Art and Design (Fine Art), A Level

Students should ensure that they meet the entry requirements for the courses they are applying for (available on subject pages) as well as the overall entry requirements (5 grades at level 4 or above but must include English and Maths).

Students need to choose a minimum of three subjects to study. Please note that all of our BTEC courses are single BTEC's and equivalent to 1 A Level, you will need to choose two further subjects if choosing a BTEC course.

Please ensure you have put contact details for yourself and a parent should we need to contact you.

Our department offers an exciting, broad, and diverse A-level experience. Our students work on canvas, they etch and use printing techniques, explore mixed medias, use photography and film, sew and have opportunities to work in clay and use our iPads to create digital work. This, coupled with the opportunity to make large scale sculpture and installations, means there are really very few avenues we won’t explore! These diverse opportunities and our incredibly well established and knowledgeable staff mean that our students do well, succeed and often go on to study in a broad range creative environments and industries. Our staff have expertise in fine art, ceramics, sculpture, installation art, textiles, jewellery design and photography. We aim to give students the opportunity to undertake workshops and experiment with wider ranges of materials, techniques and processes and allow them to explore art and drawing through sketch crawls and art trips - which the students have commented makes them more confident in their own creative processes and more willing to take risks with their own aesthetic.

The first half of the course is made up of a mixture of small projects and skills workshops, with students spend this important time developing their practice. They explore what it means to be an artist and designer, how to develop their work and explore a huge variety of techniques, materials and processes that help them discover their strengths and interests. We take students to life drawing classes at Sheffield Hallam University and there are opportunities to talk to and work with practising artists, throughout the course. At the end of the first year and into the second year, students work on their Personal Investigation project, a project that is student driven and where they work independently to develop their ideas and creative vision. This project will make up 60% of the overall grade and will consist of an in-depth and personal portfolio of work that includes a written element of between 1,000-3,000 words. The final 40% of the course is an externally set assignment that begins in February of Y13, where students develop a project from a starting point set by AQA.

Each project is assessed against the 4 AQA assessment objectives. The feedback consists of observations on what you have done and a question that will help you reflect on your progress. You will also receive regular verbal and written feedback to help you to monitor your progress and reach your potential. At Silverdale we coach, rather than mentor our students, to allow them autonomy and control over their work. These sessions happen regularly and really help students connect with their work and ideas and sees them making personalised progress. On top of this we also hold group crits where you can have conversations with your peers about your work and ideas.

There are two components to the course. Component 1 consists of one project, a Personal Investigation, which makes up 60% of your mark and Component 2, which is an externally set assignment worth 40% of the final mark and starts in February of Y13, taking you to the end of the course.

• Grade 4 or above in GCSE Art and Design

You need to be predicted and achieve all the grades listed above in order to undertake this subject.

Doing A-Level Art can open up a huge variety of opportunities for our students. We have had students go on to study at some of the best Creative Universities in the country and ones that have gone on to be Surgeons and Doctors. The skills that you can develop in the subject are unlike any other and by the end of the two years your ability to demonstrate risk taking, creative problem solving and analytical and critical thinking, along with a personal portfolio, will make you a very desirable candidate for any university or workplace. Recent studies have suggested Universities, including the top ones in the country, want these types of students to apply. Other routes that you could follow are:

• Art Foundation courses that lead to University
• A huge variety of university courses in the Arts, such as Fashion, textiles, architecture, fine art, sculpture, set design, game design, graphics, 3D Design and ceramics.
• Creative university courses including marketing, PR, business and medicine
• Careers in the creative industries like festivals, marketing, fashion, curating, publishing, TV and Radio, visual art and advertising