How Does My Child Get Into Acting in the UK and Ireland? A Parents’ Guide

Essential advice for parents supporting a child’s acting journey, covering agents, licensing, Spotlight, and safe industry practices.

Getting your child into acting is an exciting journey, but it’s also a commitment that requires organisation, patience, and vigilance. Navigating the performing arts industry as a parent or carer can feel like entering uncharted waters. Our guide is here to help you break down what you need to know about starting your child’s acting journey.

Contents:

• How to help your child get started in acting
• Understanding the casting process
• How to find a young performer agent
• Joining Spotlight
• Child labour laws and performance licences
• Training for young performers
• How to find auditions for your child
• How parents can support their child

⭐ How Does My Child Get Into Acting?

Supporting your child’s passion for performing starts here. Follow these steps to help your child navigate their path from drama enthusiast to professional working young performer:

1. Explore their interest and build confidence: Check that the desire to perform comes directly from your child rather than any external pressure. Joining local youth theatres or drama clubs (like Stagecoach or local community groups) is a brilliant way to build performance skills, make friends and see if they enjoy rehearsing and taking direction.
2. Take clear, simple headshots at home: You don’t need to pay for pricey professional headshots when starting out. Help agents and casting directors see what your child actually looks like by taking simple photos against a neutral, plain background with natural light. Avoid busy patterns, make-up, hats or forced poses. Find more baby and young child headshot tips.
3. Apply to reputable children’s agencies: Look for established agencies registered with professional bodies like the Agents of Young Performers Association (AYPA) or the Personal Managers’ Association (PMA) who have strong track records with young performers. To apply for representation, send your child’s headshot, measurements, and a short, natural ‘About Me’ video introduction to the contact on their website. Agents work on a commission basis when your child books work, rather than charging upfront fees.
4. Set up their Spotlight profile: Spotlight is a digital service where you can market and advertise the skills of your child via a dedicated young performer profile. Your child’s agent will be able to send you an invitation to join Spotlight and once you’ve created a profile for your child, it’ll be visible to stage and screen casting professionals across the UK and Ireland. Keep your child’s profile fresh by updating changes in height, new skills and current headshots. Find out more about young performer Spotlight memberships including the price.
5. Prepare for auditions and self-tapes: Most initial auditions are self-tapes filmed at home. If your child is asked to submit a self-tape, create a quiet, well-lit (natural light is fine) space at home for filming it. Focus on keeping the experience fun and low-stress – casting directors love seeing natural, authentic personalities rather than over-rehearsed lines.

Get self-tape filming tips in our guide.

⭐ Understanding the Casting Process

The casting process is how a production company finds, selects and hires performers for a specific project, such as a film, TV show, commercial, or theatre production. Essentially, it’s the recruitment phase of the entertainment industry, taking a young performer from initial application to final hire.

The casting process relies on teamwork between key industry professionals, all working together to bring projects to life on stage and screen. Here’s a quick breakdown of who is involved and how they work together:

• The Producer(s): The person or team funding and managing the production. They hire the casting director to find the right performers for the roles.
• The Casting Director: The person responsible for finding the right performers for each character. They review hundreds of applications, agent submissions, search Spotlight, hold auditions and run recalls to create the final cast list for the producer.
• The Agent: Your child’s representative and advocate in the industry. Agents will submit your child for auditions, deal directly with casting directors, schedule auditions, negotiate pay contracts and guide you through the legal paperwork like performance licenses. A good agent/parent relationship is vital and you can find out more about this in our podcast episode about how parents and agents work together for young performers.
• Spotlight: The platform where professional actors can advertise and promote their skills via performer profiles. Performer profiles can be discovered by casting professionals, independent project creators and agents. Your child’s Spotlight profile acts as their professional online CV, allowing casting teams to search for performers and for agents to submit them for opportunities.

Here are some terms you may hear as part of the casting process:

• Breakdowns: The casting director receives details about what characters are needed and creates a ‘breakdown’ (aka a role listing).
• Submissions: Agents review the breakdown and submit young performers who match the character requirements.
• Shortlisting and Auditions: The casting director reviews the submitted performer profiles, creates a shortlist and invites selected performers to audition – which could be in the form of a self-tape or Zoom session.
• Self-tape: An audition filmed at home and sent digitally to the agent and/or casting director.
• Recalls: After an audition, performers may be invited back to meet the director or producer in person and to try out scenes with other actors.
• Contracting: Once the final choices are made, formal offers are sent to the performer’s agent to negotiate terms and secure required child performance licenses.

⭐ Does My Child Need an Agent?

While it’s possible to find open casting calls independently, navigating the UK industry when your child doesn’t have representation is challenging. For a young performer to have a profile on Spotlight, they must be represented by a Spotlight-registered agency. You can find a list of these agencies in our Contacts listings.

How Agents Help Young Performers 

An agent or agency acts as the vital bridge between your child and the professional acting industry. Rather than simply finding auditions, a reputable talent agent actively manages your child’s early career.

Beyond securing auditions, an agent:

• Protects your child’s interests by negotiating professional contracts, ensuring pay aligns with industry standards and securing fair usage fees for commercials.
• Handles the complex administrative paperwork behind the scenes, such as coordinating with production companies and your local authority to secure legally required Child Performance Licences.

In return for this work, reputable agencies operate on a commission-only basis (typically taking 15% to 25% of your child’s earnings), meaning they only get paid when your child successfully books a job.

You can read more guidance about working with agents on the AYPA website.

Finding a Young Performer Agent

Look for established agencies registered with professional bodies like the Agents of Young Performers Association (AYPA) or the Personal Managers’ Association (PMA). We’d also recommend checking out our Contacts Listings which includes a search facility for agent information.

⭐ Joining Spotlight

Children from the age of six months up until their 18th birthday can join Spotlight as a Young Performer. To do so, they must be represented by a Spotlight-registered agent (see above), as a parent can’t act as an agent on their child’s behalf on our platform.

To apply for Spotlight membership, the agent can either:

• Send a Spotlight invitation directly to the child’s parent to complete online and send to us, or
• Complete the application on a child’s behalf, for which full parent consent is required.

⭐ Industry Regulations and Child Licensing

In the UK, child entertainment is strictly regulated to protect children’s education, safety and health. The UK licensing system is designed to provide a check that those responsible for using children in performances make suitable arrangements to safeguard them.

Types of Licensing 

In the UK, permission for a child to work in entertainment is usually granted by:

• A Child Performance License (CPL): An individual license issued by the child’s home Local Authority, granting permission to withdraw from school to work on a production.
• A Body of Persons Approval (BOPA): An umbrella approval issued to an organisation or production by a magistrate, covering multiple children at once.
• A Department for Education / National BOPA: Issued for large-scale, multi-region or nationwide productions across different council boundaries.

You can read more about BOPAs on the National Network for Children in Employment and Entertainment (NNCEE) website.

In Ireland, for a child to work in entertainment, work permission must be obtained by the employer in the form of applying for a license from the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. You can read more about the conditions of employment, the process and find the relevant application forms on the Workplace Relations website.

When is a Performance Licence Required?

A Child Performance Licence is legally required if a performance meets any of the following criteria. This applies to any child from birth up to the end of compulsory school age (the last Friday in June of the school year they turn 16):

• The child is being paid (even if they don’t miss school).
• The performance takes place on licensed premises or is broadcast on TV, film, or online.
• The child is required to take time off school.
• The child performs for more than four days in any six-month period (those four days do not have to be consecutive).

You can find out more about licensing in the UK and for overseas work in these articles or read about the licensing process on the NNCEE website.

How to Apply for a Child Performance Licence

The production company should apply for the licence, but you as the parent or caregiver will need to fill out a section and provide supporting documents, which could include things like a birth certificate or a school permission letter:

• Applications must be submitted to the Local Authority (Council) where the child lives, not where the job takes place.
• Most councils require applications at least 21 working days before the first performance.

Your child’s agent should help drive this process and oversee the completion of the licensing application.

Official Resources:

• Find your local council and apply for a licence: GOV.UK: Apply for a Child Performance Licence
• Learn more about general rules: GOV.UK: Child Employment & Performance Licences

⭐ Where Can I Find Auditions for Child Actors?

Finding legitimate, high-quality auditions is about using the right channels, such as:

1. Through the child’s agent: Casting directors send breakdowns directly to agents who then submit their clients that match the role requirements.
2. Spotlight: Once your child has an agent and is registered on Spotlight, their agent can submit them directly for roles advertised on Spotlight.
3. Spotlight Search: Casting directors use Spotlight’s search functionality to discover performers. Almost everything on a young performer’s Spotlight profile is searchable, so make sure you keep it updated with the latest information so your child can be found.
4. Casting call sites: There are several platforms that host open notices for child performers. If you decide to use one of these, stick to well-known, industry-recognised sites.
5. Open casting calls: Occasionally, major films or theatrical productions hold ‘open calls’ for specific types of children (e.g., “seeking an 8-year-old girl who can play football”). These are shared on verified casting director social media accounts. If you see an open call, it’s worth double-checking with your child’s agent as they will immediately know if the project and casting professional are legitimate.

Legitimate casting decisions are based purely on suitability and talent, not financial outlay. Under UK employment agency regulations, it’s illegal for an agency or representative to make representation or casting submissions dependent on buying additional services, such as training, showcase events, or workshops. You should never feel pressured to pay for photography, classes or workshops.

⭐  Training Options for Aspiring Young Actors

Your child doesn’t need to attend a full-time, expensive stage school to get into acting. It’s quite common for working child actors in the UK and Ireland to attend mainstream schools and train part-time. The right training builds confidence, teaches industry discipline and is often the best way to get noticed by reputable talent agents.

Here are the main training paths available for young performers:

1. Part-Time Performing Arts and Weekend Schools

These are the most popular and accessible options. Classes usually run on Saturdays or weekday evenings, making them easy to balance with regular school:

• What they teach: A mix of drama, singing and dance.
• Well-known networks: National franchises like Stagecoach Performing Arts, The Pauline Quirke Academy (PQA), or Razzamataz.
• Independent local drama schools: Local institutions – such as Young Actors Theatre Islington (YATI) in London, Theatre School of Scotland, National Performing Arts School in Dublin, The Young Actors Company in Cambridge, The Drama Mob in the North West or WestWay – often have their own internal talent agencies to help students secure professional work.

2. Specialised Youth Theatre and Programs

If your child is highly focused on pure acting rather than musical theatre, youth theatres offer excellent, drama-focused training and the chance to perform in high-quality plays:

• National Youth Theatre (NYT): For young people aged 11-25. Auditioning for the NYT is a highly respected milestone. Alumni include Daniel Craig, Helen Mirren and Regé-Jean Page.
• Junior Conservatoires: Prestigious UK drama schools like the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (age 4-18) and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (age 11-18) run dedicated Junior departments on weekends for highly committed young performers.
• Local Youth Theatres: Almost every major regional city has an active youth theatre group. For example, the Dublin Youth Theatre (DYT) in Ireland, or youth companies run by regional UK venues like the Chichester Festival Theatre or  Leeds Playhouse, offer excellent, low-cost weekly training.

3. Screen Acting and Holiday Workshops

The technique required for film and TV is very different from stage acting and if that’s where your child’s interest lies then the following could be helpful:

• Screen Acting Classes: Specialised workshops teach children how to act in front of a camera, understand framing and master self-taping.
• Holiday Camps: Organisations like the Young Film Academy (YFA) run intensive summer and half-term residential camps focusing entirely on screen acting and filmmaking.

⭐ How Can I Support My Child?

As a parent or guardian of a child in the performance industry, or ‘The Industry’ as you’ll often hear it referred to, you have a key role to play in supporting your child emotionally during the inevitable highs and lows they will experience.

Some examples of where parents are involved in their child’s acting career:

• Getting them to and from auditions, helping them to learn scripts and record self-tapes.
• Letting your child’s agent know about anything important that may affect your child’s audition or job availability e.g. family holidays and school commitments.
• Informing your child’s agent and/or updating your child’s Spotlight profile regarding any changes that could impact the jobs your child is suitable for. Examples include any changes to their appearance (e.g. a haircut, height change) or new skill gained (e.g. skateboarding, horse-riding, or language).
• Talking with the head teacher of your child’s school about their joy of performing and the possibility of auditions or jobs arising. Finding out how committed to the performing arts the school is can be helpful if your child gets cast in a production and you need to request permission for time off. Each school will have their own view on this and level of previous experience with students working in the entertainment industry.

For more information about how you can help your child, take a look at our parent’s guide to everything you need to know about the industry.

Frequently Asked Questions