Course information
Art and Design (Fine Art)
Emanuel School - Wandsworth
02088704171
Battersea Rise, London, SW11 1HS
Course summary

Art is a broad course and an excellent option to take alongside more traditional subjects. It develops your creativity, visual analysis, thinking, problem-solving, hand/ eye coordination and art historical knowledge. Britain produces some of the best architects, designers and artists in the world and almost all have studied art at school. The course will appeal to students who wish to retain a creative element to their study, those wishing to study art for further education, as well as those who will be following conventional academic degrees post-A level. You will develop your drawing, painting and three-dimensional (sculpture) skills as well as working in the darkroom (for photography) and develop more sophisticated printmaking techniques (intaglio acid etching). You will also follow a History of Art Unit. The department arranges one residential art trip over the two years, either to Margate or St Ives in Cornwall; these take place at the end of the Spring Term at the beginning of the Easter holidays. The Cornish trip focuses on drawing and painting from the landscape. While there you will work with artists and visit Tate St Ives and Barbara Hepworth’s studio. The trip culminates in an open-air printmaking workshop run by a print specialist. The Margate trip is a shorter residential trip which focuses on a visit to the Turner Contemporary Gallery, Shell Grotto, and sketching in the locality. We run regular art master-class sessions for the sixth form which include life drawing classes. Your course will begin with an introduction to a variety of skills and techniques which you will be taught by three different teachers. The skills you will learn include oil painting, watercolour, dark room techniques, printmaking and sculptural casting. You will also follow a History of Art component throughout the term which will introduce you to works from Ancient Egypt and Greece through to the modern period. During the Autumn term, you will begin Component 1, which comprises a thematic enquiry in which you will develop a range of experiments and research culminating in a final piece made during a fifteen-hour exam in May. Following the summer exam, you will be introduced to the Articulation speaking prize and begin research on a dissertation of 2000 to 3000 words or other agreed form with a minimum of 1000 words. You will also begin work on a second thematic enquiry, which also forms part of Component 1, which will culminate in a fifteen-hour mock exam in December of your second year of study. All the work for Component 1 is worth 60% of the final A Level grade.

Entry requirements

In general, a 7 at GCSE is the minimum grade you will need to achieve in a subject to be able to study it at Emanuel at A level. Additionally, if you wish to study Mathematics or Physics at A level you will need at least an 8 at GCSE, and those studying Physics at A level must also be studying A level Mathematics. In addition, we require the average grade criteria to be met. This standard indicates that a pupil will be able to study independently, and can successfully access the very much more challenging material presented by the A-level courses. To study art and design successfully at A Level it is expected that you have gained a 9, 8 or 7 grade at the Art GCSE level.

How you'll be assessed

The first unit of Component 1 will be completed in a twelve-hour exam during the summer term of Lower Sixth. The second unit of Component 1 will be completed in a fifteen-hour exam in December of your second year of study. You will receive Component 2, the Externally Set Assignment, on or near 1 February of your examination year giving you time to develop the theme in and out of your sketchbook and before the fifteen-hour examination in May. Element 2 is worth 40% of the final A Level grade.

School Info

About Education Provider

RegionLondon
Local AuthorityWandsworth
Ofsted Rating
Gender TypeCo-Educational
ISI ReportView Report
Boarding FeeUnknown
Sixth Form Fee£23,061
AddressBattersea Rise, London, SW11 1HS