Qualification: A-level

Exam Board: AQA

Entry Requirements: Grade 4 or above in any of the GCSE Art and Design specifications (including 3D Design, Clay, Photography and Fine Art)

Success, creativity and a range of techniques

Our department offers an exciting, broad, and diverse A-level experience. Our students work on canvas, they etch and use printing techniques, explore mixed media, use photography and film, sew and have opportunities to work in clay and use our iPads to create digital work. This, coupled with the opportunity to make large scale sculpture and installations, means there are really very few avenues we won’t explore! These diverse opportunities and our incredibly well established and knowledgeable staff mean that our students do well, succeed and often go on to study in a broad range of creative environments and industries. Our staff have expertise in fine art, ceramics, sculpture, installation art, textiles, jewellery design and photography. We aim to give students the opportunity to undertake workshops and experiment with a wider range of materials, techniques and processes and allow them to explore art and drawing through sketch crawls and art trips - which the students have commented makes them more confident in their own creative processes and more willing to take risks with their own aesthetic.

The course

The first half of the course is made up of a mixture of small projects and skills workshops, with students spending this important time developing their practice. They explore what it means to be an artist and designer, how to develop their work and explore a huge variety of techniques, materials and processes that help them discover their strengths and interests. We take students to life drawing classes at Sheffield Hallam University and there are opportunities to talk to and work with practising artists throughout the course. At the end of the first year and into the second year, students work on their Personal Investigation project, a project that is student driven and where they work independently to develop their ideas and creative vision. This project will make up 60% of the overall grade and will consist of an in-depth and personal portfolio of work that includes a written element of between 1,000-3,000 words. The final 40% of the course is an externally set assignment that begins in February of Y13, where students develop a project from a starting point set by AQA.

Skills workshops: Including digital drawing, clay, drawing for different purposes, and mixed media. This project also included a residential, life drawing and a sketch crawl
Concertina Project: A small project where students develop a project of their own choosing in a concertina sketchbook
Personal Investigation Project: an in-depth and personal portfolio of work that includes a written element of between 1,000-3,000 words. This will make up 60% of the overall grade and is entirely student-led.

Beyond the classroom

With more time given to the specialism at A-level, we take opportunities to incorporate more cultural learning experiences. With close ties to Hallam University we are able to offer a life drawing session in one of their studios and our students regularly enter their work into art shows and take visits to exhibitions that are hosted by them. We host sketch crawls in the Peak district and Sheffield city centre so students can draw, take photographs, and observe the contrasting environments, but also invite renowned artists, like Andy Hunt, in to work closely with our students, showing them new ways of working. We are really excited to offer students the opportunity to come to Paris in November for a 3-day residential and to immerse themselves in arts and culture that Paris has to offer. We visit galleries and venues including the Louvre, Pompidou Centre, Musee D’Orsay and Eiffel Tower and take part in a sketch crawl in beautiful Montmartre. We see that our students appreciate the diversity of these cultural experiences and regularly see the impact of them in the way that a student’s work becomes more personalised.

Examinations & Assessment

Component 1: Personal Investigation Project 60%

Component 2: The final 40% of the course is an externally set assignment that begins in February of Year 13, where students develop a project from a starting point set by AQA.

Progression

There are many opportunities for students who have studied Art A-level, with many universities seeing a creative subject as the key to giving students a strong foundation for problem-solving skills and creativity. Increasingly, students’ art portfolios are warmly received for careers in subjects like engineering, science or medicine.

Almost all universities accept art as an A-level for UCAS applications, and the portfolio of work is a welcome addition at interview to show a range of skills and strengths of the candidate. Many of our students go on to study art foundation courses that lead to university courses in fashion, textiles, architecture, fine art, sculpture, set design, game design, graphics, 3D design and ceramics, marketing, PR, business and medicine. An art A-level can lead to a career in the creative industries like festivals, curating, publishing, TV and radio.