A level Art and Design - COURSE PLANNER - Guidance on planning your course

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by Aditya

A level Art and Design course planner outlining how to design a GCE Art and Design programme by aligning course structure with specification requirements and candidate assessment goals. The planner emphasizes personal candidate development through a quarter of the course devoted to candidates’ own idea generation and development. It explains how course demands are broken into two components, how themes are assigned and timed, and how assessment objectives shape teaching, learning, and the assessment grid from levels 1 to 6.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Course planning guidance

Specification requirements and candidate development

Course structure over two years

Component themes and timing

Scaffolding the course and assessment criteria

Assessment objectives and the assessment grid

Assessment Objective 1

Assessment Objective 2

A level Art and Design COURSE PLANNER Guidance on planning your course Course planner GCE Art and Design course planner Guidance on planning your course The successful design of any course structure depends on a full understanding of the specification requirements and what criteria the candidates are going to have to fulfil to gain recognition of their achievements. A unique aspect of our specification is an emphasis on personal candidate development and involvement. We do this by focusing a quarter of the course on ideas and their development. These ideas, which are all the candidates’ own, fuel their creative journeys, and drive their personal ambitions and interests. The simplest way to look at the demands of the specification is to break it down into its basic elements. For Edexcel this is easy, as the demands of the qualification are very straightforward. For each of the two components candidates normally respond to themes, or assignment/project titles, for example, a generic theme such as “Structures”. Candidates will then narrow this theme down, to their personal particular area of interest. This interest could follow any path, such as the following examples human anatomy, mechanical structures, organic landscape or man-made landscape. The course is normally run over two years, typically years 12 and 13 in UK Centres, but this is not prescriptive, and students of any age can take the qualification. Some complete it in a single year depending on the individual circumstances of each Centre. The theme for Component 2 is set by the examination board and is available on 1 February of the second year of the course. The candidates then have until about mid-May to develop this theme and produce an outcome in response to it. Candidates sitting the course in a single year will take the February theme for that year. Component 1’s theme is set by the Centre. Many Centres use one of the old exam paper themes, as they contain many resources and starting points to inspire and focus candidates. Component 1 can be built from one or several themes, depending on each Centre’s course structure and resources. Centres must use the specification as a scaffoldingfor their course design. It is necessary to encourage candidates to go on journeys of creative exploration and produce responses that realise their own personal intent. Naturally, candidates will eventually be assessed to determine their levels of success and achievement. In light of this, the assessment criteria provide a useful set of targets for the candidates to strive to achieve. Course planner So, a good course will be designed to enable the candidates to develop the skills necessary to achieve these goals and fulfil the assessment criteria. Therefore, the assessment criteria somewhat determines the structure. For Edexcel these targets are defined as four Assessment Objectives, each one describing attributes we feel a committed Art and Design candidate should possess. Candidates demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and performance abilities through scoring on an Assessment Grid. This scoring is established by a set of criteria at different levels from 1 to 6. 1 represents the minimum requirements to gain an award, 6 represents candidates that have gone beyond the expectations of this award. As can be seen the Assessment Objectives actually play a large part in determining the course structure. Here is an explanation why: There are 4 Assessment Objectives, AO1, AO2, AO3 and AO4 . Most important is that they all generate equal marks. Each one represents 25% of the qualification and the total mark. This means that effective courses teach the candidates how to address each one equally in their submissions. So let us look at these in turn and what they are actually looking for. Assessment Objective 1 “Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and criti

FAQs

How does the course planner connect course structure to the specification requirements?

It stresses that successful course design depends on understanding specification demands and the criteria candidates must fulfil for recognition. The planner breaks the specification into core elements and uses assessment targets to shape the structure.

What emphasis does the planner place on personal candidate development?

It dedicates a quarter of the course to candidates’ own ideas and their development. These ideas fuel creative journeys and support candidates’ personal ambitions and interests.

How do assessment objectives influence teaching and course design?

The planner explains that there are four assessment objectives (AO1–AO4) that contribute equally to marks. Effective courses teach candidates to address each objective fairly, using an assessment grid with levels from 1 to 6.

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by Aditya