In a world saturated with imagery, it has become increasingly important to be visually literate.

At The Oratory we teach pupils how to see and perceive the world around them. To look for opportunities visually across many diverse areas in terms of spatial awareness and visual acuity. The relevance of Art is not just in producing more artists or beautiful pictures, but in producing people who can think like artists, who think laterally ‘out of the box’ and creatively. Who seek opportunities to connect ideas from different specialisms and subject areas in order to realise their vision.

We place an emphasis on creativity, rather than draughtsmanship, across many diverse areas; from photography, film making and graphics through to installation, sculpture and ceramics, embracing old and new technologies. We believe in the Dadaist principles that anyone can be an artist and anything can be art. The department is a mecca for pupils’ art and develops what our pupils do best: competing, risk-taking, doing before thinking and turning it to their advantage, in a subject which is all about discovery, mistakes and happy accidents.

Mr Stephen Hanna - Head of Art & Design

GCSE 
 

This qualification is taken as unendorsed Art and Design. In a world saturated with imagery and visual communication it has become increasingly important to become visually literate as well literate and numerate. The GCSE course is predominantly Fine Art based and rooted in physical practical processes on a scale designed to test students and engage them without placing an exclusive emphasis on an innate talent for draughtsmanship. Any student is welcome to choose Art. We will teach art in a variety of ways. Through drawing, photography, clay, plaster, IT and painterly processes we will find ways to make art on a scale that will challenge students’ creativity, competitiveness and embrace a world where ‘mistakes’ and ‘happy accidents’ are seen as an integral part of the educative Art process.

Find out more about our Art & Design GCSE, including course content and assessment, here: GCSE Subject Options Brochure.

A Level

• A Level Art, Craft and Design

• A Level Photography

• A Level 3D Design

Other endorsements are possible, such as Graphics and Textiles, based on individual suitability, and can be included within the Art, Craft and Design endorsement.

The Faculty of Art and Design has an astounding track record of top A Level grades across its endorsements for over a decade and offers our students the opportunity to study everything from functional or applied design, through to Fine Art. In a world saturated with imagery and visual communication it has become increasingly important to become visually literate as well as verbally literate and numerate.

 Within these endorsements, whether photographic or three dimensional, students will understand that graphic design is about communication and selling, that functional design is about creating and making objects with a physical purpose and function, and that Fine Art is about personal expression and visual perception.  

For an A Level endorsement, a previous study of Art and Design at GCSE and attainment of at least a grade 7 is desirable. A willingness to draw is necessary and will be taught. All Photography students will be asked to buy a DSLR camera for their field studies. This A Level is a linear course with a written component (12%).  

Suitability for endorsements is assessed by the Director of Art and Design.

Find out more about our Art & Design A Level, including course content and assessment, here: 6th Form Subject Options Brochure.

Throughout the year, the department runs a series of workshop sessions, often initiated by pupils' individual interests, from traditional painting skills through to film making, astro-photography, and animation.

This syllabus supports progression into further education, training or employment. Higher education opportunities and beyond could include:

• Foundation studies in Art and Design;
• Higher National Diplomas in Art and Design;
• Foundation Degrees in Art and Design;
• Honours Degrees in Art and Design; Product Design, Film, Graphics or Architecture, Industrial Design, Textiles, Theatre Design, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering; and
• Apprenticeships or other training.

In addition to providing a secure foundation for study in higher education, the syllabus equips candidates with a range of skills in business, education and the arts. The syllabus is intended to meet the needs of the following groups of candidates:

• Those who, while having an interest and aptitude in the subject, are not intending to study the subject beyond A Level.
• Those who will undertake further studies in Art and Design.

Should pupils not be looking to pursue Art and Design beyond A Level, these courses will enable them to demonstrate genuine problem-solving, independent learning skills, and time management skills, ensuring all our pupils are prepared for the world of higher education or employment. Most importantly, it will enable candidates to be visually literate in a world where image, creative ideas, marketing, branding, identification and efficient graphic communication are paramount. 

Pupils who have studied an Art endorsement have gone on to study Architecture at La Europa Madrid; Design at Loughborough; Fashion Management at London College of Fashion; Fine Art at Falmouth and Newcastle; Furniture Design at Kingston; Graphics at Bath Spa and Kingston; Illustration at UCL London; and Media Production and Film at Bournemouth. Pupils have also gone to work directly into sets and props at Pinewood Studios

The Oratory School was recognised as England’s Top Sixth Form Subject Performer in A Level Art & Design in 2018 by Oxford Analytics.

Pupils have been acknowledged as having achieved the highest national average pupil progress and the most outstanding A Level performance in this subject in England. As a result, The Oratory is now regarded as the No.1 centre (value added) of all reported centres* that taught A Level Art & Design in England in 2017-18.

Director of Art, Phil Chaundy, said: “Anyone who enters our Art and Design Departments can immediately see the sheer ambition in the quality of creative work produced here. It is great to have received recognition for this.”

The Oratory Art and Design Departments are described as a “hive of energy, where everybody finds their niche” by The Good Schools Guide. The departments are equipped with 8 specialist art studios, which include a photographic studio and darkroom, a clay room, a 3D room, a painting and drawing studio and its very own gallery. Here, anyone can be an artist and anything can be art. All pupils are encouraged to use any material they wish to convey their vision. Recently, a pupil spent a short time in hospital and used it as inspiration, turning it into a universal comment on hospital care and mortality using plaster casts from real bones and video loops for his A Level project.

Oxford Analytics exclusively serve the education sector and specialise in supporting post-16 providers in the analysis of performance and the raising of achievement in subjects. One element of research considers pupil progress in preference to pupil outcomes, highlighting examples of excellence that are often invisible (and uncelebrated) in headline performance table measures.

The Oratory School is proud to have achieved this significant accolade, which is testament to the talent, dedication, hard work and commitment of The Oratory School’s Art and Design Departments’ staff and their pupils.

Three-Dimensional Design is defined here as the design, prototyping and modelling or making of primarily functional and aesthetic consumer products, objects and environments. Learners can choose one or more area(s) of study including but not exclusively architectural design, product design, environmental/ landscape design, as well as design and communication work. Candidates will be expected to develop their skill set and knowledge across computer-aided design, model making, prototyping, constructing, assembling. An understanding of the relationship between form and function is essential. Learners must explore practical and relevant critical and contextual sources such as the work of historical and contemporary three-dimensional designers and the different purposes, intentions and functions of three-dimensional design as appropriate to their own work.

Learners beginning this course are not expected to have studied Design and Technology previously.

The course is split into the same two components as the Unendorsed Art and Design course.

Beyond the course: Those candidates who complete this course and attain a grade 6 or above are well-placed to then continue their study onto the A-Level GCE 3D Design course.

Read more about Three-Dimensional Design here.