Art & Design - A Level Course

Art & Design

Art & Design

OVERVIEW

If you have an artistic flair and a passion for drawing, painting and being creative, A Level Art & Design could be for you. Be clear: there is a terrific amount of work involved and it can be extremely time consuming, but the ultimate rewards are most certainly worth the hard work.

For further information or to discuss in more detail, please contact:

Mr J Dyson Head of Art jdyson@kgs.org.uk

Follow us on Twitter: @KGS_Art

How is the course assessed?

The A2 qualification is awarded on the basis of two components. The first of these is a Personal Investigation, which gives you the opportunity to explore themes that are of particular interest to you in practical ways and will include a written piece of about 3000 words. Component 2 is also a practical unit that may include processes such as drawing, painting, ceramics and photography based on one of several themes offered by the exam board and which culminates in a 15-hour practical exam.

Examination board

AQA – Fine Art Syllabus

Useful attributes

A successful A Level Art & Design student will be hard-working, independently minded and keen to work tenaciously on ideas to find the best visual solutions. In preparation for starting the course we would like you to visit two or three museums or galleries. Take your sketchbook and make notes and drawings about some of the art that interests you. Some background reading about current exhibitions, such as reviews in the Sunday papers, would be very helpful too.

Personal development

During the course you will have the opportunity to learn various techniques beyond simply drawing and painting, such as photography, etching, screen-printing or even film-making, if that is of interest to you. We also run a regular programme of life drawing classes and aim to visit galleries when possible. An A Level course in Art & Design is likely to be an emotional rollercoaster. There will be times when your work is going well and there is no stopping you. Equally, you will have periods where your confidence seems to have evaporated and the constructive criticism offered by your teachers might be hard to take. Expressing ideas and feelings through art can be a challenging and revealing process, but one which is, ultimately, highly rewarding.

Future directions

Following A Level Art & Design, many students carry on to art schools to take Art & Design foundation courses or go directly on to undergraduate studies in anything from Graphic Design, Film and Photography to Fine Art Painting, Architecture and History of Art.