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The logistics

The ten hours of supervised time is arranged by your school for after the preparation period. The work done in these ten hours must be completely unaided (no technical help given by anyone else). The first two hours must be done as a single block of time. But the remaining hours can be organised as the school feels is best.

Many schools will carry out a two-day ‘exam’ (five hours per day) so that you can focus on this work. Ask your teacher to find out how it will work at your school.

What do I need in the exam?

Bring all of your preparation work to the start of the ten hours so you can refer to it. You will need to hand this in along with your exam work.

You cannot change your preparatory work once the exam time has started. You also cannot take your preparatory work away from the exam room between the exam sessions.

Time management

How do I manage my time in the exam?

Everyone will need to approach their exam piece(s) in a personalised way.

Make a time plan which might help you to remain focused. This can reduce stress or anxiety in your ten hours. For example, writing an hour-by-hour schedule will provide clear targets and end points, so you can feel confident that you will complete the piece within the ten hours.

What happens if I don’t finish within the ten-hour time limit?

Don’t panic if you think your work is not finished. Marks can still be awarded for your unfinished work without it having a huge impact on your grade.

Work hard towards finishing the final piece(s) - time management is a key part of achieving this. Having produced all the preparatory work this should give you a good idea of what you can manage to create within the time.

Exam conditions

An art exam is very different to a written exam but there are still rules to follow.

In most schools, the invigilators in the room will be art teachers. No help can be given to you with your work but the art teachers can gather equipment from the department to give to you and they can also help to sort out other technical issues with equipment or tools, such as sewing machines, computers and printers.

Internet access is not allowed so you can’t have your phone or smart watch with you. If you need digital imagery this must be stored on a device (USB/external hard drive) or the school’s intranet so you can still access it.

Talking isn’t allowed, except if you have a technical problem and need help from the invigilator.

The art exam could never be silent. Students can get up to move around the room to use specialist equipment and to wash brushes/water pots/palettes, for example. Using certain tools and equipment can be noisy but this is acceptable.