The Externally Set Assignment: Preparation and Sustained Focus

The final exam of art

The Externally Set Assignment is the exam part of GCSE Art and Design. The exam board sets a theme, with several starting points to choose from, and every student responds to it in their own way. It comes in two parts. First there is a preparatory period of several weeks, when you research artists, experiment with media, and develop your ideas towards a plan. Then there is a supervised sustained-focus study, lasting about ten hours, when you make your final piece under exam conditions using the plan you prepared. This module explains how the assignment is structured, what happens in each stage, and why the work you do beforehand decides how well the timed study goes.

ESA words

Learn these five terms before you plan for the assignment.

Match each ESA activity to its purpose

The prep period against the ten hours

The assignment splits into two very different stages. Know what belongs in each.

What is a personal response?

The final outcome of the assignment should above all be a personal response. What does that mean?

• It shows your own ideas and meaning, developed through your preparation
• It copies a chosen artist exactly
• It is whatever is quickest to make on the day
• It ignores all of your preparatory work

Prepare so the ten hours are calm

The single most useful thing to understand about the assignment is that the timed study is not where you have your ideas; it is where you carry them out. You cannot begin new research once the ten hours start, so everything depends on the preparation. A student who has researched, experimented and settled on a clear plan walks in knowing exactly what to make and can spend the time making it well. A student who left it all to the day spends the first hours panicking about what to do. So treat the weeks before as the real work. The more decisions you make in advance, the calmer and stronger the final piece will be.

Pick the true facts about the assignment

Select every statement about the Externally Set Assignment that is true.

• The exam board sets the theme or starting points
• There is a preparatory period before the timed study
• The final outcome is made in a supervised study of about ten hours
• You may begin brand new research during the ten hours
• The final piece should copy an artist exactly

Order the ESA timeline

Put the stages of the Externally Set Assignment in the order they happen.

• Receive the theme from the exam board
• Research artists and gather ideas
• Experiment with media and materials
• Develop and plan the final outcome
• Make the final piece in the timed study

Complete the ESA facts

The exam board sets a theme in the _____ assignment. The weeks of research and experiment before the timed study are the _____ period. The final piece is made during a supervised _____ study. The outcome should be your own _____ response.

Rehearsing before opening night

Think of a stage actor in the weeks before a play opens. They read the script, try different ways of saying each line, rehearse scenes over and over, and slowly settle on how they will play the part. None of that is the performance itself; it is the getting ready. Then, on opening night, there is a fixed window with the audience watching, and the actor delivers everything they have prepared, with no chance to start learning new lines. An art assignment works in the very same way. The long stretch of getting ready decides how calm and how strong the final timed piece will be. What you do beforehand is what carries you when the clock is running and everyone is watching the outcome.

Tap the preparatory work

Tap every activity below that belongs in the preparatory period, before the timed study.

• researching an artist
• experimenting with media
• developing an idea into a plan
• framing the finished piece for a gallery

The ESA run

Answer each one correctly to keep your lives. Choose the best answer.

Plan the assignment

Read each situation and choose the best move.

• You have just been given your theme and have a few weeks before the timed study. What should you do first?
• It is the timed study and you realise you did very little preparation. What is the lesson for next time?
• You want your final piece to score well. What matters most?

Build an ESA point

Choose the word for each gap to complete one accurate point about the assignment.

Explain how the assignment works

A friend is nervous about the art exam and does not understand how the Externally Set Assignment works. Explain it to them clearly.

• Explain who sets the theme and what a starting point is
• Explain what happens during the preparatory period
• Explain what the ten-hour sustained focus study is
• Explain why good preparation makes the timed study easier
• Explain what makes a strong final personal response