COURSE ASSESSMENT SPECIFICATION
ART AND DESIGN HIGHER
The purpose of this document is to provide:
♦ Details of the structure of the Practical Folio in this Course.
♦ Details of the structure of the Question Paper in this Course.
♦ Guidance to centres on how to use information gathered from the Practical Folio and the
Question Paper in this Course to estimate candidate performance.
Part 1
This part of the Course Assessment Specification details the structure of the Practical Folio
in this Course.
The Practical Folio:
♦ Will assess integration and application of practical skills and abilities acquired from the areas
of study within the Units and across the Units.
♦ Consists of two sections, Section A is the Expressive Activity; Section B is the Design
Activity.
♦ Has a total mark allocation of 160.
Section A- Expressive Activity (mark allocation of 80)
This section will consist of:
♦ Work edited/selected from Investigation and Research material and
presented on 1A2 sheet of 2D or 3D equivalent work, worth
♦ Work edited/selected from Development material and presented on
1A2 sheet of 2D or 3D equivalent work, worth
♦ A final outcome 1A2 sheet 2D or 3D, worth
20 marks.
20 marks.
40 marks.
Section B- Design Activity (mark allocation of 80)
This section will consist of:
♦ Work edited/selected from Investigation and Research material and
presented on 1A2 sheet of 2D or 3D equivalent work, worth
♦ Work edited/selected from Development material and presented on
1A2 sheet of 2D or 3D equivalent work, worth
♦ A solution 1A2 sheet 2D or 3D, worth
♦ An evaluation, worth
24 marks.
24 marks.
24 marks.
8 marks.
These two sections will be submitted as one Practical Folio for external assessment.
Part 2
This part of the Course Assessment Specification details the structure of the Question Paper
in this Course.
Question Paper:
♦ Consists of 2 sections, Art Studies and Design Studies.
♦ Has a mark allocation of 60 and a time allocation of one and a half hours.
♦ Is split to assess approximately two thirds of knowledge and understanding and one third of
critical analysis and evaluation.
♦ Will assess retention and recall of historical knowledge and understanding and critical
analysis and evaluation from the areas of study within the Units and across the Units.
Question Paper
Section 1- Arts Studies -Total marks 30
♦ This section consists of 6 questions covering the 6 areas of:
Portraiture, Figure Composition, Still Life, Natural Environment,
Built Environment and Fantasy and Imagination.
♦ Each question within this Section is divided into 2 parts (a) and (b).
♦ Candidates will answer one question from the choice of 6 questions.
♦ Part (a) of any question will assess the candidate’s ability to respond to &
critically analyse & evaluate illustrations of work from the Visual Arts, worth
♦ part (b) of any question will assess the candidate’s historical knowledge and
understanding and ability to discuss the work of significant artists, movements
or periods within the Visual Arts (1750 up to the present), worth
10 marks.
20 marks.
Question Paper:
Section 2- Design Studies -Total marks 30
♦ This section consists of 6 questions covering the 6 areas of:
Graphic Design, Product Design, Interior Design, Environmental/Architectural
Design, Jewellery Design and Textile/Fashion Design.
♦ Each question within this Section is divided into 2 parts (a) and (b).
♦ Candidates will answer one question from the choice of 6 questions.
♦ Part (a) of any question will assess the candidate’s ability to respond to and
critically analyse and evaluate illustrations of work from Design, worth
10 marks.
♦ Part (b) of any question will assess the candidate’s historical knowledge
and understanding and ability to discuss the work of significant designers,
styles or periods within Design (1750 up to the present), worth
20 marks.
Part 3
This part of the Course Assessment Specification provides guidance on how to use
information gathered from the Practical Folio and the Question Paper to estimate candidate
performance.
Component
Practical Folio
Question Paper
Total Marks
Mark Range
0 - 160
0 - 60
0 - 220
The Course award is based on the total mark gained for both the Practical Folio and the Question
Paper.
The National Qualification cut-off scores should be set at approximately 70% for Grade A and
50% for Grade C with Grade B falling midway.
For a total mark range of 0-220 the table below gives an indication of the cut-off scores that may
apply.
Grade
A
A
B
B
C
C
D
NA
NA
Band
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Mark Range
188-220
154-187
144-153
132-143
120-131
110-119
99-109
88-98
0-87
In estimating candidates’ grades:
♦ Centres should apply the assessment criteria within the range of marks available for each
component.
♦ The total of the marks gained over the two components should then provide the estimate
grade.
Worked example
♦ In the centre’s own prelim the candidate scored 30/60.
♦ In the Design Activity the candidate was estimated 54/80 and in the Expressive Activity the
candidate was estimated 60/80 making a total of 114/160 (54+60).
♦ This gives a total mark for the two components of 144/220 (30+114).
♦ The centre’s view was that the prelim was slightly less demanding than the SQA
examination.
♦ Using the mark range, a realistic estimate for the candidate was predicted to be Band 4 rather
than Band 3.