Yomi BlackVisual Art is examined at international depth, with syllabuses written to be taught over two years and examined in components. That is the sentence to hold onto, because the same subject examined by a different body at a different depth needs a different plan, and candidates who carry preparation across from one to the other lose marks they did not need to lose.
- Subject
- Visual Art
- Examined by
- Cambridge
- Format here
- Multiple components per subject, with practicals examined as separate papers in the sciences
- Depth
- International depth, with syllabuses written to be taught over two years and examined in components
- What the grade does
- A grade read by admissions officers worldwide without translation
- Papers
- Objective, essay, a drawing paper and a creative design paper.
- Required for
- Fine and applied arts, industrial design, architecture and creative arts
How Cambridge examines this subject
The format is multiple components per subject, with practicals examined as separate papers in the sciences, and it is marked against published assessment objectives, with grade thresholds set after each series.
This is the certificate you sit when the destination is outside Nigeria, and the portability is what you are paying for.
Turning it into a plan
- Get the current syllabus from Cambridge and check the year range on the cover.
- Write one line per topic area, with a box beside it.
- Work a past paper in this examination’s format, multiple components per subject, and tag every question back to a line.
- Mark the lines your teaching has never covered. Those are the priority.
- Re-weight towards the component carrying the most marks. Two series a year, June and November, with a formal enquiry-about-results process afterwards.
What a good grade here is worth
In this examination the grade is a grade read by admissions officers worldwide without translation. Visual Art is required for fine and applied arts, industrial design, architecture and creative arts, and course requirements are checked subject by subject, so a strong overall result with a weak grade here is a disqualification for the course that names it rather than a near miss.
Visual Art: common questions
How many papers are there?
Objective, essay, a drawing paper and a creative design paper.
What makes it hard?
The creative design paper is released in advance and candidates who do not know this arrive on the day having done none of the preparation it assumes.
What is the most common way candidates lose marks?
Not collecting the creative design question paper, which is given to candidates two weeks before the examination.
Where do I get the official syllabus?
From Cambridge, on its own site, free. Check the year range on the cover before you use it.
Has the syllabus changed?
Syllabuses are revised on published cycles and old ones stay online after they expire. If the copy you are holding has no year range, you do not know what you are holding.
How do I turn it into revision?
One line per topic area with a box beside it, then tick the lines off against past papers rather than against your notes. The lines that stay blank are the finding.
Is Visual Art compulsory?
No. It is a humanities subject, chosen as one of your electives, and you should choose it because a course you want names it.
What is it required for?
Fine and applied arts, industrial design, architecture and creative arts.
What the subject covers
Use these topic areas as the frame for your own checklist, then verify the detail against the syllabus Cambridge publishes itself, because depth and emphasis shift between curriculum cycles even when the headings do not.
- Elements and principles of design.
- Drawing and painting.
- Graphic design and lettering.
- Sculpture, ceramics and textiles.
- Art history, Nigerian and African art.
- Art appreciation and criticism.
The paper structure, and how to weight your time
Objective, essay, a drawing paper and a creative design paper.
Split your preparation roughly in the proportion the components are weighted. Candidates habitually over-prepare the part they enjoy and meet the other part for the first time in the hall.
What makes it hard
The creative design paper is released in advance and candidates who do not know this arrive on the day having done none of the preparation it assumes.
Set that against how this examination works. The syllabus assumes teaching most Nigerian schools do not provide, particularly in the sciences, which is why entering privately is difficult here.
Where marks are lost in this subject
- Not collecting the creative design question paper, which is given to candidates two weeks before the examination.
- Spending the drawing session on detail and never finishing.
- Ignoring art history, which is the essay paper.
If you sit Visual Art and nothing has reached you two weeks before the date, that is a question for your school that week.
Sources
- Cambridge Assessment International Education. www.cambridgeinternational.org