A-Level
Careers related to studying Fine Art:
Whether you love photography, graphic design, painting or any other art-related specialty, career options are limited only by your imagination. Art education propels people towards creative and unexpected destinations – many of which have not even been discovered yet. Below is a link to the Student Art Guide’s extensive career suggestions within the arts.
Course content:
Photography A Level will introduce you to a variety of experiences exploring a range of photographic media, techniques and processes. Researching the work of other photographers and artists is an integral part of the investigating and making process. You will produce a sketchbook/workbook/journal to underpin your progress, documenting your research and recording the development of your own personal responses. You should be able to express ideas and link your intentions to outcomes in a confident and assured manner. There is an important written component to the coursework, which necessitates analysis of your own outcomes, making links and connections to other photographers, artists and practitioners.
Entry requirements:
You must have achieved at least a 5 grade at GCSE in Photography, Fine Art or 3D Studies. It is advisable to own, or have access to a DSLR camera.
Subject specific events:
You will take part in excursions and trips, visiting galleries and attending events where you will enrich your experience of a wide variety of photography and artwork at first-hand.
Methods of study:
There are five lessons per week which are divided between two subject specialists. Teaching groups tend to be between ten and fifteen in number, and the course is taught through a range of teaching and learning strategies. Students will be expected to undertake a minimum of five further hours of extended study in their own time.
Component 1 is teacher directed with students encouraged to follow their own individual directions within broad outlines from set starting points. You will be guided to ensure each of the four Assessment Objectives are comprehensively addressed, and will be given on-going and constant feedback that will allow you to refine and develop your working practices, enabling you to meet your full creative potential.
You will have access to a wide range of high-quality DSLR cameras and a fully equipped photography studio. Industry standard iMacs and Adobe Creative Suite software are available for development and processing of your work.
Methods of assessment:
The course is a two-year program leading to the production of two components of work.
Component 1 is the development of an extensive portfolio of your artwork, internally set, assessed by the course teaching staff and externally moderated. This component incorporates three major elements:
- supporting studies, practical work and a personal study.
- This forms 60% of the overall A level grade.
The personal study will be evidenced through critical written communication showing contextual research and understanding in a minimum 1000 words of continuous prose, which may contain integrated images and is worth 12% of Component 1.
Component 2 is externally set by the examining board and forms 40% of the overall A level grade, culminating in a 15 hour timed exam.