Fine Art

Our Fine Art course is one which covers a wide and exciting array of possibilities for you as an artist. It is a very practical course with a heavy emphasis on coursework. You will be taught by practicing artists and taken through a broad array of techniques, from large scale canvas painting to detailed illustrative outcomes and printing techniques. This will enable you to then start to consider your own preferred medium, or, a mixture of many. We also welcome those students who enjoy working with textiles and wish to pursue this work. You will create a portfolio of work which utilises your best skills and reflects a personal creative journey. Your work will be unique and there will be a chance to sell it at the end of year show.

Exam board:

AQA GCSE Art and Design, Fine Art

How is the course examined?

Coursework (60%). This is started in Term 2 of Yr12 and completed in January of Yr13.
1 x practical exam with preparatory work (40%). This work starts in February of Yr13. It is a personal practical response to a given exam board starting point, with an outcome produced over 3 days in early May.

Year 12

Year 13

Coursework Portfolio Development.

(referred to as your personal study)

You will start the course by following a series of guided workshops. Here we aim to widen your skill set and start thinking in terms of advanced level working practice.

In Term 2 of Yr12 you will be invited to self-select artists whose work you are drawn to. We then go on a journey; reflecting on what you have seen and exhibitions you have visited, before then pushing the boundaries of your own work- finding out who you really are as an artist.

Coursework Portfolio Completion (Sept-Jan)

Using your preferred medium of choice, this year is all about those top quality outcomes. You will be tutored regularly and given the opportunity to build on success to complete your A-Level portfolio.

Exam (Feb- April)

Responding to a chosen starting point, you now have the skills and we will support and guide you as you work independently, pushing for those top grades to help you access your next step in education/career.

Why is the course sequenced this way?

Yr12 starts with a directed series of workshops as this gives us an opportunity to build on your KS4 prior knowledge and introduce new advanced ways of working. Fine Art at Post-16 needs a higher level of independence. We will coach you during these early stages on how to access and use your dedicated Post-16 art studio space in your own study time enabling you to maximise your opportunity for success.

We then start your coursework journey in Term 2 of Yr12 as we find that students often need time to really consider and work around the peripheries of their ideas, before committing to a chosen theme.

Towards the end of Yr12 and throughout Yr13 you will then be pushed to reach the full expectations of an A-Level Fine Art student. This is where you now become fully independent and lessons become one on one guided tutorials, exactly as you would experience in university. This is an exciting time as you will then be a fully fledged artist - ready to launch your work in our end of year show. We know some students though need more support and with the bonus of fewer students in class we have the ability to provide you with exactly what you need.

How will I be assessed during the course?

Regular portfolio reviews with your teachers
A mock exam experience

What’s the best way to revise?

Revision techniques are not needed for this subject, however, the following will be the best way of achieving those top grades:

a dedication to a continual production of personal outcomes, both at home and using your dedicated 6th form personal study space studio
a commitment to visiting the wonderfully diverse wealth of galleries and museums we have in this city