Examinations and Assessments
Component 1 – Personal investigation: no time limit, 96 marks, 60% of A-level.
Non-exam assessment (NEA) set and marked by the centre and moderated by Edexcel during a visit to the exam centre. Visits will normally take place in June.
You will be required to conduct a practical investigation into an idea, issue, concept or theme, supported by written material. The focus of the investigation must be identified independently and lead to a finished outcome or a series of related finished outcomes.
The investigation should be a coherent, in-depth study that demonstrates your ability to construct and develop a sustained line of reasoning from an initial starting point to a final realisation.
The investigation must show clear development from initial intentions to the final outcome or outcomes. It must include evidence of your ability to research and develop ideas and relate your work in meaningful ways to relevant critical/contextual materials.
The investigation must be informed by an aspect of contemporary or past practice of artists, photographers, designers or craftspeople.
The written material must confirm understanding of creative decisions, providing evidence of all four assessment objectives by:
- Clarifying the focus of the investigation
- Demonstrating critical understanding of contextual and other sources
- Substantiating decisions leading to the development and refinement of ideas
- Recording ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions by reflecting critically on practical work
- Making meaningful connections between visual, written and other elements.
The written material must also:
- be a coherent and logically structured extended response of between 1000 and 3000 words
- include specialist vocabulary appropriate to the subject matter
- include a bibliography that identifies contextual references from sources such as books, journals, websites, studying the work of others made during a residency, or a site, museum or gallery visit
- Be legible with accurate use of spelling, punctuation and grammar so that meaning is clear.
Students can present the written material as a single passage of continuous text or as a series of shorter discrete, but linked, passages incorporated within the practical work.
There is no restriction on the scale of practical work produced. Students should carefully select, organise and present their work for their personal investigation to ensure it is well structured and provides evidence that meets the requirements of all four assessment objectives.
The personal investigation will be assessed as a whole. Evidence of meeting the requirements of all four assessment objectives must be provided in both the practical and written material.
Students must identify and acknowledge sources which are not their own.
Component 2 – Externally set assignment, response to an externally set assignment: preparatory time followed by 15 hours supervised work. 96 marks, 40% of A-level.
There is no restriction on the scale of work produced during this time. In the 15 hours, students must produce a finished outcome or a series of related finished outcomes, informed by their preparatory work. This should be presented in any suitable format, such as mounted sheets, design sheets, sketchbooks, workbooks, journals, models and maquettes. The first three hours of the supervised time must be consecutive.
You will be required to stop your preparatory work as soon as the first period of supervised time starts. You may refer to your preparatory work in the supervised time, but it must not be added to or amended. Preparatory work and the work produced during the supervised time must be kept secure in between sessions of supervised time.
Students should carefully select, organise and present their work for their personal investigation to ensure it is well structured and provides evidence that meets the requirements of all four assessment objectives.
Separate question papers will be provided for each title. Each question paper will consist of a choice of eight questions to be used as starting points; you will be required to select one. You will be provided with exam papers on 1 February, or as soon as possible after that date.
The work produced during the supervised time must be clearly identified as such. You must identify and acknowledge sources which are not your own. Annotation and/or notes should use appropriate specialist vocabulary and be legible with accurate use of language so that meaning is clear.
Preparatory work and the work produced during the 15 hours of supervised time will be assessed together, as a whole, against all four assessment objectives. You will be assessed on your ability to work independently, working within the specified time constraints, and developing a personal and meaningful response.
There is no restriction on the scale of work produced. You should carefully select, organise and present work to ensure that you provide evidence which meets the requirements of all four assessment objectives.
You will not be allowed access to the internet during the 15 hours of supervised time. You will be allowed access to web-based applications, eg Adobe Creative Cloud, however all other internet access must be disabled.
