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Notes for External Examiners

This course is designed to bridge the gap between creative-arts education and the workplace.

It is examined on a portfolio of coursework, both practical and written. This must include a long essay on the final project . Coursework should demonstrate a clear progression, improvement and application of learning.

For the final project students are commissioned by an industry sponsor to devise and produce a bespoke art installation, with multimedia elements, to a precise brief and budget. Students must collaborate to research and create a work that best meets the sponsor’s brief within practical limitations and the timescale given. This process is intended to emulate the roles played and the challenges faced by real-world creative professionals.

The ‘long essay’ is a separate work documenting and exploring the project from an individual point of view. Students are encouraged to be creative in their execution of the long essay, but not at the expense of a full and clear account. Given the collaborative nature of the course, this is each student’s opportunity to demonstrate their personal approach to the brief and to evaluate their experience working as part of the team. They are encouraged to identify where the project succeeded and failed, and to detail any learnings that can be taken forward into the workplace.

Students are marked firstly on the progression they make during the course as a whole. Secondly, on their problem-solving skills and approach to change within a dynamic environment. And, finally, on their understanding of and adaptation to the opportunities and limitations of teamwork .