Key Stage 4

ART AND DESIGN - GCSE

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OVERVIEW
  • There are two components: Component 1 (60%) and Component 2 (40%).
  • It places an emphasis on drawing, and on understanding and applying the design process.
  • It encourages students to engage with the creative and cultural industries;
  • It offers opportunities to build on the skills and capabilities developed through the delivery of the Northern Ireland Curriculum at Key Stage 3.
  • It offers broad and flexible content, allowing students to pursue a range of creative pathways.
  • It also offers students the opportunity to develop Cross-Curricular Skills and the Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities that allow them to progress to A level and/or other courses of study or employment.
 
OVERVIEW
  • There are two components: Component 1 (60%) and Component 2 (40%).
  • It places an emphasis on drawing, and on understanding and applying the design process.
  • It encourages students to engage with the creative and cultural industries;
  • It offers opportunities to build on the skills and capabilities developed through the delivery of the Northern Ireland Curriculum at Key Stage 3.
  • It offers broad and flexible content, allowing students to pursue a range of creative pathways.
  • It also offers students the opportunity to develop Cross-Curricular Skills and the Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities that allow them to progress to A level and/or other courses of study or employment.
 
SPECIFICATION SUMMARY
Component 1: (consists of Part A and Part B)
 Part A: Exploratory Portfolio
 Controlled assessment
 Part B: Investigating the Creative and Cultural Industries
 Controlled assessment

Component 2: Externally Set Assignment

BENEFITS TO STUDENTS
Students will:
  • develop knowledge, understanding and awareness of the purpose of art, craft and design in a variety of contexts through their own work and the research of others’ work;
  • have opportunities to actively engage in the creative process of art, craft and design, developing their creative, imaginative and intuitive capabilities, critical and reflective thinking skills and technical skills; and
  • be encouraged to work independently and with a broad range of media to experiment, take risks and refine ideas and outcomes.
  • making prototypes for designs or sculptures, scaling up, drawing nets and visualising constructed forms and shapes; and
  • using digital graphic design, website design, video art, animation, social media and experimenting with relevant software to help explore and realise creative intentions.

Key Stage 5

GCE ART AND DESIGN

Students can take the AS course as a final qualification or the AS units plus the A2 units for the full GCE A level qualification.
It is designed to: continue to build on the knowledge, understanding and skills developed in GCSE Art and Design and at Key Stage 3; and provide a sound basis for progression to higher education courses in Art and Design or study related to other areas of the creative and cultural industries.
Possible careers include advertising, architecture, art, curation, craft, jewellery, fashion design, car design, film, costume design, special effects, make-up, photography, graphic design, set design, furniture design, interior design, music, animation, performing arts, publishing, software design, toys and games design, TV, radio and video games design. A wide range of STEM careers such as engineering now also require creative, artistic and design skills.
 
Employability skills the study of GCE Art and Design nurtures a range of qualities which are highly sought after by employers. These include creativity, problem-solving, resourcefulness, resilience, imagination, empathy and innovation. Higher order thinking skills such as researching, analysing and reflecting are embedded throughout this qualification.