GCSE Digital Photography
Examination Board: AQA
Students will complete these distinctive units of work:
Composition in Photography (Year 10)
Colour and Still Life (Year 10)
Architecture and Graphics (Year 10)
Portraiture and Distorted Portraiture (Year 10)
Cyber Bullying Campaign Project (Year 11)
Final Major Project (Year 11)
Externally Set Assignment (Year 11)
All the units are marked in the same way using 4 assessment objectives summarised briefly here:
AO1 Develop ideas through sustained investigations, demonstrating critical understanding of sources.
AO2 Refine work by exploring ideas, selecting and experimenting with appropriate media, materials, techniques and processes.
AO3 Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions as work progresses.
AO4 Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and demonstrates understanding of visual language.
Further explanation of theses assessment objectives can be found using the BBC Bitesize link listed below.
Assessment in Year 11
100% of the GCSE is assessed on coursework, and it is broken down into the following parts:
60% Portfolio. Your child will complete a series of projects over the course of the entire GCSE, and these will form their portfolio. The projects that are most likely to be included are the Architecture project, Cyber Bullying Project and the Final Major Project (independently chosen starting point) although anything from Year 10 or 11 can be submitted.
40% Externally set assignment. This is a paper that comes from the exam board and will have seven different starting points for students to choose from. We receive this paper in January of Year 11 and will give to students as soon as we return after Christmas. Students will work on this as a new project for eight school weeks then sit for a 10-hour controlled assessment over 2 days, this year they are on 11th and 12th March. In the controlled assessment time students will produce a final response to their eight-week project. This can take the form of new shoots or edits.
You can support your child in their Photography GCSE by showing an interest in their creativity and photography. You can also take them or encourage them to visit galleries and exhibitions, there are lots of excellent galleries local to Leeds and Bradford, and I have listed a few links relevant to Photography below. I have also added some websites to help with editing their photographs.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zpcndxs/revision/2
https://artwithmisswilson.weebly.com/artist-research-websites.html
https://www.impressions-gallery.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/nickengland151