Please talk to me about art GCSE

[WestMuncher]

DD is due to start this in September but is getting cold feet as, although she really enjoys art, she fears she’s not currently very good at it. How much does this matter? Can an averagely talented student get a top grade if they put in the work?

What happens during the lessons? I gather they have one single and one double a week. Will somebody who is nothing special at drawing be taught to ‘properly’ draw? And to paint? The art she’s done so far at school was a rotation of pottery, drawing and painting.

And the homework? I gather it’s 60% coursework. Is that literally just working on your sketchbook all the time?

Do you know which Art course she’s doing? DD is also taking Art GCSE & had a choice between Fine Art & Textiles.

Have you not had an options evening to discuss things with the teachers? They would be able to give you an idea of whether she would cope and what is involved.

Art GCSE is one of the heaviest workloads of all the GCSE’s. My DD did not take it because of this. Many of her friends took it and hated it (workload mainly), all of them advised younger Sibling's not to take it.

I’m sure there will be more knowledgeable people whose DC are taking it now, but that was our experience.

Art is one of the hardest GCSEs because there’s no shortcut: talented or average you have to create the body of work which is very time consuming. Bright students can do well at other stuff just by picking it up quickly and then remembering/revising, but with art you really have to do the work. I put more hours into my C than all my other, higher, grades. I enjoyed it but could have picked a different option for an easier better grade I think.

Good question. Sorry I should have said that it’s ’Art & Design’ officially.

We have and there wasn’t a great deal of attention paid to art. It was mostly about the core options, the requirement to take at least one humanity, deciding between 9 and 10, keeping an eye on career options, etc. There’s an accompanying booklet but that doesn’t have anything very meaningful on art either, just outlines how it’s 60% coursework and how the final exam works. There’s not really anything on relative workload, although I’ve heard a lot of rumours about that.

My dd is brilliant at art but she hasn’t chosen it for gcse based on workload. Her friends who did choose it have struggled with ensuring enough time is given to other subjects too.

My DD has just finished her art GCSE and I'm afraid to say it has sucked the joy of art out of her with the requirement to churn out a huge amount of work. She's very talented but just couldn't work fast enough to do enough as she's a perfectionist!

I did Art GCSE, about 15/16 years ago.
I loved it. Yes, there’s a lot of work, as the portfolio you create goes towards the final grade. But it was great. It involved a lot of research, using different sources, experimenting with materials, etc. The exam took place over two days (10 hours total). I would also stay behind after school some days to work on my coursework. You do have to put the effort in to get the marks, but you don’t have to be an incredible artist. I never was, but I did alright.

I found that my art teachers at GCSE gave very little guidance and none on technique or how to improve. They just were like 'draw this', 'paint that'. So I didn't get any better by doing it.

But if you put in the work and the time and if you do really enjoy it then there's no reason why you won't pass. Maybe not an A* or whatever it's called now but still decent.

This was many years ago and only two schools.

But there are so many YouTube videos and stuff to help people that as long as she accesses that as well as spend time practicing it should be a positive experience.

Oh dear, these replies are really worrying.

Same here. Plus they weren't actually taught how to draw or paint, just asked to make lots and lots of pieces for their coursework which was all very proscriptive. Nothing like when I did art GCSE. I was horrified to be honest. DD didn't enjoy it despite being an incredible artist and she's going to college to do art and hopes it's nothing like the GCSE experience.

It's very different now.

Oh that’s a shame.
I always loved art.

My sons ex rugby teammate did it last year (no idea how he fared) but he was very talented at all subjects and the sort of child that just gets on with their revision and homework (I did not have one of these ) but every time I was at training /matches with Childs father he would say about how much homework he had for Art and how time consuming it was and how he spent hours and hours upon hours on his coursework.

Aaarrgggh! She’s planning on it doing it alongside both history and geography, doing ten subjects total. So a really heavy workload all round basically.

Run.

Especially if she's doing 10.

Double humanities is a lot too. Is there a “softer” subject that she could take for balance in terms of workload?

I did "fine are" back in 2006/7 and while i think myself good at art i was terrible at GCSE art. I was given a brief for a piece of work. example - cars in 2030 . As soon as i read that i picture a silver/metallic colour car. Sketch up a rough sketch, label with brief details. Now test your initial idea using paint, do you like it, why do you like it, try it using pencil, why didnt you choose this, try it using chalk, why didnt you like this. Now try it in a different colour, why didnt you choose this. What artist style did you try, why didnt you use this person or that person. And so on. I couldnt put down why i did or didnt do something, i wanted a brief and produce what came to mind. I dont think i actually reached final exams as i refused to do the course work 😅

But they’re honest and realistic.

10 is a lot (more than the average). History and Geography are content heavy.

it’s definitely not a combination that I’d be encouraging.

One of my girls did art GCSE and then Alevel, the other photography GCSE and doing art and medica at college.
Both had to do a lot of work outside of school hours and also struggled with the lack of “freedom” to do the art they really wanted. They do need to have a passion for it and know it’s not just drawing. There’s research and each piece of art had to be linked to the theme or artist the teacher is teaching

Me too, my teacher taught us how to look and observe, it was brilliant

I think it really depends on the teaching. My eldest did Art GCSE last year, it was hard work and she had to put in the hours but the teacher was excellent and very clear about the work that had to be done and what grade they would get (they all hated her but she did a good job with them). DD1 got an 8, most of the kids in the class got 7-9. Her friends who have gone on to do A level Art are enjoying it much more. Art is not an easy option but a hardworking kid will cope with the work load.

In comparison DD2 has done music and the teacher was shit and if it wasn't for her (private) piano and singing tutors and the woman who runs the regional orchestra I don't know how she'd have done. As it is it'll probably be one of her weaker passes because the teacher completely failed to teach the content and then went on long term sick because his pet died (and the locum spent the end of last term saying 'have you learnt this? No? What about this? No. What about this? No.).

What else is she taking @WestMuncher ?

10 GCSEs is perfectly manageable for an able student - my younger two both took 10 bc those taking triple did 10 at their school. DD took music which has a good deal of work and also drama which had a lot of CW – but she loved it.

Neither took art tho. But this is what I have culled from friends of theirs. It’s not so much whether you are any good at it – but do you love it? bc you need to do an awful lot of it. So if doing art is how you relax, and you would be doing it anyway, happy days. That was a student I knew who went on to take it for A level. Yes if you are less able you will get a lower grade but that's not the end of the world.

But I knew many others who took it and just found it a burden – and by Jan of year 11 they hated it. Sorry to be blunt but this was the experience of a lot of my DCs' friends.

What else might she take instead?

My daughter took Art GCSE and it almost killed her passion for art altogether. She got an A* and her teacher really wanted her to take it at A level but she point blank refused and I don't blame her.

After a break for A levels, she's now back loving art, earning money doing commissions but we are both confident that doing Fine Art at GCSE didn't have any bearing on her ability or skillset within her choice of medium. I'm just thankful GCSE Art didn't put her off for life! 🙂