AQA ASSESSMENT
About
A+D is one of the largest and most successful departments within the college, we have over 450 students studying one or more the 4 disciplines including Art, Graphics, Photography and Textiles. The core values of the department are the primacy of ideas, hard work and a deep passion far all aspects of Art and Design. The belief that art is a life-affirming, life changing, teachable, learnable, intellectual and unbelievably exciting way to look at the world is central to our philosophy
Our aim is to enable you to develop further the depth and breadth of your work. This means the thinking, language, skills and confidence necessary to initiate and innovate your work along personal lines. To do this it is important to be open minded and receptive to new ideas. You should also be prepared to work hard and set yourself high standards.
Over the next 2 years you will continue to expand your knowledge of the possibilities, spontaneity and excitement in your work, which develops from this understanding.
Assessment Structure
The first year work leads directly to that in the second year, where there are two assessed projects.
60%
Component One:
Personal Investigation
coursework unit with both practical and written work
40%
Component Two:
Externally Set Assignment
Similar to the GCSE Art & Design examinations, but includes 15 hours of work under exam conditions at the very end of the course.
Project Model
Starting point
Research links and analytical drawings. Analysis should investigate the theme of the project. Studies should be objective, well observed and of a high technical standard. Think about what you want to concentrate on – form, colour, texture, enlarged sections and viewpoint etc. but do not waste time on studies that don’t add to your knowledge or repeat what you have already done in another media. Your own high quality photographs will add significantly to your research, but will not replace drawing completely, except in the Photography course.
Links
Critical links inform the development of your project, and eventually, the final piece. In Component One only, one of these links is made into an extended written piece of work called the Personal Study.
Written Personal Study (Component One only)
This is a very elaborate and extended critical link, which includes written work of between 1000 and 3000 words. It must be written in your own words and is informed by reading and primary source research. You will receive more details about this when you return from study leave.
Development
Development is the most important part of any project and should focus on ideas and elements that you have observed in your analytical studies and at some point will be informed by the critical link/s. Development must: show experimentation with media, explore ideas, could manipulate images, crop and enlarge images, try out composition ideas, investigate alternative designs. Interesting, personal and lively work of a high standard is expected.
Final piece
The final piece will show informed influence of the link/s and your own creative ideas. This should be a very highly finished and substantial piece of work, which logically and successfully concludes the project.
Assessment
The Assessment Objectives for A Level are similar to those for GCSE. They are used for the marking of all units. When work is assessed each objective is given a mark out of 24, making a total out of 96 for each unit.
AO1 (24)
Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.
AO2 (24)
Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.
AO3 (24)
Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.
AO4 (24)
Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.
Examples of
Work of Excellence
Below are example of projects that have achieved the marks in the excellence bracket of the assessment criteria.
