Thinking of taking GCSE Art & Design or Photography? Here’s what you need to know.

If you enjoy being creative, want to increase your practical skills and improve your analytical, communication and research abilities, art and design or photography are great choices. The skills you gain make them a great complement to other subjects. Art and photography are a way of seeing things and making sense of the world around you. They can help you with further study and prepare you for the world of work.

What skills will you learn? Alongside improving your practical expertise, you’ll learn how to: develop, refine and record your ideas; present a personal response that realises your intentions; improve your creative skills through the effective and safe use of media, materials, techniques, processes and technologies; successfully use visual language and the formal elements eg colour, line, form, shape, tone, texture; use drawing skills for different needs and purposes.

Students mainly produce artwork in paint and with drawing and 3D materials in GCSE Art & Design. In GCSE Photography students are taught how to use the high quality digital cameras, portrait and still life studios, as well as post processing apps to edit their photos.

In both subjects, students produce a portfolio of work which must include: research and investigation of topics, ideas and genres; experimentation in a range of media and materials; refinement, drawings and annotations; and final outcomes presented in the students’ own choice of style!

How will it fit in with your other subjects? Studying art and design helps to create a broad and balanced curriculum, which is an excellent foundation for whatever you want to do afterwards. The transferable skills you’ll gain, such as creativity, analysis and problem solving, complement a range of other subjects and careers.

The Visual Arts subjects open the door to lots of exciting careers. Try these for starters: • Fashion design • Graphic design • Theatre designer • Animator • Video game designer • Illustrator • Museum curator • Photographer • Architecture • Product design • Textiles design • Ceramics • Advertising • Publishing • Interior design • Fashion and media journalism • Hair and make-up design • Retail design • Exhibition design • Jewellery design • Artist • Visual media.

If you have any questions Year 9s, please see your art teacher. We hope to see you in our Year 10 classes in September!