Depth interview respondents consistently outlined the importance of appropriately aligning the weighting given to each of the A-level in Art & Design’s component AS and A2 units. There was particular concern with regards to awarding bodies, where each of the units was weighted equally, but where there were time constraints as to how staff delivered these units, as the respondent below suggests (specifically, in relation to the AQA specification):
“We offer the A-level and the foundation diploma in art & design, and the same staff are involved in both, and they are delivered in the same space, we share our provision. With AQA there is a 50/50 split between all the four units at AS and A2 level ... Because of this we found that we had about eighteen weeks to deliver units one and three, but then only eight weeks to deliver units two and four. There was this anomaly in terms of the difference in time that we had to spend on each unit, and yet they were equally weighted.”
College teacher (Head of Department)
The relative weighting of the units has caused concern across research respondents, particularly with respect to how the units are assessed:
“There are big issues with the timings and weightings of the AS and the A2 components. The fact that we do this big 60% weighted coursework portfolio [units one and three] means there’s no time to actually spend just experimenting, having fun, with no pressure that everything you have do is perfect. Then, when it comes to the examination, you have five hours [...] You spend ten hours at GCSE, and you’re training students up and getting them to work to that, and then they have to produce something for five hours at AS and then fifteen at A2. It’s the wrong way round [...] it should be five hours at GCSE, building up to ten because you’re trying to bring in quality, control, imagination, creativity.”
School teacher
In general, respondents were frustrated with the AS component of the A-level in Art & Design, perceiving that it stifles creativity and puts undue pressure on students to conform to rigid and structured practice:
“The frustration is the AS in general. We lose students the whole month of January for modules they undertake. If less emphasis was on the coursework portfolio, it would be much better, but I’d quite happily lose the whole of the AS examinations at the end of the year as I don’t think they’re really necessary. Students are quite immature in terms of what they actually do, compared to what you see toward the end of the course in year thirteen.”
School teacher
Similar views were expressed by respondents to the online survey: “Dropping the AS/A2 separation is vital, reverting back to the 2 year course with one exam at the end so that students can spend more time building up their skills.” “While the A2 is fit for purpose, there needs to be more time for diagnostic study at AS level. I would consider reverting to one unit which allows more time for risk- taking and learning new skills and techniques.” “If the AS only had one unit, to be done during the second half of the year, students could learn with more creativity during the first half of the year and develop confidence.”
“A single two year qualification in which students have the opportunity to explore and experiment during the first year without the pressure of producing vast quantities of coursework. The AS qualification is too short and consequently rushed and pressured.”
Survey respondents
Specification Analysis | The delivery of the A-level in Art & Design
Depth interview respondents also presented a consistent view on the modular approach to the current A-level in Art & Design structure. The following respondent viewed the modular approach as limiting in developing student skills, and the consequences that the approach has on effective teaching:
“If you’re in a high school, and you have limited staffing and limited provision, you can only do so much ... There’s no time to learn a body of skills and to broaden your art education, and to work with the students to develop enough. The way it is at the moment it’s a case of jumping through hoops, and teachers ... because of inspections, because of league tables ... they need results and they teach to get passes. [A linear system] allows students the time to reflect on and learn new things, and take risks, and challenge themselves before they go into the second year of the course.”
School teacher
Similar reservations about the limitations of a modular structure were articulated by this respondent:
While I’m happy with the content of the A-level, and what we’re allowed to do with it, I’m dissatisfied with the fact that it’s been turned into this modular programme of work – short, sharp, chunks. This has had an impact on how we delivery the A-level. At my institution we have two 55 minute lessons, one 65 minute lesson and one 1 hour 30 minute lesson each week. For students, in those 55 minute lessons, by the time they’ve settled down and got everything out, you’ve got about 30 minutes to do anything.
School teacher
Overall, survey participants appear to have responded positively to the proposed reforms to the A-levels, discussed in Chapter 3. The perception is that there will be more room for experimentation, flexibility in teaching and creative expression through the course. Where there are concerns, these are associated with fears that two years could be too long a time for students to engage effectively in a more independently-driven specification (especially for those who would already have had quite a structured teaching experience up to the age of 16). Responses from the student focus group also suggest that one of the main benefits of studying the A-level in Art & Design in its current form is the structured nature of its teaching and learning, and the opportunity to experience a wide variety of specialisms in art and design.
Specification Analysis | The structure of the A-level in Art & Design