What is the Personal Investigation in AQA A-Level Art and Design?

The Personal Investigation is Component 1 of the A-level, worth 60% of the marks. It is a sustained, student-led practical project on a theme of your own choosing, supported by a written element of 1000 to 3000 words of continuous prose. It is marked against all four assessment objectives. It is the larger and more open of the two components, so the quality of your theme and how well you sustain development largely determine your overall grade.

What is the written element and how long is it?

The written element, often called the personal study, is a continuous prose piece of between 1000 and 3000 words that supports your practical investigation. It develops a line of enquiry around your theme, analyses relevant artists and contexts, and connects that analysis to your own work. It is marked within the same four assessment objectives as the practical work, not separately, so it must integrate with your making rather than stand apart as a detached essay.

How do I choose a good theme for the Personal Investigation?

Choose a theme that is personal, visual and rich enough to explore in many directions, then focus it into an open question you can answer through making. Test it against four checks: can you gather strong primary sources first-hand, are there relevant artists and contexts to study, does it allow varied media, and can it sustain months of development without running dry. Pick something you genuinely care about, because personal engagement is what carries you through a long project.

How is the Personal Investigation assessed?

It is marked by your teachers against the four assessment objectives and then externally moderated by AQA. There is no exam; the evidence is your portfolio of practical work plus the written element. Examiners look for sustained, continuous development across the objectives, so presentation matters: select and sequence your work, keep experiments and recording visible, annotate to guide the reader, and document any 3D or large outcomes carefully with good photographs.

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The Personal Investigation (Component 1) - AQA A-Level Art and Design

An overview of the Personal Investigation (Component 1) for AQA A-Level Art and Design: choosing a theme and question, writing the personal study, sustaining development over months, and presenting a portfolio that shows your whole journey.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.89 min read7201Updated 2026-06-02

Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed

Jump to a section

What the Personal Investigation is
The four challenges
Why the theme decides everything
Sustained development is the key word
Present so your journey is visible
The components, one by one
For the official specification

The Personal Investigation is Component 1 of AQA A-Level Art and Design, worth 60% of the marks. It is the part of the course that is led entirely by you: a sustained practical project on a theme you choose, supported by a written element. Because it is so open and so heavily weighted, getting it right is the biggest single lever on your grade.

What the Personal Investigation is

It has two parts, both marked against the four assessment objectives.

A practical portfolio investigating your chosen theme across AO1 to AO4.
A written element of 1000 to 3000 words of continuous prose that supports the practical work.

The four challenges

A strong Personal Investigation solves four problems, each with its own dot-point guide.

Choosing a theme and question that is personal, rich and open enough to sustain a whole project.
The written element, integrating critical analysis with your own practice.
Sustaining and developing the project over months without stalling.
Presenting a portfolio so the examiner can follow your whole journey.

Why the theme decides everything

The project rests on its starting point. A theme that is too narrow runs dry; one that is too broad becomes unmanageable. The fix is a focused, open question that connects to primary sources and relevant artists. Test your choice before you commit, because changing course late is costly.

Sustained development is the key word

AQA rewards continuous development as much as any single piece. The classic failure is the two-burst project, lots of work at the start and end with a gap between. Manage your time, work little and often, and always end a session knowing your next step.

Present so your journey is visible

Examiners can only credit what they can follow. Select and sequence your work to tell the story from theme to outcome, keep experiments and recording in (including informative dead ends), and annotate to guide the reader.

The components, one by one

Each part has its own dot-point guide with worked examples and exam-style questions:

For the official specification

AQA publishes the full Art and Design specification (7201 to 7206) and Personal Investigation guidance at aqa.org.uk. Always work from the current specification.

Sources & how we know this

AQA A-level Art and Design specification — AQA (2015)