Visual ArtsQ&A by dot point

Analysing an artwork: a framework for critical analysis (form, process, content, context, meaning, judgement); moving from description to analysis; analysing how the formal elements make meaning.

Art movements and periods: how movements arise and define themselves; a working knowledge of major movements; using movements as context for analysis and for your own line of enquiry.

Gathering and using sources: primary and secondary contextual sources; first-hand experience of artworks (galleries); evaluating and selecting sources; referencing, quotation and the bibliography.

Studying named artists: analysing an artist's intentions, methods and visual language; making artist studies that respond rather than copy; using artists to inform a personal line of enquiry.

Writing the personal study: planning a clear argument; structuring continuous prose (introduction, developed analysis, conclusion); integrating illustrations and quotations; an academic critical voice connected to the practical work.

Building a line of enquiry: narrowing a broad theme into a focused, personal question; sustaining a connected thread of development from starting point to outcome; making the enquiry visible to a moderator.

Evaluating and annotating: making thinking visible through annotation; critical evaluation of your own work and progress; reflecting on decisions to drive development and evidence the objectives.

Presenting and curating: organising sketchbooks and sheets so the journey reads clearly; sequencing, layout and selection; presenting work for a moderator; the portfolio as a coherent whole.

Resolving a final outcome: planning and producing a resolved response that realises intentions; drawing the development together; the final piece as the culmination of the line of enquiry (in both components).

Sustaining experimentation and development: keeping the project developing across its whole length; purposeful experimentation that feeds the enquiry; avoiding stalling, repetition or premature resolution.

Drawing and observational recording: drawing as the core recording skill; observational, analytical and experimental drawing; drawing media; recording from primary sources to gather information and develop ideas.

Painting and colour media: the properties and handling of acrylic, watercolour, gouache, oil and mixed media; techniques (glazing, impasto, wet-in-wet, drybrush); using colour media expressively and experimentally.

Photography and lens-based media: the controls of exposure and the camera; composition and light in the photograph; editing and darkroom or digital processing; photography as a fine-art and recording medium.

Printmaking: relief, intaglio, planographic and stencil processes (lino and woodcut, drypoint and etching, monoprint, screenprint); the idea of the matrix and the edition; what each process offers expressively.

Textiles and surface processes: constructed and decorated textiles; the main processes (stitch and embroidery, applique, printing and dyeing, felting, weaving, manipulation); fabric and fibre as expressive media.

Working in three dimensions: form in real space; the main processes (modelling, carving, construction, casting, assemblage); materials (clay, plaster, card, wire, found objects); maquettes and the considerations of three-dimensional work.

AO1: develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

AO2: explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

AO3: record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

AO4: present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and demonstrates understanding of visual language.

How the marks and bands work: the four objectives equally weighted at 25 percent, the marks per component, the performance band grid, and how internal marking and external moderation produce the grade.

Component 1 the Personal Investigation: a sustained, independent practical portfolio on a self-chosen theme integrated with a personal study, worth 120 marks and 60 percent, assessed against all four objectives.

Component 2 the Externally Set Assignment: a response to an Eduqas-set paper of starting points, with a preparatory period followed by a 15-hour supervised final outcome, worth 80 marks and 40 percent, assessed against all four objectives.

The structure of Eduqas A-Level Art and Design: a linear, portfolio-assessed course with no written exam, offered as endorsed titles (Art Craft and Design, Fine Art, Graphic Communication, Textile Design, Three-Dimensional Design, Photography, Critical and Contextual Studies), assessed by two components against four objectives.

The 15-hour supervised period of the Externally Set Assignment: the rules of the period, that preparatory work cannot be altered during it, and how to plan and pace the making of the final outcome within it.

The personal study: the written element of the Personal Investigation, a piece of continuous critical prose of at least 1000 words, illustrated and referenced, integrated with the practical portfolio and assessed against all four objectives.

Colour theory and use: hue, value and saturation; the colour wheel, primary, secondary and tertiary colours; complementary, analogous and harmonious schemes; warm and cool colour; the emotional and symbolic use of colour.

Composition and visual organisation: arranging the formal elements within a frame; the rule of thirds, focal point, balance, rhythm, scale and viewpoint; how composition directs the eye and shapes meaning.

Line and mark-making: line as the most direct formal element; varieties of line (contour, gesture, hatching, implied); how the quality, weight and character of a mark carry description, energy and feeling.

Texture, pattern and surface: actual (tactile) and visual (implied) texture; how surfaces are described and built; pattern and repetition; how texture and surface add tactility, richness and meaning.

Tone and light: the tonal range from light to dark; how tone describes three-dimensional form, creates mood and atmosphere, and directs the eye; chiaroscuro and high- and low-key effects.