A level exam planning guide

A'Level Art Exam (Controlled Test): Student Guide You should discuss your topic selection with your teacher and seek guidance regarding interpretation and choice of source material. You are able to interpret questions in any way you wish.

The examination artwork does not have to relate to your AS Coursework in any way, but there are obvious advantages to having some overlaps. It is worth remembering that there is far less time to complete your exam project. One helpful strategy can be to follow a similar development process to that used in your Coursework (i.e. using the same artist models and a similar pattern of developing composition), as this allows you to work much faster. It means you have to ‘think’ more and worry less, and simply put all of your eff ort into producing stunning artwork within the short time frame given.

One important difference between the examination and Coursework is that is that observation from primary sources is essential within the examination submission. This means that, at some point, (usually in the very early stages of investigation – if not for the whole duration), students must work whilst looking directly at a scene or object. In other words, they must have the subject matter directly in front of them, and must not draw from photographs taken by others. The purpose of this requirement is two-fold: firstly it ensures a direct interaction between viewer and subject (hopefully resulting in work that is more personal, detailed and ‘authentic’); secondly it avoids students attempting to create a submission based entirely from plagiarised second hand images (those taken from the internet etc).

BEFORE THE AS ART EXAM: A CHECKLIST

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Finish your preparation work. Do not expect to be able to complete any of the prep work during the examination itself. If you finish your final examination project early (except perhaps in the case of extremely abstract works), you should ask yourself whether your artwork is too simple or poorly executed. At A Level, students are required to have an extremely competent final piece. The Art examination is fifteen hours (A2) and 5hrs (AS) long for good reason. Many students find the fifteen hours (A2) is not enough. It is in your absolute best interests to have all preparation work completed in advance of the first examination session, so that you can use every second of the fifteen hours to produce the most amazing final piece you can.

Plan what your final examination artwork will look like, and how long each stage will take you. Obviously you cannot plan it exactly – and certainly do not attempt to complete a whole ‘practice’ version in advance (I have seen some students attempt to do this and their ‘real’ works rarely turn out as well as the practice one). But plan it enough so that you don’t waste any examination time thinking about what to do. Your preparation work should allow you to practise all the different components of the final work (perhaps not in exactly the same way, but enough that you are confident you can execute every aspect of it). Trial setting up the still life and/or pre-print high-quality photographs to work from.

Prepare a ground if needed. If you specialise in Painting and Related Media) you are permitted to prepare the ground (the undercoat) in advance, which may also include patterned or textured paper.

An undercoat must obviously not include any outlines or preliminary drawing. Other areas, such as Graphic Design, Textiles making, Sculpture and Ceramics, candidates can, in addition to their supporting work, prepare specific material for the examination beforehand.

Ensure all equipment you need to use is ready and working – pencils sharpened / paint tubes full etc.

Bring your supporting work to the exam! If you forget to bring it to your first examination session, you will not be allowed to submit it later. You will just have to hand in your final piece; Immediately before the exam is to start, set up your work station. Prior to the examination, you should be let into the room to set up your equipment, materials and a still life (if needed). You should set up everything you need and should not have to share basic equipment with anyone else. Put your supporting sheets of work neatly beside you to refer to.

DURING THE ART EXAM: 

You may move around the room as needed, to empty your water jar / get additional materials etc, although this should be minimised to reduce disturbance of others.

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Tracing is rarely allowed and only in specific situations, for example, when incorporating a motif that had been designed earlier as part of a Graphic Design submission. It is not acceptable for a Painting and Related Media student to bring an enlarged photograph to the exam and trace it. In the rare circumstances where tracing or copying is permissible, it is to be done from the supporting work and must take place within the examination.

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Technical assistance is allowed if you need it, such as assistance firing ceramics, welding metal sculptures or pouring out photographic chemicals, however at no stage can you ask your Art teacher (or exam supervisor) for any advice about your art or design work. All decision-making that occurs within the examination session must be your own. Any conversation between you and the invigilator must be minimal and be restricted to that which is essential. Students must not communicate with each other.

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The examination may be broken into shorter sessions lasting no more than 3 hours at a time, with the whole exam ideally completed over three consecutive days (A2) and one day (AS).

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Once the exam is over, work can be dried, sprayed with fixative, trimmed, mounted, ceramics fired, labelled etc, prior to posting away.

The final exam work and supporting pages are assessed together and are given a single mark out of 80.

Source: http://www.studentartguide.com/articles/cie-as-art-exam