Course Infomation

Welcome to A Level Photography year two.
Thank you for choosing the Coulsdon Sixth Form Photography course.  On this page you will find links to the course information.  This includes course planners, course overview, what the components are and how you are assessed.

Use the course planner below to plan your course. (click on the link)
Course Planner 2017/18

Course Overview: what to expect with the two-year A/level

Component 1

Personal Investigation (60% of qualification) internally assessed, externally moderated.

Component 2

Externally Set Assignment (40% of qualification)

internally assessed, externally moderated.

Possible areas of study in both years will include: photographing people, photographing places, still-life photography, documentary photography, photojournalism, experimental imagery, photographic installation, fashion photography, digital imaging, moving image (video, film, animation)

Component one: The Personal Investigation (made up of 2 integrated parts).

• A major in-depth critical, practical and theoretical investigative project / portfolio.
• An extended written element of between 1000 and 3000 words ,which must clearly relate to the practical work.

The Personal Investigation will be internally determined, teacher assessed and externally moderated. Both the practical and written elements will be assessed together. The design of Component One therefore enables learners to experience an integrated process which meets all assessment objectives. Reflects the holistic nature of art and design to allow all learners to engage with contextual understanding (AO1), a range of resources, media, materials, techniques and processes (AO2), reflective recording (AO3) and creative, personally-informed responses (AO4) .

Component Two : The Externally Set Assignment  (made up of 2 separate parts).

Part 1: Supporting studies / preparatory work based upon learner selected theme from the exam board externally set themes. Responses should take the from of critical, practical and theoretical preparatory work which informs and relates to part 2.

Part 2: 15 hour period of sustained focus work, in which the learner brings their work to a conclusion under supervised conditions.

The unit is Teacher assessed and externally moderated. Both parts will be assessed together. Start date will be end of January to sit the exam in April/May.

How are you assessed?
You will be assessed through the four Assessment Objectives (AO1-4), placing equal mark value on creative processes and their outcomes. Your investigations will be recorded in a sketchbook, presented to your teacher each week for continual assessment and feedback.

AO1 Contextual understanding

Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

AO2 Creative making

Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

AO3 Reflective recording

Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

AO4 Personal presentation

Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.

Use the project pages to see a more detailed breakdown of what each project provides.