National qualifications

COURSE OVERVIEW

The National 5 Art and Design Course enables learners to plan, develop, produce and present creative art and design work, and to develop their critical understanding of a range of art and design practice. The Course also enables learners to understand the impact of external factors on artists and designers and their works. The skills that learners gain by successfully completing the Course will be valuable for learning, life and work.

The aims of the Course are to enable learners to:

  • communicate personal thoughts, feelings and ideas through the creative use of art and design materials, techniques and/or technology

  • develop critical understanding of a range of art and design practice

  • plan, develop, produce and present creative art and design work

  • understand the impact of external factors on artists and designers and their work

  • develop creativity, problem solving, critical thinking and reflective practice skills

The National 5 courses consist of two mandatory units and the course assessment. The mandatory unit work is collated in pupil’s sketchbooks and retained by the school for verification purposes. A significant amount of the unit work will be undertaken in the S3 BGE course.

The National 5 the course assessment consists of a portfolio and a written examination. These are submitted to the SQA and form the basis for grading attainment in the full course award.

Unit 1: Expressive with Critical Activity – This Unit helps learners to develop their personal thoughts and ideas in visual form. In the Unit, learners will develop critical understanding of artists’ working practices and the social and cultural influences affecting their work. They will select stimuli and produce analytical drawings and studies. They will develop and refine their expressive ideas and artwork, experimenting with and using a range of materials, techniques and/or technology in 2D and/or 3D formats when responding to stimuli.

Unit 2: Design with Critical Activity – In this Unit learners will plan, research and develop creative design work in response to a design brief. They will develop their creativity, problem solving and critical thinking skills as they consider design opportunities, and work to resolve design issues and constraints. In the Unit, learners will develop critical understanding of designers’ working practices and the main social and cultural influences affecting their work. They will experiment with, develop and refine their design ideas, using a range of materials, techniques and/or technology in 2D and/or 3D formats.

Course Assessment- PORTFOLIO AND QUESTION PAPER

PORTFOLIO Section 1A: Expressive Project (80 marks)

  • further developing the initial idea in 2D and/or 3D formats, demonstrating a considered response to the expressive theme/stimuli and the effective use of the visual elements

  • creating a final piece of expressive art in either 2D or 3D, which maintains continuity with the original idea and development work and which shows the effective refinement and realisation of the idea

  • an evaluation of the expressive art work, reflecting on the impact of their creative choices and decisions and the visual qualities of the work

PORTFOLIO Section 1B: Design Project (80 marks)

  • further developing the initial idea in 2D and/or 3D formats, demonstrating a considered response to the opportunities and requirements of the design brief and the effective use of design elements

  • producing a final design solution in either 2D or 3D formats, which maintains visual continuity with the original design idea and development work and which shows the effective refinement and realisation of the idea

  • an evaluation of their work, reflecting on the impact of their design choices and decisions and the effectiveness of the design solution, with reference to the design brief requirements

QUESTION PAPER Section 2: Examination (40 marks)

  • The question paper allows learners to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of art and design practice in an extended response format. Learners will demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the work of artists and designers with explicit reference to their use of visual/design elements, expressing justified personal opinions about the work.