First and Second Place at the ISA National Arts Competition

In June 2019, we were delighted to become a member of the Independent Schools Association and for the first time work produced by students studying at Oxford Sixth Form College was entered into their annual arts competition.

The process begins with regional art competitions which take place at the beginning of the Michaelmas Term.  Entries placed first here are then entered for the national competition

“As Head of Arts & Humanities, I am delighted that so many students studying for GCSE, AS and A-Level qualifications in Fine Art, Textiles and Photography achieved success in the London North Regional Arts Competition this year.

Of the three individual competition winners, two went on to achieve success in the National Art Competition.

Phoebe Leech was awarded first place for the sketchbook she produced in response to the A-Level Fine Art Personal Investigation Unit.  Having selected her theme in response to a book she read during the summer holiday, Phoebe documented wide-ranging research, experimentation with materials and refinement of an idea through visual and written annotations. All stages of her project are fully realised and supported with detailed decision making, many of which linked to exhibitions she visited independently.  Phoebe achieved an A* for A Level in Fine Art, and this additional success at the National Competition further rewards the time and commitment which Phoebe applied to the realisation of her visual arts practice.  Phoebe has selected to continue to study at OxSFC this year and is currently completing an A-Level in Textiles in one year; she has applied to go onto study Fine Art at Oxford University.

Deborah Boamah was awarded second place for the sketchbook she produced in response to the GCSE Art, Craft and Design Externally Set Task.  This is a superb achievement and thoroughly acknowledges the additional time Deborah spent in the Art classroom working so diligently with her tutors.  Throughout the project, ideas were explored, altered, developed and refined.  Annotations to support this process were written and re-written with key ideas selected and further developed. Deborah grew in confidence throughout this process and gradually began to realise her strengths within art-making. I hope that this achievement will encourage Deborah to continue with her art-making.”

Tamar McLellan

Head of Arts and Humanities