A levels and art

Honestly I think those 4 A-levels plus art would be too heavy, art is a very intense and coursework heavy subject and takes up a lot of time.
With those A-levels you would want to apply to BSC courses for architecture or product design. Stuff like chemistry isn't really needed for either so you could think about swapping that for art if you wanted to apply to the more arty courses

Basically, I'm doing A levels right now and I take physics, maths, chemistry and economics. With these, I wanted to pursue architecture or product design, which it requires a portfolio, which obviously some art skills are needed. I am thinking of joining art classes to enhance whilst doing A levels and also portfolio. Does anyone has the same experience as I am or is currently going through? I would really like to know if my A level subject selections are too heavy for me, because I still can change if otherwise. Btw, theres still biology, psychology, sociology(which I dun like), for me to choose from.

Hello! I have the same problem. I take chem maths physics and bio & i was thinking of swapping physics for art but decided not to bc i like physics a lot as well. I was thinking i could do something like the ABRSM but for art The grade thing for music) but so far i couldnt find one like that for art.

Hey jinning

Doing an art-based subject does make it easier for someone to get into the creative field, but that doesn't mean someone who doesn't have an art background cannot get in. Your subjects do seem heavy and if you can manage them whilst slowly building a portfolio then I'd say go for it!

As a starting point, you can visit other universities to see what you need to do to get into Architecture or Product design, look at the work created at those universities and if you do have time, come and visit one of our open days where we provide portfolio and showreel workshops.

As another option, you can also look into doing a foundation diploma which will provide you with all the basics and skills needed to start a degree in the creative field.

I hope this helped and if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Oh so you managed to do well in all subjects and also art alongside? I was actually trying to find art programmes to enhance my art skills and also to build portfolio. Theres is something like an ABRSM art course?

Not all Architecture courses are that artistically inclined. Bath is supposedly the most "technical" oriented course in the UK, and I can't see any mention of a portfolio requirement on their webpage, although it does indicate "exposure to art and design thinking and it's applications" is important, and suggests considering a foundation year in art for those who haven't taken an A-level in the subject.

However I do believe most still require a portfolio...it would most likely be very helpful to do some structured artistic activities in the meantime to help develop a portfolio alongside independent explorations done by yourself outside of that. Things like life drawing and similar can be very helpful in developing core artistic skills (as sure, the human anatomy is irrelevant to you, but the basic drawing techniques, ideas of foreshortening and proportion etc are all very relevant still).

@PQ has created a helpful thread covering the FAD programmes in the UK which might be worth checking into, as well as another handy post about portfolio requirements (alas I can't find the link to the latter) which might worth looking into, and may be able to offer some advice otherwise.

edit: I found the portfolio link! https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?p=70087576&highlight=

Although the above largely is oriented towards architecture, it does apply as well to most product design courses. You may want to consider something like Civil/Architectural Engineering (on the architecture/built environment side) or Design/Mechanical Engineering (on the product side) if you are interested in those areas but less focused on the artistic side of things.

Oh no it’s only my second week in year 12. If things get too stressful w 4 subjects i will drop one eventually😂

Also whereabout in the country are you? You might find your local art school/university has some saturday or evening courses specifically to help with portfolio prep. They're not normally free but they're also not usually very expensive given the time and resources available.

https://www.studentartguide.com/articles/how-to-make-an-art-portfolio-for-college-or-university is a very good guide to putting together a portfolio if you're not studying art/design as part of your curriculum. There's a whole bunch of ideas and examples there as well as some good advice about what to include (drawing from life (not necessarily life drawing of naked people - just drawing what's in front of you and not using photographs/references) and 3d work are the things that would normally be looked for for architecture - also demonstrating some sketchbook development progress in following a brief would normally be good - there's a bunch of online sites that can give you design briefs to use).

I would recommend sticking to 3 A levels, maybe look into doing an artefact EPQ (that would give you a chance to do a product design/prototype as your artefact which you can use in your portfolio) and see if you can find any evening or weekend life drawing or similar classes just to give you some practice and structure and guidance in drawing from life in your free time. It could be that you don't want to include that work in your final portfolio but it would be useful to give yourself some support in drawing.

(also if you're interested in both product design and architecture then some niche courses like https://aub.ac.uk/courses/ba/ba-modelmaking/ and to some extent https://www.herts.ac.uk/courses/model-design-special-effects might be worth looking into as well)

I'm actually living in Malaysia, so not quite sure if there's such system for the unis nearby, but I'm still gonna try, thanks for the advise!

Depending on your budget then it might be worth arranging to attend a good portfolio summer school in the UK. There's a few that are particularly good for architecture (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture/programmes/short-courses and https://aub.ac.uk/courses/summer-courses/explore-summer-courses/portfolio-preparation-art-design-media/ offer specific architecture support, while https://www.csvpa.com/summer-courses/portfolio-preparation.htm and https://www.leeds-art.ac.uk/international/international-summer-school-portfolio-development/ have 3d design pathways). I'd personally say that you would want a 3 week or longer course to get anything useful from it - 1 or 2 weeks would be ok but you might need to have more prep work done before or do more after to really make the most of them...generally it's takes about a week to get to know people/understand what is being asked (and get over jet lag!), a week to develop some decent work and a week to refine and review that work. But these courses aren't free so I can understand it's not always an option. Again it's just another way of getting some support and structure to help you given that you're doing this work "on your own" and not as part of your school work.