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Secondary education

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Original poster

GCSE Art - so much work!!

26 replies

Notcontent · 21/01/2022 18:50

My year 11 DD is doing GCSE art. She knew it would be a lot of work and she really loves art, but yes, it seems to require so much more time than other subjects. She is very able and works hard in all her subjects - but she gets very good grades in her other subjects with much fewer hours of work….

When I think of the work she has done in her sketchbooks plus all the larger end of topic works etc it’s a lot of material! I actually think the expectations are too high - not in terms of the standard but the volume expected to get a good grade.

Is this your DC experience too?

OP posts:
RedskyThisNight · 21/01/2022 19:18

My DD has not found it too bad (she's also Year 11) but her teacher has very much emphasised that they should focus on quality not quantity.
Their end of year piece is purely in class. I'd say she does about 2-3 hours a week otherwise - which I accept is more than other subjects, but I think evens out with the lack of revision. I suspect it helps that one of her specialities is textiles, so she tends to sew while watching stuff on YouTube/TV (don't ask me how she manages this ...).

I get the impression a lot of the grade is down to the way the portfolio is presented? DD has certainly been told she might go up one grade higher if she does this well. (She's predicted a 7 or 8 so is aiming for higher grades).

whenwillthemadnessend · 21/01/2022 19:22

My dd is thriving in art. She is much more a person that works better with course work than revision tho.

Trying to persuade her to do a level.

Original poster
Notcontent · 21/01/2022 19:37

@RedskyThisNight - yes, I think presentation of the portfolio/sketchbooks is very important.

OP posts:
PenOrPencil · 21/01/2022 19:55

I am a year 11 form tutor and asked my art girls if they would recommend it to my daughter and they all said no! They are all great at art but say the workload is just too much.

Lalallama · 21/01/2022 19:59

My DS, is struggling with the amount of art work he needs to produce, he tends to work quite slowly and carefully so he's happy with each piece but he just doesn't have enough. He's now decided not to take it at A level because he's finding it quite stressful.

Diditreallylookawful · 21/01/2022 20:48

We've found it to be a huge amount of work, and this year's Y11 have done much less coursework because of Covid, so they are behind previous years. But DC still wants to do it for A level.

MermaidEyes · 21/01/2022 20:54

My child is doing A Level Art and enjoying it, but yes, the amount of content needed for both GCSE and A levels is huge. However, she still much prefers it to the more academic subjects even if her hand is cramping by the end of the night!

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 21/01/2022 21:14

I’m trying to talk my dd out of A level.

I used to teach it! It’s loads of work

Dollsandguys · 21/01/2022 21:16

It’s a crazy amount of work! My DD is really struggling with it. She’s constantly trying to catch up. Amazing at art but definitely won’t be doing A level

HelloDulling · 21/01/2022 21:19

DD doing art and product design. Planning to do both for A-level too. It’s so much work, but it’s work she enjoys. She’d rather that than spending half the time, but on subjects she’s had no interest in.

Original poster
Notcontent · 21/01/2022 21:53

Oh dear, Dd is also planning to do it for A levels - I am almost dreading it as she loves it but her perfectionist traits mean that it’s rather stressful for me as well as her…

I think the problem is that while rough sketches etc can be done quickly, art is ultimately a slow process.

OP posts:
Original poster
Notcontent · 21/01/2022 21:55

@Dollsandguys

It’s a crazy amount of work! My DD is really struggling with it. She’s constantly trying to catch up. Amazing at art but definitely won’t be doing A level
Sounds like my DD! She is sitting at the dining table right now, trying to catch up.
OP posts:
onedayoranother · 21/01/2022 22:18

My daughter coped with art GCSE fine, and does it at A level and says they really haven't started work that will go towards their grade, which she finds frustrating (meaning she is doing work but it won't count).
By far History is the most intensive workload - I'd say a good 75% of her out of classroom work is spent doing history. She got an 8 in both subjects so she is not unused to work, but she laughed when her teacher said during our parent/teacher meeting that they should be spending 5 hours a week on each subject - she said after it's more like 5 hours a day! An exaggeration, but not by much, though it may be that particular teacher's expectation and standards. Art seems a doddle in comparison currently.

RedskyThisNight · 22/01/2022 11:17

she laughed when her teacher said during our parent/teacher meeting that they should be spending 5 hours a week on each subject

Even 5 hours a week sounds stupidly high considering most students will be taking 9 or 10 subjects. Please tell me that's including time in lessons as well as time at home?

MoiraNotRuby · 22/01/2022 11:22

I feel slightly bad - I'd say my DS is on the lazy side of things and he did Art GCSE and got a 7, so he must have worked hard!!! He prefers to be very independent with school work so I get next to no information about his workload.

Underbox · 22/01/2022 11:42

Agree, GCSE art is extremely time consuming so much so that it almost put my DD off pursuing her passion. She went on to do A-level art and it was definitely less time consuming which was important as she did it alongside two essay-heavy academic subjects.

The A-level course focussed more on experimentation and seemed more about 'the journey' of getting to a final piece rather than high volumes. Definitely quality over quantity and DD really enjoyed A-level much more than GCSE.

Please don't let the ridiculous GCSE workload discourage your DD from pursuing art if that's what she wants to do!

SusannaQueen · 22/01/2022 11:56

DD did two art based GCSEs, she got ahead early on one of them, so she wasn't swamped with two lots of work to finish at the last minute. She got A*and A. The only advantage was they were the subjects least affected by Corona, as they were already assessment heavy.

There are YouTube videos of the sketchbooks of students who get top grades, which are helpful, in terms of quantity and quality of work. A couple of my daughter's friends received lower grades despite being more talented and producing better work. You need to show development and quite a bit of weight is given to annotation too with some (all?) exam boards. Friends produced some beautifully executed pieces, but it wasn't enough.

LightBulbous · 22/01/2022 14:02

Not my DD’s experience. She seems to be cruising through Art (touch wood). Does some work at home but not too much time. Rest is done in class and current prediction is 7/8. Must admit I’m surprised as always heard it was a lot but so far that’s not what it’s like here.

sazzy5 · 22/01/2022 16:54

My DS now hates art, he’s been fine doing his own style. He is having to complete a horrible piece in a style that he dislikes. I feel so sorry for him as he is very academic and probably would’ve preferred to do another subject instead.

BeyondMyWits · 22/01/2022 17:02

Dd did a level art, music and English lit.

She did well at English lit , got an A*. Other 2 not so good. She had to throw music under the bus due to time constraints and got a D, Art was her favourite subject (she has exhibited locally and sold various pieces), she got a C. A level art, it turned out, was not about being good at art.

MacNTosh · 22/01/2022 17:05

Yes it’s a lot of work, my dc loved it, took it at A level, foundation and now at degree level. If your child has no intention of studying art long term then they’re better off not taking it.

HelloDulling · 22/01/2022 18:17

@LightBulbous

Not my DD’s experience. She seems to be cruising through Art (touch wood). Does some work at home but not too much time. Rest is done in class and current prediction is 7/8. Must admit I’m surprised as always heard it was a lot but so far that’s not what it’s like here.
Is she Year 10 or 11?
LightBulbous · 23/01/2022 10:53

@HelloDulling she’s Y11

frazzledasarock · 23/01/2022 11:09

My DD did it last year so all the work was mainly coursework.

I barely saw her she was using every spare minute doing art. Thank God she found it calming and enjoyable.

I hated it felt it was not realistic expectation to put on a child with about other subjects to prepare for.

Whatdramain2022 · 23/01/2022 12:11

My DD chose to take art. It's not really her thing, but I'm an artist so she was able to bring course work home and I did it. She passed and has never needed it until she did her Masters. Luckily only abstract art was needed.