Art A Level

Year One

Course outline
Component 1
This component will give you a practical introduction to a range of drawing and associated techniques. You will be expected to relate your work to the work of other photographers, designers or artists and you will also need to be able to explain those relationships. You will be encouraged to be experimental with materials and techniques; to go on to explore your own ideas as much as possible and to complete your finished work to an appropriate standard.

Component 2
This component is approached in exactly the same manner as outlined for Component 1. You will be given a wide choice of starting points by the examination board at the start of the course. Most of the work will be produced in normal lessons, but will be finished in a series of timed sessions.

Teaching styles
For each component you will be given a brief that you will use as a starting point. The brief is structured to guide you through the assessment objectives. For each component students are expected to keep a regular journal that contains and records the work they have done, their thinking and their planning. This means that you will be encouraged to make your own decisions about the progress of your work.
Students are encouraged to help one another and work together on practical aspects of their work.
Emphasis is placed on one to one teaching. You and your teacher will discuss your work regularly using your journal as a basis. As well as this informal assistance, your project work will be marked at intervals and at its conclusion using the exam board’s criteria. You will be given written criticism to help you to understand the criteria and to encourage you to improve your work.

Key features
The course and the teaching is structured to encourage you to succeed. Project briefs show you how to produce work to maximize your marks. This is also behind our journal based approach to your work. Regular interaction with your teacher in lessons supports and encourages you to maximize your marks. The marking of your work is to encourage you to maximize your marks. The aim of the course is to help you to achieve maximum marks by bringing out your ideas and your thinking. We hope that every students work is individual to them.

Subject combinations
If you are determined to follow a career in the creative arts you can combine this subject with up to 3 additional subjects in Visual & Performing Arts such as Photography, Graphics, Film Studies, Performance, Dance or Media Studies.
It is equally relevant to combine it with subjects such as Literature. IT, Maths, and Sciences.

Progression
Art and digital arts are being used in a wide variety of occupations and you will find the skills you establish in this subject very useful in many careers. The ability to draw and paint is crucial to many areas such as graphics, fashion, textiles, interior and product design etc. The art course also gives you the ability to manage a project from start to finish; the ability to collect and organize information, the ability to generate ideas, the ability to evaluate your own progress and to plan ahead – these are all valuable life skills.
You will be able to progress onto higher education courses or employment.

Resources and facilities
Although you may wish to use your own sketchbooks and paints it is not necessary to do so. We also have a good stock of cameras and computers for every lesson too. We have other studio facilities and equipment for
you to use, although many students also find their subjects out of college.

Provisional entry requirements
A minimum of five GCSEs at grade A* - C or 4 - 9are required, or the equivalent, including English Language and Art.

Year Two

Course outline
Component 1 – Personal Investigation (60%)
This component will give you the opportunity to develop a more personal approach to art, whilst relating what you do more closely to the work of other artists. You will need to be able to experiment with combinations of techniques and processes and explore the visual possibilities and relationships within your work.

Component 2 - Externally-set Assignment (40%)
This component is approached in exactly the same manner as outlined for Component 1. You will be given a wide choice of starting points by the examination board at the start of the course. Most of the work will be produced in normal lessons, but will be finished in a series of timed sessions.