ART AND DESIGN EXAM BOARD: OCR
Entry requirements: A Grade 6 at GCSE in an Art related course.
Head of department: Will Lewer
Art and Design at A-level will build on the experiences of students at Art GCSE, but with a keener emphasis on deep enquiry and independence. Projects will be theme-based with students encouraged to build up research across a range of ideas and disciplines. Increasing independence, initiative and ambition will all be features of working at this level, as will a developing engagement with issues around the practice and theories of contemporary art and design and culture. Students will gain experience of the following in each year: • Developing a body of independent imaginative work and ideas in 2, 3 and 4 dimensions • Working in groups and individually to experiment and develop work to long and short briefs • Life drawing sessions after school and 3D sculpture workshops. • Gallery visits to London’s main commercial and public collections to see and experience live art
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THE KING ALFRED SCHOOL
• Introduction to a broad range of practice-based processes and materials • An annual Year 12/13 foreign art trip (we have been to Eindhoven, Berlin, Paris and Venice in recent years). This will be dependent on government advice relating to Coved 19. • Designing, mounting and hanging interim exhibitions of their own work throughout the course • Advice and support in building a portfolio of work for application to Art College, if relevant.
Assessment Unit 1 (60%) Unit 1 is structured around 2 thematic enquiries over the first year of the course in which students build a diverse and substantial folder of work. The focus is on exploration, discussion and investigation rather than resolved outcomes. Students will develop their own ideas through sketchbook exploration, and study the working practices and contexts of a range of related artists, designers and creative practitioners. They will be encouraged to be independent,
inventive and bold, and to visit exhibitions to inform their work. As part of their Unit 1 submission students will make an independent investigation into an aspect of the subject that interests them and write an essay of 1500 words. Unit 2 Externally Set Assignment Year 13 (40%) The ESA takes place from February to June of the Y13 year, and is a standalone project that is worth 40% of the A Level. Students choose one of six themes set by the exam board and make an independent enquiry which culminates in a final, or series of, resolutions over 3 days. Students will be encouraged to investigate and explore mediums and processes that inspire them, and to build a body of informed work that culminates in ambitious and individual resolutions. All project work will be exhibited and celebrated at the end of the course with a big final exhibition.
