Art, Craft & Design A Level
Course Overview
Enrich your creativity as an artist or designer through a series of integrated, theoretical, and practical workshops taught by teachers, who have a range of industrial backgrounds, in our specialist art and design studios. Over two years you will create and present a practical portfolio of specialist work reflecting personal expression of ideas and feelings through the skilful manipulation of visual and written language.
We have three pathways for you to choose from:
- Fine Art: On this pathway you will work with drawing, painting, and printmaking techniques. This includes photographic silkscreen printing, traditional dry point etching, photography, mixed media, digital painting, and ceramics. You will learn about artist movements and how to critically analyse the work of other artists.
- Fashion with Textiles: This pathway offers a design-based approach, with workshops that introduce a range of techniques covering material manipulation with fabric and fibres, garment construction, fashion drawing, three-dimensional structures, textile silk screen printing, digital pattern design, and digital presentation skills. Our studio practice offers a place to experiment with a range of ideas for designing, creating and researching areas such as fashion design, textile, or interior structures. You will be encouraged to incorporate printed textile processes into your design work and direct the styling of your photo shoots with your final work.
- Graphic Illustration: On this pathway you will be offered a flexible approach to graphic design and illustration. You will be encouraged to incorporate printmaking and painting processes into graphic design and illustration developmental work. Through practical workshops on printmaking and digital techniques you will gain experience working with Photoshop Illustrator and InDesign. We undertake both practical and theoretical research work, and ideas are explored through both graphic design and illustration assignments.
Year 1 Modules:
- Drawing techniques and processes.
- Introduction to specialist media processes and techniques.
- Research and presentation techniques
- Historical, contextual, and critical analysis
Year 2 Modules:
- Specialist Independent Assignment
- Related Study - written illustrated study.
- Exam Assignment: Research, practical artwork in response to a selected exam question, outcome developed in 15 hours of exam time.
Key Info
Minimum Entry Requirements
- Five GCSEs at Grade 5 including:
- Grade 5 in GCSE Art
- Grade 4 in GCSE English Language
Assessment
- 40% Exam
- 60% Coursework (40% practical portfolio, 20% related study written work)
- Exam Board: OCR
Why choose this course?
You will enjoy this course if you have independent approach to learning and want to experiment with a broad range of media. And enjoy independence of mind in developing, refining, and communicating your own ideas, intentions, and personal outcomes. In both a written and practical format.
You will be taught through a series of integrated, theoretical, and practical workshops by our experienced specialist tutors, we also have visiting specialist practitioners, study trips and art competitions are undertaken.
Skills you’ll gain
- Pace, dynamics, and diversity. An awareness of the work of other artists.
- Explore ideas through sustained and focused investigations, informed by contextual and other sources.
- Demonstrate an analytical and critical understanding of art craft /design.
- Record, reflect and review your own work, make connections with the work of other artist, designers, or crafts people.
- Develop and refine advanced skills with media techniques and processes.
- Reviewing and refining visual ideas and insights relevant to your intentions, using annotations and critical thinking.
- Develop skills in presenting.
- Develop personal, informed, and meaningful response to your creative intentions.
- Present work in a professional format
After Long Road
Students go on to study a wide range of specialist creative courses such as:
- Graphic Design,
- Animation,
- Games Design,
- Illustration,
- Interior /Architecture,
- Product Design,
- Fashion
- Fine Art,
- Textiles
You can progress from this course onto our Level 4 Foundation course or Degree.
An exciting, enjoyable and inspiring course, the advice I was given by my teachers gave me confidence and helped me become much more independent. There’s a real sense of individual creativeness emphasised throughout the course.
