Art History For Everyone 2023-10-20T10:40:41+00:00
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Art History For Everyone

What: Free fast-track Art History Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) & A level courses

Who: State supported sixth form students

When: Saturdays during term-time (morning or afternoon courses)

Delivery: In-person and online

Application for the 2023-4 academic year: application now open

Over the past seven years, this course has been offered to a wide range of state maintained sector students – many from widening participation backgrounds – during term-time Saturdays in museums and galleries, and online.

Art History for Everyone was based at two venues until 2020: the Wallace Collection and the National Gallery, moving online as a result of the pandemic. In March 2022 we returned to hybrid teaching from the National Gallery.

We are delighted that from September 2022 our courses are based in dedicated teaching space at The Courtauld, Somerset House, The Strand, WC2R 0RN. During the pandemic, like so many, we learned how to deliver our courses online. We aim to keep our courses hybrid, taught both online and in person, for the foreseeable future, so we can be accessible to students across the UK, including those for whom travel is not viable.

Since September 2018, our students have been studying for an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), equivalent to half an A level in UCAS points, alongside two modules of the new A Level Art History course, with the option to continue to sit A level exams at the end of the two year linear A level course. Volunteer EPQ mentors from across the sectors include head teachers, curators, editors and academics. The students are further supported by Dr John Taylor, a chief examiner for the EPQ.

Our online classes are interactive and run by expert teachers, with the support of a team of specialist teaching assistants. These run break-out group discussions using interactive Miro whiteboard technology and teaching resources via Google Classroom. Visiting lecturers include Professor Craig Clunas, Professor Emeritus of the History of Art, the University of Oxford.

AHLU offers students weekly online homework clubs and individual EPQ and study support from AHLU’s Student Liaison Officer plus individually assigned specialist mentors from across the sector. We also offer our students support with university applications, access to work experience, information about careers in the arts, and membership of our alumni organisation.

Delivering our courses online has allowed us to double the number of students, while allowing us to increase the level of support we are able to offer. Many of our students tell us they have had more teaching and support from AHLU than from their own schools throughout the last year of the pandemic. It’s not surprising that there’s significant and increasing demand for places! To register to receive news and updates about our courses [email protected]

Outcomes

Some of the tangible benefits students identifify as a result of taking our courses include:

  • an additional accredited qualification, UCAS points and strengthened FE/HE
    applications
  • career development and CV-building opportunities for a wide range of exciting and varied careers
  • new analytical and communication skills with cross-curricular application
  • access to, familiarity with and understanding of works of art in the country’s great public collections

How the scheme works

  • Students study for a taught Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), equivalent of up to half an A level in UCAS points (these are well regarded by university admission officers and can increase exam grades) online, or at the Courtauld Institute, Somerset House.
  • The EPQ course is taught alongside two modules of the new A Level Art History syllabus at each site, so the Baroque period and Nature theme in the morning session and the C19 period and Identities theme in the afternoon. Students have the option to study a further two modules, four in total, and sit the A level exam at the end of the second year.
  • Students are taught by experienced subject specialist teachers, and supported by art history post-graduate students in homework club/study support sessions.
  • Students visit other major collections throughout the year, pandemic permitting, to learn first hand from works of art; they also benefit from visiting specialists, advice on careers and FE/HE application, and work experience opportunities.
  • All places are offered to state supported sixth form students at no charge, with priority given to candidates from a widening participation background¹ and who are suited to the course.
  • To date, each year,a significant proportion of our students are BAME and/or from under-represented backgrounds. There is significant and increasing demand for places.
  • Students are offered an EPQ mentor to support and guide them through the EPQ process. Mentors include state maintained and independent sector teachers, including head teachers, plus doctoral candidates, writers, and museum curators, who generously give their time and expertise to support our students. The Art History for Everyone scheme also benefits from the generous support and advice of Dr John Taylor, EPQ Chief Examiner.

¹ Widening participation indicators include eligibility for Pupil Premium (i.e. free school meals) and/or a parent who has not attended FE/HE

² Two classes, taught for two hours a week as a ‘twilight’ session, after school, at St Marylebone CE School and Townley Grammar School.

Art History for Everyone is managed by Art History Link-Up, which is supported by The Rothschild Foundation, Christie’s, The Garfield Weston Foundation, and James Allen’s Girls’ School.

Rothschild Foundation
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Art History for Everyone: current and alumni students’ schools and colleges

Acland Burghley School, Greater London
Alton College, Hampshire
Ark Globe Academy, Greater London
Ash Green School, Warwickshire
Ashlyns School, Berkhamsted
Ashmole Academy, Greater London
Aylesbury High School, Buckinghamshire
Banbridge Academy, County Down
Barking Abbey School, Greater London
Bay House School, Hampshire
Beaumont School, Hertfordshire
Bexhill College, Bexhill-on-Sea
BHASVIC, Brighton & Hove
Big Creative Academy, Greater London
Bishops Wordsworth’s School, Wiltshire
Brighton, Hove & Sussex Sixth Form College, East Sussex
Buckswood School, East Sussex
Cadbury Sixth Form College, Birmingham
Cardiff and Vale College, Cardiff
Cardiff High School, Cardiff
Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, Greater London
Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School, Greenford
Caterham High School, Greater London
Charter East School, Greater London
Chase Terrace Academy, Burntwood
Chobham Academy, Greater London
Christ the King Sixth Form College, Greater London
Cirencester College, Cirencester
City and Islington Sixth Form College, Greater London
City of Westminster College, Greater London
Clapton Girls Academy, Greater London
Coloma Convent Girls’ School, Croydon
Dalriada School, Ballymoney
Dame Alice Owen’s School, Hertfordshire
Devenport High School for Girls, Devon
Dixons Sixth Form Academy, West Yorkshire
Dover Grammar School for Girls, Dover
Drayton Manor High School, Greater London
Duchess Community Highschool, Northumberland
East Barnet School, Greater London
Eastbury Community School, Greater London
Ecclesbourne Sixth Form, Derbyshire
Epping St John’s School, Epping
Esher College, Greater London
Exeter College, Devon
Fashion Retail Academy, Greater London
Fortismere School, Greater London
Gower College, Swansea
Graveney School, Greater London
Greig City Academy, Greater London
Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hatcham College, Greater London
Hackney Community College, Greater London
Hammersmith Academy, Greater London
Hampstead School, Greater London
Harris Academy, Essex
Harris Academy, Greenwich, Greater London
Harris Westminister Sixth Form, Greater London
Hawkswood School, Greater London
Hazlehead Academy, Aberdeen
Hitchin Girls School, Hertfordshire
Holy Trinity C of E Secondary School, West Sussex
Holyport College, Maidenhead
Humberston Academy, North East Lincolnshire
Hutton Grammar School, Preston
Invicta Grammar School, Maidstone
Jane Austen College, Norfolk
Jewish Free School (JFS), Greater London
King Edward VI School, Lichfield
Kingsdale Foundation School, Greater London
Kingsmead School, Staffordshire
Kingston College, Greater London
LaSWAP Sixth Form Consortium, Greater London
Leyton Sixth Form College, Greater London
London Academy of Excellence, Stratford, Greater London
London Academy of Excellence, Tottenham, Greater London
London Screen Academy, Greater London
Loreto College, Manchester
Mackie Academy, Aberdeenshire
Maiden Erlegh School, Berkshire
Mayfield School, Dagenham
Methodist College, Belfast
Mossbourne Community Academy, Greater London
New College Pontefract, Pontefract
New College Swindon, Wiltshire
Newstead Woods Grammar School, Orpington
Nicholas Chamberlaine School, Bedworth
Nonsuch High School for Girls, Surrey
North Cestrian School, Greater Manchester
Nottingham Free School, Nottingham
NSCG Stafford College, Stafford
Oak Park School, Surrey
Overton Grange School, Greater London
Parliament Hill School, Greater London
Pate’s Grammar School, Gloucestershire
Pembrokeshire College, Pembrokeshire
Peter Symonds College, Winchester
Piggott School, Berkshire

Pimlico Academy, Greater London
Prendergast School, Greater London
Prince Henry’s Grammar School, West Yorkshire
Priory Ruskin Academy, Lincolnshire
Prospect School, Berkshire
Queen Elizabeth Girls’ School, Greater London
Queen Mary’s Grammar School, Greater London
Reigate College, Reigate
Richmond Upon Thames College, Greater London
Richmond School, North Yorkshire
Riddlesdown Collegiate, Greater London
Risca Community Comprehensive, Risca, South Wales
Robert Smyth Academy, Leicestershire
Sacred Heart High School, Greater London
Saffron Walden County High School, Essex
Saint Olaves Grammar School, Orpington
Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College, Cheshire
Sarah Bonnell School, Greater London
School 21, Greater London
Sharnbrook Academy, Bedfordshire
Silverdale School, South Yorkshire
Simon Langton Girls’ Grammar School, Kent
Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys, Kent
Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School, Aylesbury
Sir John Deane’s Sixth Form College, Cheshire
Skipton Grammar School, Skipton
South Essex College, Essex
South Staffordshire College, Staffordshire
Southfield School for Girls, Northamptonshire
St Bede’s School, Greater London
St Francis Xavier Sixth Form College, Greater London
St George’s School, Harpendon
St James’ Catholic High School, Greater London
St John Bosco Arts College, Liverpool
St John Rigby College, Wigan
St Mary Magdalene Academy, Greater London
St Mary’s Catholic High School, Surrey
St Marylebone CE School, Greater London
St Michael Steiner School, Greater London
St Michael’s Catholic College, Greater London
St Paul’s School for Girls, Birmingham
St Robert of Newminster, Sunderland
St Saviour’s and St Olave’s School, Kent
Stoke Newington School & Sixth Form, Greater London
Strathearn School, Belfast
Strode’s College, Surrey
Swakeleys School for Girls, Greater London
Tapton School, South Yorkshire
The Becket Sixth Form, Hertfordshire
The Bedford Sixth Form, Bedfordshire
The BRIT School, Greater London
The Cardinal Wiseman Sixth Form, Greater London
The City of London Academy, Greater London
The Compton School, Greater London
The Coopers Coborn and Company School, Greater London
The Dukeries Academy, Nottinghamshire
The Fitzwimarc School, Essex
The Global Academy, Greater London
The Grey Coat Hospital, Greater London
The Henrietta Barnett School, Greater London
The John Roan School, Greater London
The King David High School, Greater Machester
The Latymer School, Greater London
The Maria Fidelis FCJ Catholic School, Greater London
The Marlborough Science Academy, St Albans
The New Sixth, St Gregory’s, Bath
The Northern School of Art, Middlesbrough and Hartlepool
The Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School, Hertfordshire
The Shared Learning Trust, Luton
The Tiffin Girls’ School, Greater London
The UCL Academy, Greater London
Three Rivers Academy, Surrey
Tiffin School, Greater London
Twyford C of E High School, Greater London
Upton-by-Chester High School, Chester
V6 Sixth Form, Bristol
Varndean College, Brighton
Waldegrave School for Girls, Greater London
Walderslade Girls’ School, Chatham
Walton High, Buckinghamshire
Wanstead High School, Greater London
Watford Grammar School for Girls, Greater London
Weald of Kent Grammar School, Kent
West Hatch High School, Essex
Westminster Academy, Greater London
Westminster Kingsway College, Greater London
Wigan & Leigh College, Greater Manchester
William Ellis School, Greater London
William Morris Sixth Form, Greater London
Woodford County High School for Girls, Woodford
Woodhouse College, Greater London
Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College, Leicestershire
Xaverian College, Greater Manchester
York College, York
Ysgol Gyfun Gŵyr, Swansea
Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bryn Tawe, Penlan