1. GCSE Art and Design For first teaching in 2016
Summer/Autumn 2015
• Hello and welcome to this launch event for GCSE Art and Design for first teaching in 2016 and first award in 2018
• Introductions: name, role and brief background
• Housekeeping: Attendance register (ensure signed in)
Fire drill
Toilets
Breaks
Mobile phones
• Recording: explain that all F2F information meetings are now recorded as an AQA policy (delegates attending the various meetings receive the same information).
• Visuals: no visuals or live work in this round of meetings – for information only. Future ‘Preparing to Teach’ meetings will involve training focusing on live sets of work.
• Gauge background information of delegates: currently teaching AQA GCSE/A level courses; new schools; schools undecided etc.
• Purpose of today: General overview
Ensure that you feel informed about the AQA offer
Ensure that you will feel confident about initial planning and preparation for first teaching in 2016
Enable you to subsequently cascade information to colleagues
• In order for meeting to run smoothly, breaks for questions have been included (please make notes on PowerPoint handout re: issues to be addressed at ‘Question Time’). FAQ document also available.
• We will have a tea/coffee break at a convenient time.
Slide 1
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2. Context
Intended to provide creative teaching and learning opportunities and provide effective assessments across the ability range
Developed by an experienced team of senior examiners with support from a stakeholder reference group (SRG) made up of teachers and HE representatives
Designed to provide progression routes to AS/A – level and vocational pathways
Submitted to Ofqual for accreditation
Assuming approval, the new GCSE specification is for teaching from September 2016, with first award 2018
Explain the ethos underpinning process of spec development:
Desire to continue an already successful specification and develop a new one of the highest quality
Designed to provide ownership and open-endedness for teachers to work to their strengths whilst providing engaging opportunities for students from all backgrounds and all ability levels
Intended to future proof the specification and respond to developments in creative practice
Explain SRG – teachers from high entry multi-title schools invited to work with development team to review, critique and discuss draft specification proposals and also contribute to subsequent amendments.
Slide 2
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3. Underlying principles
Changes to further develop opportunities for teaching and learning and to address stipulated regulatory requirements
Maintenance of teacher and student choice and creative opportunities
Suitability for students across the ability range
Building on KS3 experiences
Providing progression opportunities
Accessible and ongoing support
Clear assessment criteria which are common to both components
• Explain that some of the changes have come about in order to meet Ofqual regulatory requirements – but we have also taken the opportunity to enhance the opportunities available in the current specification and improve our offer.
• The ‘Summary of changes’ document explains what has changed and why decisions were made:
 Mandatory inclusion of drawing and written annotation: Ofqual regulation
 Removal of Area Moderation: Ofqual regulation (teachers cannot see marks awarded to students prior to award day – level playing field for all)
 Removal of Short Course: AQA decision
 Removal of Applied courses: DfE requirement (based on a decision to provide a clear distinction between academic and vocational qualifications)
Slide 3
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4. Specification at a glance
Component 1
Portfolio
60%
96 marks
No time limit
How it’s assessed
Non-exam assessment (NEA) set and marked by the school/college and moderated by AQA during a visit.
Moderation will normally take place in June.
Expand on bullet points:
 Component: new terminology for Unit of work
 96 marks instead of 80 total. Extra mark band to address the need for ‘greater rigour’ (Ofqual) and to help to further differentiate the performances of higher attaining students. Higher mark band now added with extra expectation of level of performance over and above the current specification’s top level for attainment now characterised as ‘Exceptional performance’.
 There will be exemplification in the ‘Preparing to Teach’ meetings that will show levels of marking up to 96.
 There will be a new grading structure using the 1 to 9 system rather than the current G to A* system.
 Exemplification of new grading structure and assessment strategies will be explained further at the ‘Preparing to Teach’ meetings starting in the Spring Term 2016.
 NEA (Non-examined assessment) is a change in terminology not a change in practice: all work will continue to be internally marked in schools and externally assessed by moderators, as is the current practice.
Slide 4
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6. Specification at a glance
Component 2
Externally set assignment
40%
96 marks
An ESA paper with seven starting points.
Students respond to one starting point
A preparatory period followed by 10 hours of supervised time
How it’s assessed
Non-exam assessment (NEA) set by AQA and marked by the school/college.
Moderated by AQA during a visit.
Moderation will normally take place in June.
Expand on bullet point 2:
As above, the only change is in terminology – Externally set assignment instead of the current Externally set task. (Brings into line with A-level terminology as well).
Slide 5
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7. Component 1 Portfolio
The content of the portfolio will be determined by the particular requirements and nature of the course of study undertaken. There is no restriction on the scale of work, media or materials used.
Each student must select and present a portfolio representative of their course of study. The portfolio must include both:
1. A sustained project developed in response to a subject, theme, task or brief evidencing the journey from initial engagement with an idea(s) to the realisation of intentions.
2. A selection of further work resulting from activities such as trials and experiments; skills- based workshops; mini and/or foundation projects; responses to gallery, museum or site visits; work placements; independent study and evidence of the student’s specific role in any group work undertaken.
• Component 1 Portfolio. The portfolio has been retained so little is changed here:
 Flexible and open, the portfolio offers teachers the opportunity to deliver a wide range of courses for students. (Refer to SOWs that will be available for each title).
 Course structure is at the discretion of teachers in which students are encouraged to move from a position of dependence to one of independence in readiness for the ESA.
 Two parts to the portfolio – the sustained project (showing the journey of development through a project) plus a further selection of work representative of other aspects of the student’s course of study.
Slide 6
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8. Component 1 Portfolio contd.
Students should carefully select, organise and present their portfolio and must ensure that it provides evidence of meeting all four assessment objectives.
They must identify and acknowledge sources which are not their own.
Component 1 submissions must evidence drawing activity and written annotation.
Work selected for the portfolio should be presented in an appropriate format and could include: mounted studies, sketchbooks, visual diaries, journals, design sheets, design proposals, models, maquettes, prototypes, storyboards, video, photographic or digital presentations, records of transient and site-specific installations.
Component 1 Portfolio contd.
 As in current specification, students will select and present a portfolio of their work that in total evidences coverage of all 4 AOs. Emphasis again on quality of evidence rather than quantity (refer to wording in draft spec).
 We will cover drawing activity and written annotation in a later slide
 As in the current spec we welcome diversity and have no prescribed formula for presentation – this will be at the discretion of teachers and students.
Slide 7
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9. Component 2 Externally Set Assignment
AQA will provide a separate externally set assignment for each title, each with seven different starting points. Students must select and respond to one starting point from their chosen title.
Externally set assignments will be available to students and teachers from 2 January. They must be given to students in their entirety and must not be edited, changed or abridged in any way.
Students and teachers can have access to the externally set assignments on 2 January but not before. It is at the discretion of schools to plan when their students start their preparatory work after 2 January.
Following receipt of the externally set assignment paper, students should select one starting point from which to develop their own work.
Component 2 submissions must evidence drawing activity and written annotation and address all four assessment objectives.
Component 2 Externally set assignment.
 As in the current specification, we will provide a separate ESA for each title and students will choose one starting point.
 An important change (Ofqual): Papers will be available to both teachers and students from 2nd January. There will be NO pre-release material, but it will be at the discretion of teachers when they wish students to begin Component 2. (Explain further as necessary about not changing the papers in any way and the opportunity to still provide stimulus resources for students if teachers choose to delay the start of the preparatory period).
 Again, we will cover the mandatory requirement for drawing activity and written annotation later.
Slide 8
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10. Component 2 Externally Set Assignment contd
Preparatory period – from 2 January:
 Students may discuss their starting point with the teacher.
An unlimited period of preparatory time is followed by 10 hours of supervised time during which students will develop their own unaided work. There is no restriction on the scale of work, media or materials used.
Preparatory work may be presented in any suitable two- and/or three-dimensional format such as mounted sheets, sketchbooks, journals, design proposals, models and maquettes, digital or non-digital presentations.
Students must stop work on their preparatory studies as soon as the first period of supervised time starts.
They may refer to their preparatory work during the supervised time but may not add to it or amend it.
Component 2 Externally set assignment contd. Preparatory period:
 As in the current spec students can still discuss their starting points with the teacher
 Preparatory time is at the discretion of the school and is unlimited.
 The major change is that all preparatory work must be handed in when the 10-hours of supervised time commences. Students will have access to it to refer to during the 10-hour sessions but it must be handed in again at the end of each session and locked away with the timed work, to be returned again to the student at the start of the next session. No additions or amendments can be made to the preparatory work outside the 10-hour supervised time – either during or afterwards.
 As in the current spec preparatory work can be presented in any suitable format as detailed on the slide. AQA does not prescribe a preferred or prohibited approach.
 Further guidance will be available during the Preparing to Teach sessions
Slide 9
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11. Component 2 Externally Set Assignment contd.
Supervised time – 10 hours:
Following the preparatory period, students must undertake 10 hours of unaided focused study, under supervision.
The first two hours of supervised time must be consecutive.
Schools and colleges may timetable supervised sessions for the remaining eight hour at their own discretion.
Preparatory work and work produced during the supervised time must be kept under secure conditions between and following the supervised sessions.
Work produced during the supervised time must be clearly identified as such.
All work submitted for this component will be marked as a whole.
Component 2 Externally set assignment. Supervised time – 10 hours:
 As in the current spec the 10-hour sessions can be arranged at the discretion of the school as long as the first period is a 2-hour session.
 Students must work unaided under supervised conditions in accordance with the guidelines set out in the JCQ document: Instructions for the conduct of examinations.
 At the end of each session work must be kept under secure conditions.
 All work produced during the 10-hour period must be identified clearly.
 All work produced for Component 2 (both during the unlimited preparatory period and the 10-hours of supervised time) will be marked as a whole and must evidence all 4 AOs.
Slide 10
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12. Component 2 Externally Set Assignment General Points
The starting points are intended to provide students with opportunities to respond in a personal and meaningful manner.
Work submitted for assessment in Component 2 can be presented in any suitable form.
Work produced during the 10 hours of supervised time must be clearly distinguishable from that produced in the preparatory period.
The submission will be assessed holistically and all four assessment objectives must be evidenced.
Component 2 Externally set assignment – summary.
• Expand on opportunities for students to work independently (having been encouraged to move towards this during Component 1).
• Explain that further exemplification will be available during the ‘Preparing to Teach’ meetings with examples of ‘live’ work.
• Explain that this is a draft specification and further details will be addressed at the next sessions regarding building upon work produced during the preparatory period.
This is to take into account the holistic nature of the AOs (no AO for outcome alone) and consider when further clarification of the relationship and transition between preparatory and unaided supervised work might be required.
Slide 11
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13. Drawing Activity
Students must provide evidence of drawing activity in both their portfolio submission and externally set assignment.
This activity can take different forms depending on intention.
It can feature as an element within the developmental process and/or explicitly in the realisation of intentions. Drawing activity could be demonstrated in students’ evidence for AO1, AO2 and AO4, but must feature in their evidence for AO3.
The particular value and significance of drawing activity should be determined by the ways in which it addresses purpose and need rather than the extent to which it demonstrates technical mastery, unless this is the explicit intention.
Expand on each bullet point and explain that resources will be made available and this element of the course will be exemplified in the ‘Preparing to Teach’ programme of events.
Evidence of drawing activity must be present in both component submissions, but exactly what this evidence will look like will be determined by various factors such as the demands of the title students are working within, specific art-based, craft-based or design-based considerations, purpose underpinning the activity and needs determined by context and its place within the student’s creative journey.
Drawing activity is broadly defined and should not be restricted by notions of demonstrating purely technical and/or skills-based mastery. It is not intended that evidence will be a rendered drawing or series of such studies, unless this is the explicit intention.
Drawing MUST feature in AO3 and will therefore involve the recording of relevant ideas, observations and insights but could equally contribute to the evidencing of requirements in each of the other AOs.
Slide 12
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14. Written Annotation
Written annotation must be explicitly evidenced in both Component 1 and Component 2.
Teachers should encourage students to understand where and how annotations can feature as an integral rather than ‘bolt-on’ aspect of the creative process.
When addressing the requirements of AO3, students must use written annotation to record their ideas, observations and insights using appropriate specialist vocabulary, as work progresses.
Written annotation can also contribute to evidence for AO1, AO2 and AO4.
Annotations can be presented in hand written and/or digital form as appropriate.
Expand on each bullet point and explain that resources will be made available including a glossary of terms, command words and subject-specific vocabulary as well as exemplification of evidence in the ‘Preparing to Teach’ sessions.
 Written annotation must feature in the evidence for both components.
 Written annotation can take many forms and should be integral rather than a bolt-on activity that bears no relevance to the work.
 Written annotation should support and complement rather than replace visual evidence. Essentially it should be adding something that cannot be explicitly gleaned from the visual materials alone.
 The presentation of annotation in either hand written or digital form must be appropriate to the individual student’s creative journey.
 Written annotation MUST feature in AO3 and will therefore involve the recording of relevant ideas, observations and insights but could equally contribute to the evidencing of requirements in each of the other AOs.
Slide 13
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15. Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
The Titles
Art, craft and design
Fine art
Graphic communication
Textile design
Three-dimensional design
Photography
The titles: Expand on changes to title names – more details over the next slides (e.g. A, C &D and Photography amendments).
Slide 14
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16. Assessment objectives
AO1
Develop ideas through investigations, demonstrating critical understanding of sources
AO2
Refine work by exploring ideas, selecting and experimenting with appropriate media, materials, techniques and processes
AO3
Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions as work progresses
AO4
Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and demonstrates understanding of visual language
Changes to the Assessment objectives: the changes to the Assessment objectives are noted in the ‘Summary of Changes’ document.
The word ‘ideas’ features in AOs 1, 2 and 3 (as in the current specification). The requirement to interactively develop, refine and record ideas is of central importance. It cements the principles of the creative journey and when linked to the notion of a personal and meaningful response emphasises a student-centred approach to the exploration, development and realisation of intentions.
The inclusion of ‘critical understanding of sources’ in AO1 will ensure that students continue to be able to engage with and make connections with both named and self-determined sources and as such develop their visual literacy skills. It is worth emphasising that written as well as visual evidence of critical engagement is possible here.
The term ‘visual language’ in AO4 encompasses the requirement for students to evidence an understanding of how to communicate their ideas visually. This includes both the way in which they use established visual/formal elements of art and design such as colour, line, form, tone and texture. It involves the application and understanding of visual concepts such as realism, stylisation, simplification, exaggeration and abstraction. It also includes students’ understanding and use media, processes and formats.
Slide 15
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17. Marking criteria AO1 24 AO2 AO3 AO4
This slide is self-evident and shows that each AO is equally weighted.
Each carries a top mark of 24 which when added together will give a mark out of 96.
Each component is marked separately out of a total of 96.
Marks for both components must be submitted to AQA by the appropriate date.
Slide 16
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18. Resources Teacher’s guide including guidance on:
interpreting the assessment objectives
art-based, craft-based and design-based practice
constructing a portfolio
presenting evidence
purposeful engagement with sources
managing non-examined assessment (NEA)
FAQs
Here are some of the resources that we are providing to support you in the construction, delivery and assessment of your courses under the new specification:
The Teacher’s guide will offer a wide range of help and assistance
The FAQ document will be updated regularly as questions are raised and answered
Slide 17
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19. Resources contd.
Schemes of work: approaches to the delivery of Components 1 and 2 for each title to help you plan your course(s) with confidence.
Good practice guides: that will help you to inspire and challenge students to think creatively.
Exemplification materials: that showcase sets of marked students' work supported by examiner commentaries and guidance.
Training courses: to help you deliver AQA Art and Design qualifications.
Subject expertise: courses for all teachers, from newly-qualified teachers who are just getting started to experienced teachers looking for fresh inspiration.
Guide to written annotation
Guide to drawing for different purposes and needs
Glossary of terms for students: to help them meet the written annotation requirement
Expand on the list of resources (time permitting)
Slide 18
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20. Support
Teacher standardisation: to help you mark your students' work we offer over 100 free teacher standardisation half-day meetings nationally, using exhibitions of live work, covering all titles and a range of marks at each level.
Twilight sessions: after school meetings that showcase the exhibition of live students work, with additional curriculum development sets. These free of charge meetings are an opportunity to inform and inspire good teaching practice.
Art and design advisory service: each school or college is allocated a Subject adviser. You can contact them for one-to-one advice on any aspect of the subject, assessment and/or support with planning and delivery of course content.
Subject community: provides access to free resources and services offered by museums, galleries as well as from universities and art colleges
Support meetings: to help you with course delivery; offering practical teaching strategies and approaches that really work.
Expand on the support available (time permitting)
Slide 19
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21. FREE Introductory events online
Timeline 1
May 2015
Draft Specification and specimen ESA papers
December 2015
FREE Introductory events online
and face to face
Accredited Specification published
Expand as necessary on Timeline 1.
Teacher and learner resources published
June 2015
July 2015
August 2015
September 2015
October/ November 2015
Slide 20
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22. Teacher support courses available
Timeline 2
Teacher Standardisation current specification
FREE Preparing to Teach events
Teacher support courses available
First teaching of GCSE in Art and Design
Additional teacher and learner resources published
Teacher Standardisation new specification
Spring 2016
Expand as necessary on Timeline 2.
Summer 2016
Autumn 2016
Spring 2017
Slide 21
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23. Contact points for more information and guidance
Customer Support Manager
Teacher Support and CPD Managers
AQA Website
No commentary needed: ensure teachers know who the contact points refer to and importance of website for updates
Slide 22
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24. General questions Opportunity for delegates to pose questions.
Slide 23
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25. Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Thank you
We are an independent education charity
and the largest provider of academic qualifications for all abilities taught in schools and colleges.
Our aim is to enable students to realise their potential
and provide teachers with the support and resources they need
so that they can focus on inspiring learning.
Thank you slide: end on a positive note with thanks for attendance. Refer to Section 1 in the specification to give teachers the confidence to know that we have worked hard to produce an excellent new specification and we hope the delegates will choose to work with us.
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Slide 24
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