Regardless of what year you are in, choosing your GCSE choices is a stressful task. But in my opinion looking at the actual work you will have to do is the most important. An inaccurate view of this can make your life needlessly miserable. 

 

In my opinion, art is useful for learning how to cope with large amounts of coursework and in some cases are guided to expand your art skill (.e.g learning how to draw backgrounds or learning new mediums). But many believe even those that are passionate for art can be tampered by GCSE art. 

 

This will be based on my experience in MY school following, our exam board we follow is Eduqas.

 

GCSE for the most part is very repetitive. Your teacher chooses a topic and depending on what this can either be very restricted or give you a lot of freedom. This means your artwork can be very inconsistent, you may be very passionate on one topic but very uninterested in another.

 

These topics can split into 7 groups:

A spider diagram,

(2 minimum) artist studies

Primary source

Mashup

Experiments

Intentions for final 

Final piece

 

Many times full pieces and their write up are expected to be completed weekly. 

 

One large problem is the combination of need for quick yet well crafted and unique work. Teachers will encourage you to branch out into other mediums but since every piece is marked and is under a time limit, it can feel like there isn't enough time to learn new skills, especially with the high chance of mistakes.

 

Another aspect is the fact most of it is independent work. Teachers may guide you but this can vary on your teacher and whether they decide to put effort into you. This may encourage self-determination and creativity but it also means that it's less a skill you are taught and more something you do independently.

 

So is GCSE art for you? While my passion for art has vanished over the years, if you are informed of it and this seems like a fun course you'd be passionate about, then pursue it! If you plan to be an artist this might be an informative and vital topic to take. 

 

Regardless of what topic you choose there will be ups and downs. You will likely regret choosing all of them at times. But it's important to remember all topics are harder than a light hobby or interest in it.