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 is now doing a level. There has to be a passion in it as the home work is relentless. She doesn't see it as a chore or homework as she has the passion for art and gladly sits all day doing it. Whenever she is not doing her other two subjects she is doing some sort of art work/portfolio work/research etc. it really is not a subject to be taken lightly.

This is my experience of art gcse as well. The workload for my DD was insane. She would spend days drawing seemingly the same things. And the endless annotation FFS.

I think all art subjects are like that tbh.

Some people take design subjects as an easy win. As someone who works in a creative job this always makes me laugh because good design takes forever and its never 'finished' until you (or your client) decide it is.

I think you are expecting the teacher to set 'homework', when the reality with art is that she just needs to be doing lots of art, at home. Experiments, sketches, rough idea, all needs to be in the book. Maybe take her to a gallery to find an artist who she loves, and she can start to explore that.

Why not ask the tutor? Most of them appreciate sensible questions from parents and it’s probably better to check now (but ask DD first of course).

My daughter did GCSE Art and it was constant work and her room was just a mass of art work (she also did Graphic Design). She has dyslexia and struggled with all the writing and analysing but did get a 9. To get a top grade you definitely have to work outside of school to build your portfolio but also use other sources to critique your work or show how you took inspiration from something. If you draw an apple, for example, you need to redraw it in different mediums and then analyse it and compare styles to other artists. Every little sketch and bit of planning needs to be included and analysed in sketch books. It doesn’t matter how good you are at art, they mark on reflection and analysis. My daughter left a lot of the writing out and really had to work hard in year 11 to catch up. Little and often makes it easier to cope.

I did art o level and we had homework weekly. Art homework is more time consuming than other subjects, but I also found it more relaxing.

I would be furious with a school with such low standards/expectations that 2 pieces of homework in a year suffices in any subject. Art needs constant practice to learn to draw and paint (or sculpt).

It’s not clear from the OP if the work done in school is actually “homework” or just part of the art classes.

long time ago for me but I remember I spent an hour after school and many lunchtimes doing my gcse and a-level art work. I don’t recall I did that much outside of that but probably nearer the exams I did. I got high marks for both. The teacher should be steering them to Quality over quantity.

Of course an art teacher should be setting homework it’s part of the training.

She’s free to do work over and above if she’s passionate about it.

Not for school honestly. The teacher should be setting the work as to what they should be producing. art for exams is very formulaic as any other subject. When I did it our teacher knew exactly how to get the top marks (we all basically for As) but only produced exactly what we were told.

OP - what year is your DD in? If she's Yr11 then to be honest, there's pretty much nothing you can do about it at this stage as the course is finishing in a week or two. In fact their practical exam is probably any day now.
If she's Yr10 then there is time to address this - or Yr9 even better.

My DS is doing photography which is structured similar to art. I have close friends/family member who did art gcse and it's known as the 'time sponge'. There is literally no end point so you could - and are expected to - keep going and going. Exploring different techniques, mediums, ideas, researching artists - writing about how they've inspired you etc.
To get a good grade in art it's weirdly not always about being the 'best' artist. It's how you fulfil the learning objectives.
My DS has been putting in around 6 hours a week into his photography for the past 2 years now.

I'm assuming you've had parents' evenings? Presumably your DD's art teacher has give you feedback?

When you say she's had 'two homeworks' - I'm wondering if this means two projects she's supposed to be working on?
It is true that some schools do structure the art/photography courses so that much of it is done in support sessions at school but two small pieces of homework for a subject that's entirely coursework/practical doesn't sound right.

I'm wondering if this is why her predicted grade is a 5? There's nothing wrong with a 5 for many students and if it's not something she's going to go on with, then you may be best off leaving it as it is.

My DD has just finished her art GCSE, culminating in a 10 hr practical done over 2 days. I'd say that at least 70% of the work she's done for this GCSE has happened at home. Her art teacher hasn't set homework tasks in quite the same way as other subjects, but has given the class very clear guidelines on what is required so that they can continue the work once each lesson is over. There are lots of boxes to be ticked. Students are expected to do a LOT of work outside the lessons.

Art is DD's 'thing', so it hasn't felt like work to her, but it is a time intensive subject.

If you Google e.g. 'grade 9 art sketchbook tour', you'll get lots of descriptions and YouTube vids that should give you an idea of what's involved in getting a high grade.

Same as others have said- no formal 'tasks' as such but more- 'this is the taught bit, here is where you need to get by this date and this is what you need to do.' Hours and hours of prep at home- and so much work was done in Yr.10
Massive folder and bits of paper/photo's/textiles lugged on the bus everyday too.......
The prep for the 10 hour exam was huge.
Oh and standing on a windy beach so she could take photo's of something rusty......!

My Y11 is just about to finish - she is on for a 7-8 and has had to do loads at home. They aren’t set homework specifically but they are expected to get on with it and seek feedback from the teacher constantly on how to improve. For the kids that have only be doing it in school a 5 would be lucky but it’s mostly 4 and below from my DD’s cohort where work at home has not been happening. The best thing we did was to look on YouTube at what a marked grade 9 book looked like - it was a real shock (not the quality but the quantity needed) but the shock my DD needed to get her arse into gear last year. I love the PP’s suggestion of treating Saturday as a studio art day - DD is going to do it for A level so I am going to suggest that to her.

If her target grade is as low as 5 @LolaBaby75 then it makes sense that she would have less to do.

The idea with the GCSE is that you are given a topic/title and you then "develop" your own artistic concept over a few months based on that. You demonstrate your progress with a series of sketches and written commentary and analysis.

Done properly (i.e. with view to a high grade), it is extremely demanding and time consuming.

I wonder if your child's teacher is giving her work that will only entitle her to a maximum of a 5?

I support a lot in Art. The workload is insane with keeping up the sketchbook work. Lots of note makeing, sketches, analysis as to why they have chosen images, colours, textures, styles. Loads of research on artists and linking that to their own work with rationale. Anysis and development of their own work. Tbh, I would consider a grade 5 as doing the bare minimum. It is very very hard to get a 9 or even an 8 but by now she should have a couple of very full sketchbooks and a year 10 mock done or looming with that coursework going towards the final grade. Most schools have an open art show of year 11 and 13 work so recommend that you go to one or your friend’s child’s one and look at the quality and amount produced. Sketchbook work is really important.

We didn’t have any written work at all my day. I did the last year of O level.

It stand and fall on two 6 hour exams. One painting, one still life. For the painting you had to provide studies done previously.

DD did art for GCSE, A-level and at uni.
I don't recall her ever having weekly, discrete pieces of homework to be delivered within a few days.
What she had was a portfolio to build, she knew what content she had to deliver for each topic but it would over the course of weeks as she did research, writing, studies of other artists works and her own original pieces based on the topic.
I don't see how it is possible to achieve a 9 without putting in time sketching, preparing and researching at home.

I have a daughter in y11 doing Fine Art. She spends far more time completing coursework for Art at home than any other subject. I feel a little guilty as pushed her into taking Art as she was talented but hadn't realised the amount of time required. She attends extra after school sessions too. On average, I would estimate about 5-10 hours a week at home.
She rarely gets official homework, but knows the tasks she needs to do each week based upon 1:1 discussion with her teacher.
She says that some children in her class rarely do anything at home (even when directed by the teacher) but they're expected to get lower grades.

My son is in year 10 and my experience is similar to yours OP in that he’s not being set a vast amount of work to do at home - certainly nowhere near what I was expecting/fearing based on what I’d read on here!

He does seem to work particularly fast though and does attend a weekly lunchtime session at school. Apparently, he is way ahead of most of the class and his latest report indicated he is currently working at a grade 9.

The school traditionally get good results In Art so I’m just trusting in the process. We’ll see I guess…

Yes, that was my DD’s experience too - working on her sketchbook/etc for a big chunk of every weekend. But she was aiming for a 9 and got that.

My older DD did GCSE Art and the coursework to complete at home was as much as all her other subjects combined. She was working on things most nights and weekends. Our dining room became an art studio. It was really time consuming! Perhaps it will ramp up for her later.

GCSE art was relentless. Much more work than all the others put together.

I think it varies depending on the exam board. I have 2 daughters in year 10 both doing GCSE art but both at different schools. One daughter has done most of her art work in school but has had ALOT of written work to do at home, which tbh she is struggling to keep up with.

My other daughter has done most of her art work in school but occasionally brings it home if she falls behind but she also stays back for the additional lesson once a week after school but she has not been told to do any written work yet, so she's anxious about that as she's seen how much analysing and annotations her sister has done. They are both different exam boards.

@LolaBaby75 what year is your DD in? it might be worth chatting with the Art teacher? My DD did Art GCSE and she got a 5. I had chatted to the teacher and knew that art required hours putting in to the portfolio, building it and annotating it throughout the year at home. My DD and I watched loads of YouTube videos on top grade Art portfolios BUT my DD didn’t put the work/time in. She would do the set homework but didn’t go above and beyond.

I kept trying to encourage her to research artists and create pages for her portfolio but she didn’t. Hence the 5. Those of her friends that got much higher grades had stunning and very packed portfolios.

I suspect you have hit the nail on the head there. My DD did lots of work at home and spent hours on her portfolio - she got 9s in both 3D design and fine art. It was really stressful. Tbh I would check with the school/teacher that the work is actually being done at school and she is on target now, in case an intervention is required. Better now than last minute.