Reaction to 2025 Leaving Certificate Art, Visual Studies (Higher Level) by Declan Kelly, Art teacher at The Institute of Education.
- Students will be thrilled by the early sections but the later essays will shake some students’ confidence.
Section A is the newest addition to the course. It tests the student’s grasp of the lexicon of art as they respond to unseen pieces and apply their grasp of the core design principles. This section was slightly tougher than previous years but with more examples of what to expect joining the history of past papers, students will be well-equipped to tackle it. Q1’s sculpture was instantly readable, putting the design and function elements to the fore. Students with experiences of festivals might be a slight advantage when discussing the nature of these works but ultimately a little bit of thought should give them a reasonable approach. Q2 was a nice say what you see style question which invited a personal response to the message conveyed – something that gave the student lots of scope to respond. Q3 might not have been everyone’s choice as it would be very dependent on their teacher. If the life of artists in residence was something discussed then this was a nice option, but for many it might be an auxiliary to return to if nothing else appeals. Noel McIntrye’s photograph Frenzy was matched with a nice straightforward question on the core elements. Possibly the nicest was Q5 on the role of sketchbooks as this synthesises perfectly with their practical work. The curriculum emphasizes a wheel of research, respond, create and this question was on that mindset.
Moving into Section B on Europe and the Wider World, most of these were lovely gentle questions. While the gothic question focused on portals, this is so cardinal to how they would have covered the topic it would not throw them at all. The Renaissance and baroque questions were both very generous and students will be over the moon with the range of artists they could call upon. Q11 on movements from 1850-1900 was also accessible but required a plan in order to aptly integrate the demand of “challenge tradition” while staying on task.
However, those banking on Q13 Post 160 will be frustrated by the limiting to Conceptual Art and Performance Art. Many students gravitate towards painters and sculptors, so will be annoyed that they cannot bring this to the table in the exam. This frustration is also in the paper’s final question of Section 3. Again, they were asked to focus on two lens-based artists which would be very niche. Students would struggle to dig through their memories to come up with enough to write full essays that they would be really confident about.
Yet, if your focus had been on other parts of the course, there was still ample choice here. Q14 was tricky in its mention of “other cultures” but if you knew your material factors of Bronze and Iron Age Ireland you were set. Q15 on Insular art was nice and open with lots to talk about. Q17 had another sting though – the phrasing seemed more administrative than artistic: “the influence of planning on urban development in Georgian Dublin”. Students would know the architectural examples, but the quick recontextualization would have been challenging in the exam. For balance, Q18 was wonderfully fair and a delight for anyone who had seen recent exhibition in the national gallery on the art of cultural and political change in Ireland between 1880 and 1960.
Ultimately, while the concluding essays may have stretched some with some awkward moments, the early parts will ensure that everyone finds something that displays their grasp of art and its role in our lives.