The actual making, in the medium the learner has chosen as their endorsement. Drawing, painting, photography, textiles, 3D making, digital art, printmaking, mixed media. Technical skill in the chosen medium. Knowledge of how that medium behaves, what it can be made to do, where its limits are.
Tested by
The endorsement choice — Edexcel offers five (Fine Art, Graphic Communication, Photography, Textile Design, Three-dimensional Design); AQA offers six (the same five plus Art, Craft and Design as the omnibus, plus Photography is identical name across boards).
- Edexcel IGCSE Art and Design — endorsement chosen at registration
- AQA GCSE Art and Design — endorsement chosen at registration
Material practice is what the four AOs are applied to — not a separately weighted assessment objective, but the substrate of all four. A learner’s material choice is an artistic decision in itself.
Cross-curriculum links
- Life and Work — Employability (creative-sector pathways: design industries, photography, textile production, exhibition curation)