Art & Design

Art/Craft/Design

Head of Creative Arts Faculty: Miss Carr

Qualification Level and Examination Board: Level 1 and 2 AQA GCSE Art & Design (Art, Craft & Design) 8201 

How is the course assessed?

Assessment is through coursework (60% of the total grade) and the Controlled Test (40% of the total grade).   

What is the content of the course?

On this course you will study a range of themes, some as set tasks but mostly based on personal project ideas, and develop your skills in a variety of media. Drawing forms an important foundation for the course but this can be everything from shading pencils to sticks drawing lines in the sand. Coursework is built over the 2 years and will show your experiments with a range of materials, preparatory work, recorded observations, processes and studies of the work of other artists. After an initial ‘foundation’ project, personal projects are devised in collaboration with staff. Final portfolios may be based on painting, drawing, photography, printing, textiles, silk-screening, clay work, computer graphics, sculpture or any combination of those techniques.

The Externally Set Assignment is based on varied and interesting starting points from AQA. You will have preparation time during the Spring Term and then a final exam piece is completed in a 10 hour period over several days.

The same assessment criteria apply to the Externally Set Assignment and the Coursework Section and cover artist studies, experimentation, recording of images and final realisations of planning.

The Art course requires commitment. The most successful students complete up to two hours of independent study per week, either at home or using the art rooms at lunchtimes.

What could I study Post-16?

The course offers an excellent preparation for those considering an art related career and for entry into:

• A Level Art & Design, Photography and Media Studies

• IB Visual Arts and Film

• UAL Art & Design

What possible careers could I have?

At this stage of your education art can provide a useful complement to some of the more academic subjects and provides a strong ethos of problem solving and creativity. Later on in tertiary education, career related employment relating to the arts is varied and wide, but may include areas such as Architecture, Interior Design, Illustration and Graphic Design, Photography, Film, Media, Video and Web Design, Fashion, Textiles, the list goes on. Some of our past students include the Jewellery Designer and business owner Becky Rowe, the Animator Adam le Gallez , the Architect Aniela Migasiuk, the artist Matt Warren and the Tattoo artist Adam Trump who has his own business in St. Peter Port. 

Additional information

Having some materials at home or access to a camera is helpful but not essential.