The Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) publication, "External quality arrangements for Scotland's colleges," September 2008, specifies that HM Inspectors (HMIs) will produce a number of subject aspect reports over the four years 2008-12. These reports complement in a subject-specific context the generic evaluations of learning and teaching in HMIs external review reports of colleges. Colleges should act on the recommendations contained in these reports. College inspectors will monitor action towards implementation of these recommendations as part of their normal dialogue with colleges and will wish to discuss issues arising from subject aspect reports during annual engagement visits. In preparing this report, inspectors visited a sample of eight colleges, drew on the findings of published HMIE external reviews of colleges and examined other relevant publications and reports. They consulted with key stakeholders, including college staff, learners, employers and professional bodies. This report evaluates college programmes which lead to vocational qualifications in performing arts, offered at levels 4 to 8 of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF). Appended are: (1) Performing arts programmes: summary of data over three years; (2) Colleges involved in the fieldwork for this report; and (3) Glossary of terms. (Contains 8 footnotes.)