The combination of skills, media and themes explored in Key Stage 3 ensures that Key Stage 4 students have the tools to be able to explore and respond to visual stimuli independently and from personal starting points.  Foundation skills are built upon further in KS4 and KS5 – more challenging skills and concepts are taught where students have a shorthand with the formal elements.​

In Year 10, students focus on portraiture before exploring the theme ‘myths and legends.’ They also engage in a contextual project unpicking the work of two artists, creating artist studies, a comparative essay and a personal response. In Year 11, students develop, refine, record and present their own ideas around the theme of ‘growth and evolution.’ They then complete a broader project.

In Key Stage 5, students begin by engaging in a workshop phase, in which they work together to inspire and engage. They then discover through the research phase, in which they collect, select and reject resources and other influences relevant to their area of study. They enter an exploration phase in which students experiment and make meaning from what they have created. Students also present their work through the resolving phase. Projects are driven by students and they make decisions about the area of critical investigation that is explored.  Students are pushed to develop sophisticated work that is a visual manifestation of their philosophical, social, political voice.