This is the course for you if you want to express yourself in a creative way. We want you to show us what inspires you and what makes you who you are. The work can be as serious or silly as you want it to be, as long as you can show us the passion and commitment to make great art.

Struggling for ideas? Unsure as to how to get the look you want? Contemporary or traditional? Don't worry. You will be supported with regular tutorials and skills workshops, all designed to help your own individual, creative journey. Throughout the course, you will be given opportunities to meet professional creatives, visit museums and galleries and enter competitions, so you have a clear understanding of how you can make your creativity work for you in the future, in whatever path you wish to take.

Explore and discover how your ideas fit into the wider creative cultural context, whilst producing work that will be celebrated in college and displayed in exhibitions or simply taken home to be enjoyed. Whatever the media or idea, Fine Art will cater for you.

Students studying three A Levels will be expected to have a minimum of two GCSEs at grade 6 and three other GCSEs at grade 5/4 or above, including English Language and Mathematics at grade 5/4. Or eight GCSEs at a minimum of grade 5. Please note, it is necessary to have studied Art & Design at GCSE to study A Level Fine Art. However, all prospective students are invited for an art assessment, this is completed on campus in June.  This two hour workshop is designed to test skills and fluency when handling the formal elements and creative interpretation of a theme. Any student who does not have GCSE Art & Design but completes the workshop to a high standard may be accepted on the course.

The topic and themes will be led by you and your interests, you will explore these ideas using, Drawing, Painting, Print techniques, Digital Media and the Adobe Creative Suite, Photography, Video, Sculpture, Zine and Blog creation. If you have your own skills not listed here, we'd be keen to learn from you too. 

Fine Art is a pathway onto a creative journey that will allow you to achieve whatever you wish in the future, whether that be a career in the arts or the ability to market your own business further down the line. You will understand the meaning and ideas in a range of creative outcomes, fashion to film, adverts to art. You will understand trends and the significance of certain motifs and colours. We want you to use the skills you learn in Fine Art for the rest of your life, whatever career you select.

The Fine Art course is an opportunity for you to fully explore and reflect upon your interests, skills, passions, politics and experiences. You might want to express your mental health, so people have a deeper understanding of the effect it has on you. Your love of nature and what can be done to protect it or where best to see it. Your interest in history and how architecture or fashions have changed over the years. Whatever you are interested in, we will help you find a way to best tell your story and explore the best ways to display your work.

Initially the course will consist of a range of short skills tasks, designed to show you how to safely and skillfully use the materials available in college. We encourage everyone to embrace these techniques and be open to all approaches. This stage is risk free and it is good to be out of your comfort zone creatively, knowing you are in a safe environment to make mistakes and experiment. The new skills you learn can be developed further during the year. With access to the Adobe Creative suite for all, you will learn how to use digital media alongside traditional approaches to provide a broad skills base, whilst producing work of a professional quality that reflects real world working practises.

As you gain confidence and a more indepth understanding of your chosen practises, you are invited to explore a personal theme which you develop with whichever materials and techniques you work best with. Although your outcomes will be individual, throughout this time, you will be given regular feedback and guidance from staff and peers so you are supported throughout and you can make progress at every stage of the course.

All staff in college continue their own professional practise which they use to model potential development opportunities and showcase techniques in a personalised way. We hope this encourages you to see the level of commitment needed to succeed on the course and allows us to keep the course relevant to current working methods. With the course being coursework based, it is vital you work consistently to ensure all learning objectives are met to the best of your ability.

The course requires a committed approach and a genuine desire to explore all aspects of your ideas. Independence, resilience and determination are key factors in success, as you develop and refine your ideas. Can you challenge yourself each week to try new things and endeavor to improve at every stage? Solving problems and producing exciting outcomes? If so, you will do really well on the course.

Component one: Personal Investigation (60% of the final grade) throughout the first year and into December of the second year.

Component two: Externally set assignment (40% of final grade) runs from February to May of the second year.

Both components are internally assessed and externally moderated. You will also present a portfolio and an exhibition of your work covering both components which is internally assessed and externally moderated.

Exam Board: WJEC

There is an expectation that students will complete a one-week work placement in the summer term. These can take the form of arranged work experience or live briefs set by professionals and completed in college. Throughout the academic year, there will be several day trips to galleries, artist studios and city visits to gather and practise your observational recording techniques. All will be enriching, however any that are compulsory, travel costs will be met by The Sixth Form. Entering competitions is also a key part of enrichment, in the past our students have been successful in gaining first place positions across a range of exciting external competitions.

Throughout your time at The Sixth Form, you will build up an innovative and exciting portfolio of work which will support you in progressing onto university or the world of work. We have excellent progression rates to higher education and well-established links with prestigious universities.

Many students go on to study art and design at pre-degree foundation level or a BA degree. Further study and career opportunities include: game designers, concept art creator, FX designer, 3D design, teaching, architecture and museum or gallery curator, artist as well as wider opportunities in creative industries including fashion and advertising.

Although all learners will be provided with equipment to explore their ideas initially, it is advised that everyone has their own equipment to use in college and at home. Art is a consumable subject, so to guarantee the quality and availability or a specific media we would recommend you purchase these yourself, especially after learners have selected a media they wish to explore in more depth. These can be brought online or from an art supplier and should reflect your own budgets. With independence a vital part of the course, this will also give an individual an opportunity to work when and wherever is best for them.