The Student Room Group

art related a level courses without gcse art?

is it feasible(and how hard is it) to take art and design + design and technology as a levels without doing either in gcse?
none of my gcse are arts but im doing some humanities
Original post
by LilMissCalamity
is it feasible(and how hard is it) to take art and design + design and technology as a levels without doing either in gcse?
none of my gcse are arts but im doing some humanities

Check the entry requirements for these courses at your college or sixth form. Some require you to have achieved a grade in an arts subject at gcse level, some will allow entry based on a portfolio of work, some have just a requirement for having studied English and maths, it differs between schools so check the courses you’d be applying to.
In terms of being prepared I think as long as you have some experience with the skills you’d need you’d be fine. Maybe ask about what’s expected as prerequisite knowledge for the course.
Also are you suggesting you’d like to take both art and dt? If you’re considering going to uni from this then it’s not advised to take two arts subjects. If you’re just doing a levels because you want to do subjects you’ll enjoy but you don’t want to go to uni and then I’d suggest basing your choice on what you’d enjoy and do well at. Another thing to consider is that these subjects have a lot of coursework to complete so that’ll increase your workload.
Hope this gives you some things to consider and happy to try to answer any more questions about selecting your subjects. Have a great day :smile:

Reply 2

Original post
by DerDracologe
Check the entry requirements for these courses at your college or sixth form. Some require you to have achieved a grade in an arts subject at gcse level, some will allow entry based on a portfolio of work, some have just a requirement for having studied English and maths, it differs between schools so check the courses you’d be applying to.
In terms of being prepared I think as long as you have some experience with the skills you’d need you’d be fine. Maybe ask about what’s expected as prerequisite knowledge for the course.
Also are you suggesting you’d like to take both art and dt? If you’re considering going to uni from this then it’s not advised to take two arts subjects. If you’re just doing a levels because you want to do subjects you’ll enjoy but you don’t want to go to uni and then I’d suggest basing your choice on what you’d enjoy and do well at. Another thing to consider is that these subjects have a lot of coursework to complete so that’ll increase your workload.
Hope this gives you some things to consider and happy to try to answer any more questions about selecting your subjects. Have a great day :smile:

thank you so much for your answer! do most schools require you to have completed them at gcse? and what would you consider 'some experience' to be.
i intend to take business studies, math, art and design and dt because i want to do interior design in uni.
Original post
by LilMissCalamity
thank you so much for your answer! do most schools require you to have completed them at gcse? and what would you consider 'some experience' to be.
i intend to take business studies, math, art and design and dt because i want to do interior design in uni.


The entry requirements really depend on the sixth forms you'd apply to- if you look on their sites you can check this, or tell me the options you're looking at and I'll check for you.
Some experience means enough that you can make a portfolio of your work and show you're at rhe standard they need. I took art gcse and am hoping for a 6, can send you a non coursework piece I've done if you want to see that standard of work. Basically you would need to be able to show that you have passionate and work ethic for the subject.
Those sound like some great options but id personally suggest only taking 3 so dropping art or dt as they both have an intense workload and I think a lot of unis for interior design will want a personal work collection of pieces so you'll need to work on this in year 13. Which you take is up to you- make sure you are aware of rhe differences and similarities!
Hope this helps and happy to help further of you need it!
(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 4

Original post
by DerDracologe
The entry requirements really depend on the sixth forms you'd apply to- if you look on their sites you can check this, or tell me the options you're looking at and I'll check for you.
Some experience means enough that you can make a portfolio of your work and show you're at rhe standard they need. I took art gcse and am hoping for a 6, can send you a non coursework piece I've done if you want to see that standard of work. Basically you would need to be able to show that you have passionate and work ethic for the subject.
Those sound like some great options but id personally suggest only taking 3 so dropping art or dt as they both have an intense workload and I think a lot of unis for interior design will want a personal work collection of pieces so you'll need to work on this in year 13. Which you take is up to you- make sure you are aware of rhe differences and similarities!
Hope this helps and happy to help further of you need it!

I'm not really looking at any right now but thank you!
please do that! i am definately passionate about it even if i might not be a very good artist(you can check on my profile for some work i did).
i dont know how hard it is but im used to a lot of workload so i dont think its goign to be a big problem.

Reply 5

Original post
by LilMissCalamity
is it feasible(and how hard is it) to take art and design + design and technology as a levels without doing either in gcse?
none of my gcse are arts but im doing some humanities

I was actually able to study A-Level art and design without doing at gcse, and have been predicted a grade C 🙂 I think it mainly depends on the requirements for your sixth form/college, but I spoke to my teachers and told them how I had a keen interest of art at home but just did not take it as a gcse, and they let me study it! I'd just be mindful of the workload, I had to put in many more hours for my artbooks and exams compared to my other subjects, so make sure you're willing to do so!

Reply 6

Original post
by kkyra
I was actually able to study A-Level art and design without doing at gcse, and have been predicted a grade C 🙂 I think it mainly depends on the requirements for your sixth form/college, but I spoke to my teachers and told them how I had a keen interest of art at home but just did not take it as a gcse, and they let me study it! I'd just be mindful of the workload, I had to put in many more hours for my artbooks and exams compared to my other subjects, so make sure you're willing to do so!

thank you so much for your response

Quick Reply

How The Student Room is moderated

To keep The Student Room safe for everyone, we moderate posts that are added to the site.