WJEC GCSE Art and Design assessment framework: the units, the four objectives and how it is marked

What this covers

WJEC GCSE Art and Design for Wales is a wholly practical qualification with no written exam, and everything you make is judged against four assessment objectives. This overview ties the assessment-framework pages together: the two units, the four objectives and their wording, how they map onto the creative process, and how the work is marked and graded. It applies whatever endorsed title you study.

The two units

The qualification has two units, both practical. Unit 1, the Portfolio, is worth 60 percent: a selection of practical work built up during the course on starting points set by your centre, showing the journey from a theme through development to one or more finished outcomes. Unit 2, the Externally Set Assignment, is worth 40 percent and is 80 marks: a response to a WJEC-set theme, in two parts, preparatory work and a final outcome made in 10 hours of sustained focus under supervision. Unit 1 must be completed before Unit 2 begins. Both units are internally set or marked by the centre and externally moderated by WJEC.

The four assessment objectives

Everything you make is marked against four equally weighted objectives, each 25 percent of the GCSE, applied to both units. WJEC gives each a heading:

• AO1 Critical understanding. Develop ideas through investigations, demonstrating critical understanding of sources.
• AO2 Creative making. Refine work by exploring ideas, selecting and experimenting with appropriate media, materials, techniques and processes.
• AO3 Reflective recording. Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions as work progresses.
• AO4 Personal presentation. Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and demonstrates understanding of visual language.

How the objectives map onto the creative process

The four objectives are not four separate tasks; they describe a cyclical creative process: record (AO3), develop (AO1), refine (AO2) and realise (AO4). They overlap and loop: recording feeds development, development raises new questions for recording, refinement drives towards the outcome, and the outcome reflects all three. The key to AO1 is critical understanding (weighing and responding to sources, not collecting them); the key to AO2 is refinement (purposeful experiment that is reviewed, selected and improved, not repetition); the key to AO3 is first-hand, continuous, reflective recording; and the key to AO4 is an outcome that realises intentions and uses visual language to carry meaning.

How the marks and grades work

Work is marked holistically against mark bands for each objective by the centre, then externally moderated by WJEC, and the marks for the two units are totalled. The total places the candidate on the GCSE 9 to 1 grade scale, where 9 is the highest. There is no written exam contributing to the grade. Because the judgement is holistic and against all four objectives, the whole body of work matters more than one impressive final piece.

Check your knowledge

A mix of recall questions covering the framework. Attempt them, then check the solutions.

1. What are the two units, and how are they weighted? (2 marks)
2. How many assessment objectives are there, and how are they weighted? (2 marks)
3. State the wording of AO1 and AO4. (2 marks)
4. How do the objectives map onto the creative process? (2 marks)
5. What does it mean that the work is marked "holistically"? (2 marks)
6. Is there a written exam, and what is the only timed element? (2 marks)
7. How is the qualification graded? (1 mark)
8. Why must all four objectives be evidenced in each unit? (2 marks)