The titles and marking - AQA GCSE Art and Design
An overview of how AQA GCSE Art and Design is structured and marked: the six endorsed titles (8201 to 8206) and their disciplines, and the marking model of 96 marks per component split equally across the four assessment objectives, internally marked and externally moderated.
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AQA GCSE Art and Design has no written exam paper, so two structural facts decide your grade: which endorsed title you are entered for, and how the marking model splits the marks. This overview maps both. Get them clear and the whole qualification makes sense.
The six endorsed titles
Art and Design is offered as six titles, each with its own code. You are entered for one, and it appears on your certificate.
- Art craft and design (8201) - the broad title; must draw on at least two of the other five areas.
- Fine art (8202) - drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking and related practice.
- Graphic communication (8203) - illustration, branding, typography and design for a brief.
- Textile design (8204) - fabric, fibre, surface and constructed textiles.
- Three-dimensional design (8205) - ceramics, product, architectural and 3D practice.
- Photography (8206) - lens-based and light-based media, including moving image.
All six share the same four assessment objectives, so the title fixes the disciplines and conventions, not the marking.
The marking model
Each component is marked out of 96, and the four objectives are weighted equally.
- Each component is out of 96. Portfolio (Component 1) is 60%; Externally Set Assignment (Component 2) is 40%.
- Each objective is worth 24 marks (4 x 24 = 96). AO1, AO2 and AO3 together carry 72; AO4 carries 24.
- Each objective is placed in a band of skill, from minimal to high, judged across the whole body of work.
- Centres mark internally; AQA moderates a sample externally to confirm the standard.
Why this matters for your grade
Because three quarters of every component's marks reward developing, refining and recording, a strong final outcome alone never reaches the top grades. Balance across all four objectives, within the conventions of your title, is what lifts the total.
How to study this area
- Know your title and the disciplines it covers, so your media and conventions fit.
- Memorise the split: 96 per component, 24 per objective, 60/40 across the two components.
- Target band descriptors, not page counts; depth and consistency move you up a band.
- Balance the four objectives, because the weakest one caps you.
- Remember moderation: your teacher marks first, AQA confirms the standard.
The dot points in this area
For the official specification
AQA publishes the full Art and Design specification (8201 to 8206), the scheme of assessment and the mark scheme at aqa.org.uk. Always work from the current specification, because titles and assessment details are board-specific.