[3] The school is part of the University of Surrey and offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in acting, musical theatre, and production.

In addition to undergraduate programmes, GSA also offers postgraduate programmes, including a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Acting, an MFA in Musical Theatre, and a Master of Arts (MA) in Theatre Practices.

[5] From 1945 to 2010 the school was housed in the former St Nicholas parish hall and working men's club at Millmead Terrace.

In the 1990s, the word "Dance" was removed from the title, allegedly because former student Bill Nighy referred to it as the "Guildford School of Twirlies".

The Ivy Arts centre houses the 190-seat Bellairs Theatre, named after Beatrice "Bice" Bellairs, one of the original co-founders, and the 80-seat Rex Doyle studio theatre named after the actor and GSA alumnus.