AS Art

Sixth Form Art should be seen as a continuum of GCSE or Standard Grade and students wishing to pursue Art in the Sixth Form must have achieved one or other of these exams to a high level. Students new to the school must submit a portfolio of their work for consideration before being accepted onto the A/S Level course.

The AS course is studied over one year and after that students can decide whether to pursue the subject further to the full A Level over a second year of study.

Under the broad umbrella of Art and Design students will have the opportunity to explore a range of the following disciplines:

Fine Art – Sculpture, Painting and Printmaking, Photography, Textiles, Three Dimensional Design (including Ceramics, and Jewellery).

Due to the intensity of the single year course, the initial AS project will be directed, and within that students will find their own direction and gradually gain independence. The second and third units of work will quite naturally be far more personal and students will be expected to be highly self-motivated.

Assessment for the AS consists of three units of work.

Unit 1. (30%) Coursework, with emphasis on observed drawing, exploration of materials and techniques, expanding existing knowledge of artists’ work.

Unit 2. (30%) Coursework, with emphasis on developing more personal direction, through experimentation with materials and techniques and further, more in-depth research of artists’ work.

Unit 3. (40%) Controlled test, consisting of four weeks of preparation and a timed exam of five hours.