GCSE Art & Design specification
GCSE Art and Design develops creative making, critical and contextual understanding, and the ability to record, develop and realise visual ideas across a chosen discipline. It is offered as a suite of distinct endorsed titles (Fine Art, Photography, Textile Design, etc.) plus a broad 'Art, Craft and Design' route, and builds the practical, analytical and evaluative skills that lead to A-level Art and creative careers.
Portfolio-based with no written examination. Across all boards the qualification is split into two internally assessed, externally moderated components: a Personal Portfolio / sustained coursework worth 60% and an Externally Set Assignment (ESA) worth 40%. The ESA includes a preparatory period followed by a fixed period of sustained supervised study to produce a final outcome - typically 10 hours for AQA/Edexcel/Eduqas (15 hours for OCR's supervised time). Both components are marked against the same four assessment objectives (AO1 develop, AO2 refine/experiment, AO3 record, AO4 present a personal response), each carrying equal weight.
High-level topics
The main areas of content and what a student is expected to know and do.
Recording experiences, observations, insights and ideas relevant to intentions, using drawing and other appropriate visual and written forms as work progresses.
Developing ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding of artists, designers, movements and cultures.
Refining work by exploring ideas, selecting and experimenting with appropriate media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and revising as the work develops.
Presenting a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.
Understanding and applying the formal elements - line, tone, colour, shape, form, space, texture, pattern - and using visual language to communicate ideas in two and/or three dimensions.
Endorsed title focusing on practices such as drawing, painting, mixed-media, sculpture, lens-/light-based media, printmaking and installation to communicate personal ideas and meanings.
Endorsed title covering areas such as illustration, advertising, packaging, branding, typography, communication and information graphics, and design for print and digital media.
Endorsed title exploring fashion and costume, printed/dyed fabrics, constructed/stitched/woven textiles, art textiles and installed textiles.
Endorsed title covering areas such as ceramics, sculpture, exhibition/interior/product/environmental design, architecture, jewellery and body adornment.
Endorsed title covering lens- and light-based media including portraiture, location, studio, documentary, photo-journalism, moving image, film/video/animation and experimental imagery.
Broad endorsement requiring work drawn from areas of study associated with two or more of the specialist titles, giving the widest disciplinary scope.
Investigation of the work of artists, craftspeople, designers and the historical, social and cultural context of art and design; offered as a distinct endorsed title by OCR and Eduqas/WJEC.
Exam boards
The awarding bodies that offer this qualification, how their papers are structured, and what's distinctive about each - with links to the official specification.
AQA GCSE Art and Design
Papers & assessment
No written exam. Component 1 Portfolio (96 marks, 60%) plus Component 2 Externally Set Assignment (96 marks, 40%) with a preparatory period and 10 hours of sustained supervised work. Six endorsed titles: Art, craft and design (8201), Fine art (8202), Graphic communication (8203), Textile design (8204), Three-dimensional design (8205), Photography (8206).
What's distinctive
Six endorsements; does not offer a stand-alone Critical and Contextual Studies title (it is offered by OCR and Eduqas/WJEC). Portfolio must include a sustained project plus a selection of further work.
Specification
Past papers & mark schemes
Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9–1) Art and Design
Papers & assessment
No written exam. Component 1 Personal Portfolio (72 marks, 60%; 18 marks per AO) and Component 2 Externally Set Assignment (72 marks, 40%) with a preparatory period and 10 hours of sustained focused study. Six titles: Art, Craft and Design (1AD0), Fine Art (1FA0), Graphic Communication (1GC0), Textile Design (1TE0), Three-Dimensional Design (1TD0), Photography (1PY0).
What's distinctive
Art, Craft and Design (1AD0) candidates must draw on areas of study from at least two of the five specialist titles. Marks are explicitly distributed as 18 per assessment objective within each component.
Specification
Past papers & mark schemes
OCR GCSE (9–1) Art and Design
Papers & assessment
No written exam. Component 1 Portfolio (60%) and Component 2 Externally Set Task (40%) with a preparatory period and 15 hours of supervised time. Seven titles: Art, Craft and Design (J170), Fine Art (J171), Graphic Communication (J172), Photography (J173), Textile Design (J174), Three-Dimensional Design (J175), Critical and Contextual Studies (J176).
What's distinctive
Offers a distinct Critical and Contextual Studies title (J176). OCR's externally set task allows 15 hours of supervised production (longer than AQA/Edexcel's 10).
Past papers & mark schemes
WJEC Eduqas GCSE Art and Design
Papers & assessment
No written exam. Component 1 Portfolio (60%, internally assessed/externally moderated) and Component 2 Externally Set Assignment (40%) with a preparatory period and 10 hours of sustained focused study. Choice of seven titles, including a distinct Critical and Contextual Studies title.
What's distinctive
Like OCR, includes a distinct Critical and Contextual Studies title among seven options. WJEC is the Wales-approved version of the same specification; Eduqas is the England-facing brand.
Specification
Past papers & mark schemes
All boards share the same Ofqual-mandated shape: no written exam, 60% Personal Portfolio + 40% Externally Set Assignment, marked against the same four assessment objectives, untiered. The main differences are the endorsed titles and the supervised time for the externally set assignment. AQA and Edexcel each offer six titles and do not have a stand-alone Critical and Contextual Studies route; OCR and Eduqas/WJEC offer seven titles including a distinct Critical and Contextual Studies title. The externally set assignment gives 10 hours of supervised production at AQA, Edexcel and Eduqas, but 15 hours at OCR. Edexcel is explicit that 'Art, Craft and Design' candidates must use at least two specialist titles and that marks are 18 per AO per component, while AQA frames its portfolio around a sustained project plus further work. WJEC is the Qualifications-Wales-approved equivalent of the Eduqas specification.
Original sources
Straight from the awarding bodies - the specifications these summaries are drawn from.
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