Is this level of GCSE Art homework normal at secondary school?

[LolaBaby75]

My DD is doing Art GCSE for better or worse! My friend whose DD is in another school advise me not to let her choose it because of the workload. Her daughter loves drawing as a hobby and is very talented but has found it to be relentless in the workload - having to spend hours doing art homework every week. So I fully braced myself for this reality but... nothing much! There have been a total of two homeworks coming home this academic year - both of which were moodboards for artists. Is this normal? It seems all the work gets done at school or you stay after school to do it there. AQA board if it makes a difference. My DD's target grade is 5. What are your experiences.

My DD did art gcse and A level. My recollection is that things definitely ramped up as deadlines loomed - especially the sketchbook. This counts for something like 60% of their mark and there are very specific ‘tick box’ components they need to do. I think hers was about 35-40 pages, the last few the planning of her final pieces she did in the exams. Annotating the pages is also important.
I suppose it depends how on top of the timescale the teacher is. If they are trying to schedule it out so there’s no last minute panic to fill the pages then they may indeed be putting regular deadlines in place (maybe this is the case at the other school). Also some kids like to spend a lot more time doing it.
My DD got an 8 or 9 (can’t remember) and an A* at A level. Check out YouTube - loads of kids show their gcse portfolios/sketchbooks and it’s a good comparator.

Doing it all in school feels like a very sensible idea, to minimise loosing it!

That's interesting to know to compare. Thank you. I know that the coursework is 60% too so I'm surprised that theres been so little. And a little bit concerned to be honest

@LolaBaby75 is DD Y11?

yes, theres that! I wonder if the grade 9 students are doing work at home but mine isn't, hence the grade 5. But if this is the case, surprised the teachers not setting homework to help encourage them? Or is it possible to get a high grade at school only?

My DD did art GCSE (and A level and now at art collage) and I would say there's no way you can get a high grade just working at school. My DD got a 9 and kept saturday as her art day - she would literally spend a full day working on her portfolio and that was in addition to in school work & homework.

That's more like what I was expecting. Do you remember if the school set lots of homework?

My DD did art many years ago, there was alot of work, people who think its an easy subject are wrong. She had to work very hard its not just doing an odd painting. There were many sketchbooks to be honest it was a nightmare, but she went on to a uni degree in fine art and really enjoyed it.

Is she in Year 10? My daughter spent hours and hours on Art GCSE but the volume of work did ramp up in Year 11. I suspect she may have done too much though :)

We were told as a rule of thumb that if you worked consistently in lessons and attended both of the after school sessions (1.5 hours each) that you could probably get away without doing too much at home. So sounds like your school has the same approach. (DD preferred to work at home; partly because her work featured embroidery so she did in front of the tv).

Some kids are a lot faster than others. My daughter's friend is super quick doing her sketchbook and is always way ahead of others. Maybe your daughter is just very fast and efficient at school?

My daughter is in Y11 and Art has been her favourite GCSE. Nowhere near as bad work wise as people say.

Maybe this is the school's approach too? My DD showed me a beautiful drawing on Friday but it was half finished. I said why don't you finish it this weekend and they said oh no, I can't because it is coursework, I will do it at school. Unfortunately I was half concentrating as I was busy doing something else at the time so didn't follow up with her what she meant

No message just a hello from a newbie

Mine did art at GCSE and A Level, and then went on to do it at uni, and I agree that the level of work really ramps up in years 11/13 as deadlines loomed. There’s also a lot more writing than I think students realise when they take the subject, which can be just as time consuming as the creative side.

hello back!

thats interesting to know. Work done at school or home?

My sister did art GCSE and I think the workload was quite heavy. But that was nothing compared to the workload when she did a degree in illustration. It was absolutely ridiculous. She had far more work than I did and I was doing nursing!

I had 2 DC do GSCE Art.
DS always did loads at home..but he was slow. He spent hours on it. And the bloody sketch books argh...
DD was not really that pushed until the run up to the exam in year 11, I remember days of driving around so she could photograph stuff! Other than that she did it mostly at school.
DS got a 9, A star at A level and is on track for a 1st in his Fine Art degree.
DD got an 8 and didnt takw Art any futher.
Both approaches can work!
I would not worry and enjoy this time!

Are you sure your DD has understood the instructions? Art often doesn't have set homework per se, but they have to fulfil the broad requirements for the assessment. There is usually a lot of work to be done to fill the portfolio in the way expected.

Both tbh. She did a lot at home, especially during A Levels as there’s no way she could have fulfilled all the content she needed to in the 5 hours at school a week for Art

My DD is in year 9 and doing Graphics GCSE (basically art). They start GCSE's a year early at her school, her Y9 sketchbook is included in her grade.

She spends about 5 hours a week doing homework, which is typically one double page spread in her A3 book, something along the lines of an artist research page (but which includes her doing a lot of her own artwork).

She says they are given the opportunity to work on it in class but she never gets anything done because there are too many distractions and she doesn't have the right equipment. I think she just prefers to use her own paint/pens/pencils etc and doesn't take them into school because they'd get stolen/lost, and her bags are so heavy as it is (she walks 45 minutes each way.

DD is a perfectionist, so I'm sure it's quite possible to spend less time on the work or to get a lot more done at school, but I do think it's typical to have quite a bit of work to do at home each week.

Mine did it a while back, got 8 or 9. She did quite a bit at home. But until recently I worked at the school and covered lots of art. The art rooms were open at lunch and after school for work, after Christmas pe wasnt a thing so students could catch up on lots of work in all subjects. BUT sketchbooks did not go home. They could take loose work home, but there was too much if a risk of losing two years work. If you're worried contact her art teacher.

Mine are mostly finishing stuff at home that's set in class, they can't do their mock/exam pieces at home but portfolio stuff they can, it did ramp up in yr11 finishing off any bits they missed, ours start GCSEs in yr9 so may have longer than those that don't start till yr10.

I think the homework is a red herring. Mine is doing art textiles, has her exam this week and They tend to set a a topic /piece of work that spans weeks and the expectation is you spend a lot of time on it researching drafting planning and then doing it. i suppose you could have it done in an hour rather than ten if you wanted to? You are getting higher marks for detail, working at greater depth I think.

What year is your DD? Is she staying late to complete work at school?

Our’s did GCSE and is now doing A’level and there’s been a huge amount done outside of class. The amount of homework is almost the same as the other subjects combined.
Their art teacher did warn, prior to making subject choices, that in their experience if you want to get the grades you have to put the hours in to build the portfolio (it was all very passionate).