Graded Awards in Drawing
Graded Awards are a new set of UAL Short Courses certifications now available for Drawing.
The awards are assessed by subject specialists at UAL Short Courses and are designed to give recognition to your drawing skills. They let you know what level you are working at and encourage you to improve your technical skills without the pressure of traditional graded exams.
Upon completion of a set task, your submission will be judged by expert examiners, and you’ll be given a grade accordingly along with a certificate and a digital badge to recognise your achievement
Graded Awards let you evidence your drawing skills in a tangible way. You can use them to stand out to future employers or university applications, and they help give direction to your learning.
How it works
- Choose which grade you are going to take from the six below.
- Once you’ve made the payment, you will receive access to the paper along with a deadline.
- You will have plenty of time to read the instructions, practice and finalise your work.
- Once you are happy with your drawing, follow the instructions on how to photograph your work.
- Upload. You will then upload a series of photos of your work.
Our expert UAL Short Course assessors will mark your drawing and issue your certificate. If you don’t get the grade you want, you can take it again until you are happy.
The 6 Graded Awards are:
Copying
Create realistic copies of set images with consideration to scale, proportion and detail. This grade tests your practical ability to observe and recreate scale, proportion, and detail in drawing.
Line
Create a line drawing from a choice of set subjects. This grade tests your ability to observe shape and form to create volume and texture through drawing.
Tone
Create a tonal drawing that accurately depicts a subject. This grade tests your ability to observe and recreate light and shadow to create the illusion of three dimension through drawing.
Colour
Create a drawing using dry or wet mediums that demonstrates your understanding of colour. This grade tests your ability to explore mood and interpretation to create a sophisticated image.
Composition
Create and draw a visually interesting composition. This grade tests your ability to create relationships between objects through scale and texture, and to evoke meaning and narrative in drawing.
Expression and Meaning
Create a drawing based on your interpretation of a theme set by UAL Short Courses. This grade tests your ability to experiment with materials and techniques in drawing and communicate your artistic intentions.
Why take a graded award?
The benefits of taking a Graded Award include:
- Stand out to employers, colleges and universities by evidencing your skills.
- Give direction to your learning in a non-pressured environment.
- Get recognition for your drawing skills beyond the curriculum.
- Earn a digital badge for each grade which can be displayed on your CV, on LinkedIn and across other social networks.
Why drawing?
Drawing is a skill that’s highly valued in the creative industries. Everyone from video game concept artists to theatre set designers use drawing as a key tool in their work.
“In our experience, observational drawing is not encouraged or endorsed within the curriculum and as such it can be very hard for young people to demonstrate that they have developed this skill.
Having a benchmark from UAL that gives young people, their parents, further/higher education and employers the same understanding of what this skill encompasses would be hugely valuable to us.”
– Amy Smith, Head of Talent, Film – Framestore
