GCSE redevelopment update: Department for Education and Ofqual consultations on subject criteria and assessment arrangements

The Department for Education (DfE) launched a consultation on draft subject content for GCSE Art and Design, and Ofqual launched a separate consultation on assessment arrangements for the subject.

View the DfE’s draft subject content.
See Ofqual’s assessment arrangements.

The key changes proposed in these consultations are:

• greater emphasis on critical understanding, creativity, drawing, technical skill, formal elements and safe working practices.
• students can work entirely in digital media or entirely in non-digital media, or in a mixture of both, provided that the aims and assessment objectives are met.
• the applied endorsement no longer exists.
• all four assessment objectives will have a weighting of 25%.

The subject content and assessment arrangements that come out of these consultations will provide the framework within which Pearson and other awarding organisations will redevelop their GCSEs in Art and Design. Therefore, we would like to encourage you to look at these consultations and to respond if you have any concerns about them. 

The DfE's consultation on subject content closes on 19 September, and Ofqual's consultation on assessment arrangements closes on 22 September.