Art scholarship 11+

[SpaceRaiders]

Does anyone have any experience of what they typically look for? And how much weight is placed on the drawing exercise on the day?

Dd spent this afternoon at her assessment. We did got an art tutor to help put the portfolio together as we’d left it rather late and our school weren’t being much help. As a result Dd had some really lovely pieces, portrait drawings, printmaking, an oil painting, still life painting she did at school, as well as some ceramics she did at a workshop before Christmas. All in all she had 10 pieces of work as well as a sketchbook. It was also beautifully presented on some black mounting boards held in a A2 artist portfolio.

What I hadn’t envisaged, was that by “portfolio” the school would accept 2/3 pieces of loose A4 line drawings.

We clearly went massively overboard. In all fairness the instructions from the school were so vague, that we let the tutor guide us in terms of what to submit and how many pieces were needed.

Dd is now really tearful that it looks like she “cheated” and someone else made the work on her behalf, not helped by the fact that she also buckled under pressure in the timed drawing exercise. In part due to nerves and also being unable to tell the time (she’s dyslexic). Any helpful words of advice?

It’s unfortunate that your art tutor didn’t have any knowledge of what the school wanted? Also, why does your daughter feel she “cheated” more importantly? I’m assuming the drawings she submitted as her portfolio were hers? It’s always going to be more under pressure in the in-person assessment…..

In my experience, the school are looking for potential, a genuine interest plus evidence of an ability to draw from life. This is easier to show at Y8 than Y6.
Well presented work in a portfolio is fine so long as the mount isn't better than the piece!
The portfolio is there to support the candidate's commitment to the subject and to showcase a range of media. Most specs talk about submitting up to a dozen pieces with photos of 3D work. I am sure your daughter's portfolio was fine and more in line most of the other candidates than '2/3 pieces of loose A4 line drawings', unless that candidate was exceptional. Did she have a opportunity to talk to the teachers about her work?
I'm sorry she found the day stressful. This is one of the reasons that I prefer schools that offer internal scholarships after a year. I hope it doesn't put her off enjoying Art.
(With my cynical hat on, sometimes a scholarship is awarded for 'other reasons' than merit, independent schools are a business after all)

@taj0112 Whilst she has experience for prepping for other schools she hadn’t done so for the one we applied for if that makes sense.

Of course all the drawings were hers. Like you say the pressure to perform on the day proved too much.

Sorry perhaps I didn’t phrase it well. I meant that she thought that the school would think she “cheated” based on the quantity/ quality of the work she produced.

@user1471446478 In my opinion, we certainly met the requirements with what she submitted.

I guess it threw us both, as I helped her mount her display alongside all the other 11+ applicants who had submitted far less in quantity/quality. Without wishing to blow DD’s trumpet, her portfolio showed a far better representation of her potential across multiple disciplines than the others did. But it does sound like her performance today wasn’t her best.

She had an interview with the head of department, however it’s hard to gauge how that went, as she’s incredibly shy in new environments. Anyways we had a long chat about the experience of showing her work and talking about it being valuable regardless of the outcome.

That's a good way of handling it. I hope the school sees her potential. Good luck.

You have paid for a tutor to help your daughter create a portfolio. That’s it. Nobody has done anything wrong. The only problem is that it sounds like the other candidates didn’t, and most likely they have no idea about what to submit.

Your daughter didn’t cheat. She showed them exactly what she can do.

At my daughters school, the overall deciding factor is the still life sketch they have to do on the day. Drawing ability is apparently the best indicator of talent. As a result, art scholarships are very hard to obtain.

Please don’t worry.

She's probably just upset because she's been building up to the day and now it's over. Like a release of pressure. I think what you said to her was great.

I can't believe for a moment the school would look at her mounted work and give more or less weight to it. Getting someone to help with it probably was a good idea as they would have helped you select pieces to show what needs to be shown.

I would have thought that bringing the portfolio was also a way of getting the children to talk about what they have done and about art and artists in general.

I imagine that the piece they did on the day carried a lot of weight because it's the same piece done by all of the children in the same time so easy to compare.

They will look at the portfolio for her style, skills, flair - and also how it is presented. (I did art at degree level so my portfolio would have been different).

They want to see passion and a wee spark.

Good presentation shows a pride in her work. It shows she cares and is someone who ‘knows when the work is finished’ (art teachers always seem to tell you to ‘do one more step’ which can be frustrating).

The piece on the day should show who did their own work and show your style. Of course some will do an amazing piece quickly and some will have barely started and have lots of sketches and ideas planned out.

Good luck you your daughter - tell her to keep practicing and experimenting!

Thanks for the kind responses. @BabyStopCryin I did Fine Art at CSM! It certainly took me back, mounting all her work and pulling it all together although I’m
not sure I’d have coped with a timed piece at Dd’s age!

Anyway, its done now. What will be will be.

Oh well, she has her mammys genes!

I’m sure she will have done well - it’s so hard to tell in the arts sometimes!

After having read loads on here about Art scholarships - lots of helpful advice - i wanted to share what we did for the boy and it worked - hopefully this will help someone else and not to be worried.

The portfolio was divided into four sections to showcase range and flair:
1 = Still life - pencil and ink only,
2 = Colour work (paintings/ pastels/ expression work/ abstract, etc.),
3 = 3d work - glass making, furniture, wood work, etc.

4 = Print work and lino prints.

Each section had about 4-5 good pieces in it. The idea was to showcase the range, style, flair and personality of his approach. We purchased an A3 folder and also 10 A3 slip cases (these had black backing card in them - from Amazon cheap). We loose bound the slip cases together so they formed a very large book that was inside the overall black folder. We placed work both sides of the slip case and labelled them accordingly. This also helped with our boy in the assessment/ interview part as he discussed the pieces as talking is not his strong point; the labels giving him a cue.

We also included a bulging sketchbook - this was also filled with literally every scrap of drawing he had, stuck them in, added to them, etc. ideas, progression of a study, doodles, etc.

Finally we also created a PowerPoint 8 slides long. Title slide, summary intro slide, a slide for each section - showing the same work as in the slip cases, end slide. This PowerPoint was sent before the assessment directly to the art teachers at the schools. Some schools wanted one , some didn't express either way. Not one complained about our approach.

Outside this portfolio work we also created home based still life studies to prep for the assessment from October time to just after xmas. Each week he sat for 20mins then 30mins then 40 mins, doing a simple pencil study of a cloth, wine bottle and one other object together. This helped him learn how to construct and approach, shade, tone, etc. and hone/practice his natural ability. These were added to sketchbook.

We applied to 3 independent schools and he received offers of an art scholarship at two of them. :)

Hope this helps someone else. Prep and practice is the key we found.

We have been down a similar road with 13+ art scholarship.

The teacher at our school is super 'on it' and mounted the work beautifully. DS1 had a great portfolio and was very proud of his effort. 12 A1 mounted sheets.

The teacher said the drawing is to check that the portfolio is the child's work but I am sure they allow for some wobbles on the day.

The art assessment day itself was a let down after all the build up. There was a large number of internal candidates and rather than the A1 mounted portfolios they had A3 sketchbooks, there was no interview and the drawing exercise finished 30 mins early.. So all a bit of an anticlimax.

DS didn't get the scholarship though he had a fab portfolio and the drawing went well on the day. As others have said its not always obvious who gets the scholarships..