GCSE Art or Textiles?

I’m struggling to choose between art and textiles for GCSEs. I was going to take both courses but have found out that at my school you can’t take both subjects at the same time ,im not sure what the exact reason is but i’m assuming it may be to do with the amount of coursework in both courses. The textiles course has a ton of coursework though, as there is no written exam at the end. I’m quite strong in both subjects and enjoy them both a lot, and am willing to put in the time and effort for both of them. Also i’m hoping to pursue an art and design related career in the future, though i guess it doesn’t really matter what i choose as they are both pretty similar subjects, im mainly just looking for advice and your experience with the art/textiles course to give me a better idea of what they are like.

Hey! I took Textiles GCSE and it was a super interactive and fun course. Personally I found it very easy to be experimental, and you can make your projects as similar to traditional art as you want (or completely abstract!). For one of my final pieces I did silk painting and embroidery, but I know people that melted fabric together, and those who created beautiful dresses! It's a very versatile course, and it is required to write several essays as part of the coursework, but there is less emphasis on the actual content...

The great thing about Textiles GCSE is that it doesn't prevent you from doing Art at A-Level. As Textiles is considered an equal art qualification, you could still take:
- Fine Art (Art&Design) A-Level
- Graphics A-Level
- Photography A-Level
Or
- 3D Design A-Level

I'm taking either Fine Art or 3D design for my A-Levels :smile:

I hope my experience helped or gave you some ideas! :smile:

)
Good luck deciding, and in your GCSEs!!

Reply 21

_Lozzer_

3

I mean I can’t speak for textiles as I didn’t do it but I can safely say that I loved art especially as I was doing other very academic subjects so I felt art was a more relaxing subject. One thing I will say is there is a lot of coursework if u do the OCR course u have to fill two books but if u enjoy art it doesn’t feel like a homework. Particularly through gcses not having an writing exam was a massive relief.

Reply 22

moonrose

11

I did both; worst mistake I made, to be honest. I’m not surprised your school doesn’t let you do both. I chose them in Year 9 because I really loved art, and I was really looking forward to drawing, crafting with fabrics and just generally having fun expressing my creativity. I wanted to study fashion design in future. In the end I found myself hating both! The restrictive nature of the GCSE courses just completely killed my love for art. For me art is a spontaneous and, in my opinion, shouldn’t be forced like that. Now I’m pursuing a higher education in Physics instead and I’m so happy to have turned the page on GCSE Art and Textiles, even if it cost me my dream of becoming a fashion designer.

Regarding the difference between the two, I would say that Art is more drawing and medium-based, whereas Textiles is practical and focuses more on using fabric to create art (I did AQA, maybe other exam boards are different). Both have a large written coursework component though, especially if you’re doing the new 9-1 GCSEs.

My advice is, take it only if you’re seriously prepared to persevere through heavy workloads, stressful deadlines and occasionally making compromises in terms of what you do with your project. If you’ve already started and no longer need this advice, I hope you’re enjoying whichever one you chose. Good luck! :smile:

Do art

Original post by maisiex10x

don't take art. I repeated don't take art even if you love it don't take art. Do textiles :smile:

not even being over dramatic art is hell

omfggg such a drag i love art but its so time consuming honestlyyy

Reply 26

Annabell4123

1

I have the same dilemma here. I love textiles and would like to pursue it as a career, and have already made a few outfits at home. But I would like to be educated in the subject, and taking textiles for GCSE would probably help in that area. However, I have loved art all of my life, and art is a broader subject than textiles, as well as something that I do every chance I take. I hate written exams though, and textiles is kinder on that subject. I have only just started making outfits, however, and I am not sure weather it will live up to my expectations; the same goes for art: I know that it is one of the hardest GCSE courses to take, and the work I have seen so far is already far different to what I want to do. I'm sick of shading in cubes, I want to paint, and learn expression. I'm good at both subjects and I only have a month to choose. I see that this post was made a year ago, what did you end up choosing?

Reply 27

Pandasarecute65

15

Original post by Annabell4123

I have the same dilemma here. I love textiles and would like to pursue it as a career, and have already made a few outfits at home. But I would like to be educated in the subject, and taking textiles for GCSE would probably help in that area. However, I have loved art all of my life, and art is a broader subject than textiles, as well as something that I do every chance I take. I hate written exams though, and textiles is kinder on that subject. I have only just started making outfits, however, and I am not sure weather it will live up to my expectations; the same goes for art: I know that it is one of the hardest GCSE courses to take, and the work I have seen so far is already far different to what I want to do. I'm sick of shading in cubes, I want to paint, and learn expression. I'm good at both subjects and I only have a month to choose. I see that this post was made a year ago, what did you end up choosing?

Hi. I totally understand your position. They are both great GCSE's and I personally ended up taking art. I know everyone says this, but it really is up to you and what you see yourself pursuing. They are both very demanding courses and take up a lot of time (I know from experience!). I think the best way to decide if you really can't make your mind up is asking your teachers what exam boards are being taken for art and textiles. This way, you can go through the specifications and see which skills you need for each and which one you think you have the better chance at doing. I am pretty sure that most of the exams for art and textiles have written exams- annotations are where you have to write. If you really don't like analysing and describing then maybe textiles may be the route to go - that is not to say that you don't have to give food annotations in textiles.
I hope this helps. I know it is not an easy decision :smile:

I did

Definitely take Art, don't listen to anyone who says that art is unbearable because it isn't. If you genuinely enjoy it you won't have any problems. I just finished my GCSE Art and got a 9, at first people were always telling me about the horrific workload and that it's just really hard, however, I found it really enjoyable, it was one of my favourite subjects and I never regretted taking it once. Also, my teacher told me that Art is basically a door opener subject for Art careers, while textiles generally gives you an opportunity to study just fashion related subjects. You can explore textile work in your Art classes as well and you can still take textiles at A level if you'd like to in addition to Art.

Reply 30

L!LDdchs

Hello, I have chosen textiles and i dont know whether to change it because i like drawing and stuff more. I am completely torn and it has me a bit stressed cause i dont know if I want to change it or not. Does anyone have any advice?

Reply 31

L!LDdchs

Original post by Annabell4123

I have the same dilemma here. I love textiles and would like to pursue it as a career, and have already made a few outfits at home. But I would like to be educated in the subject, and taking textiles for GCSE would probably help in that area. However, I have loved art all of my life, and art is a broader subject than textiles, as well as something that I do every chance I take. I hate written exams though, and textiles is kinder on that subject. I have only just started making outfits, however, and I am not sure weather it will live up to my expectations; the same goes for art: I know that it is one of the hardest GCSE courses to take, and the work I have seen so far is already far different to what I want to do. I'm sick of shading in cubes, I want to paint, and learn expression. I'm good at both subjects and I only have a month to choose. I see that this post was made a year ago, what did you end up choosing?

what did you did you end up choosing? I have the exact same problem and I really can't decide

GCSE Art or Textiles?

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you