minutes for Verse Speaking, so the youngest performers are never asked to hold a stage for longer than they can manage.
The source does not print a points scheme, only a ladder of mark bands from Developing up to Exceptional. Those bands are installed without point values, each class is scored on a nominal 10, no ranks are installed and entry fees are set to zero for each organiser to fill in. Tell entrants in advance how clarity of speech, understanding of the text, characterisation and stage presence will be weighed, because the adjudicator’s comments matter as much as the mark.
Where this event comes from
The festival is an annual community event in a Kent town that has run for around fifty years, with music and speech and drama classes held together on a single day each spring.
Where this event is run
Adjudicated speech and drama festivals are a long-standing tradition in the United Kingdom and in countries with a similar school system, including Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa. Local arts societies, schools and drama teachers run smaller versions of the same format: one entrant at a time, an age ladder, a strict time limit and written or spoken feedback.
- United Kingdom
Key facts
- Two competitions: Audition Piece and Verse Speaking
- Three National Curriculum year tiers: Years 1-6, Years 7-9 and Years 10-13
- Audition Piece limits run from 3 minutes (Years 1-6) to 5 minutes (Years 10-13)
- Verse Speaking limits run from 2 minutes (Years 1-6) to 4 minutes (Years 10-13)
- Individual entries only, mixed gender, performed in English
- Scored on a nominal 10 with mark bands from Developing to Exceptional; the source prints no points or criteria sheet
- Age groups
- 3
- Competition items
- 2
- Competitions
- 6
- Grade bands
- 0
- Rank awards
- 0
Age groups
Every candidate is placed into one of these groups by age, and competitions are run per group.
NC Years 1 - 6
Candidates aged 5 to 11 compete in this group
NC Years 7 - 9
Candidates aged 12 to 14 compete in this group
NC Yrs 10-13
Candidates aged 15 to 18 compete in this group
Competition items
The events themselves — each with the category it belongs to and how judges score it.
Competitions by group
The full schedule matrix, sectioned by age group then category — which item runs for whom, and for how long.
| Item | Type | Gender | Language | Max score | Time limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NC Years 1 - 6 | |||||
| Action | |||||
| Item | Type | Gender | Language | Max score | Time limit |
| Audition Piece | Individual | — | English | 10 | 3 min |
| Literary | |||||
| Item | Type | Gender | Language | Max score | Time limit |
| Verse Speaking | Individual | — | English | 10 | 2 min |
| NC Years 7 - 9 | |||||
| Action | |||||
| Item | Type | Gender | Language | Max score | Time limit |
| Audition Piece | Individual | — | English | 10 | 4 min |
| Literary | |||||
| Item | Type | Gender | Language | Max score | Time limit |
| Verse Speaking | Individual | — | English | 10 | 3 min |
| NC Yrs 10-13 | |||||
| Action | |||||
| Item | Type | Gender | Language | Max score | Time limit |
| Audition Piece | Individual | — | English | 10 | 5 min |
| Literary | |||||
| Item | Type | Gender | Language | Max score | Time limit |
| Verse Speaking | Individual | — | English | 10 | 4 min |
Frequently asked questions
Can I change this template after installing it?
Yes — installing it creates a fully configured, live event, not a locked package. Every age group, competition item, rule and scoring setting can be edited afterwards to match exactly what your event actually needs.
Do I need technical knowledge to set this up?
No. Installing a template does the setup work for you; you only need to review the details (dates, unit or house names) and open registration.
Want the fuller picture first? See our guide to recitation and poetry judging criteria guide.
Install this template in eTalenter
Everything above is installed as a live, editable event in one step — age groups, items, rules and scoring. Start your own below.
Start a Rochester and North Kent Festival – Speech and Drama event
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