The Art & Design AS and A2 courses are all about being creative and experimental, whilst also developing sound skills in analytical drawing and a variety of techniques including painting, ceramics, photography, printing, fashion and digital imagery.

You need to be able to work methodically in your work journal, developing your ideas by studying known artists and responding to their work, until you arrive at a final piece. You will need to explain your thought processes in writing alongside your images and regular ‘crits’ or whole class discussions will help with your communication skills. Visits to museums and galleries will form a crucial part of this process.

Art & Design compliments many studies from the Humanities to Sciences providing a practical element to your chosen subjects. If you want to follow an artistic career then an ideal choice to compliment your practical studies is History of Art, which will help you immensely in your understanding of your own artistic practice and its context. You will find this particularly helpful in the Contextual Study of your A2 year. Art & Design also sits very well with alongside Design & Technology – both require good drawing and practical skills. Careers in this subject range from multimedia, web design and graphics/illustration to film, fashion and 3D design.

Exam Board / Specification Edexcel 8FA01/9FA01

Subject entry requirements:   In addition to GCSE English Grade C, GCSE Art & Design Grade C

Exam Units:

AS

Unit 1: Theme based study

Unit 2: 8 hour Exam – theme selected by exam board

A2

Unit 3: Personal/ Practical Study

Unit 4:12 hour Exam – theme selected by Board

Coursework details:

Unit 1: is coursework and accounts for 60% each of the final AS grade (falling to 30% when added to the A2).

Unit 3: is also coursework and accounts for 15% of the final A2 grade.