Open Event
4 November 2026
Join us at our Open Event and discover what makes St John Rigby one of the most popular choices for students across the region.
Turn your creativity into practical skills and discover where Art and Design could take you. If you enjoy being creative, experimenting with ideas and making things, the BTEC Level 2 Certificate in Art and Design Skills gives you the opportunity to develop your abilities through exciting, practical projects
For a level 2 programme, students will be expected to have gained 4 grade 3s including English Language and Maths at grade 3.
There are no external examinations. The course is 100% internally assessed, with your work assessed by your teachers. Assessment is practical and portfolio-based, so you will demonstrate what you can do through the creative work you produce throughout the course. You’ll complete two units:
A1: Skills Development
Build your Art & Design skills through workshops, creative activities and projects, focusing on experimentation and skill development.
A2: Art & Design Project
Complete a full creative project in response to a vocational brief, from researching ideas to producing a final outcome. Your portfolio may include sketchbooks, research, digital work, photographs, annotations and finished pieces.
Work is assessed in five areas: Investigation, Communication, Practical Skills, Development and Approach.
This is a highly practical course, giving you the opportunity to learn by experimenting, making, designing and developing your own creative work.
You will study ‘Exploring and Developing Art and Design Skills’, completing projects that enable you to explore a variety of creative disciplines. Depending on the projects and your interests, this could include:
Successful completion alongside your wider Level 2 programme can support progression to Level 3 Art & Design courses, including UAL Art & Design, A Level Fine Art, A Level Graphics, and A Level Photography. It can also help prepare you for further study in related subjects such as Media Studies, Engineering, and Film Studies.
The course develops creative and practical skills that can lead to a wide range of future pathways, including Fine Art, Graphic Design, Illustration, Photography, Fashion, Animation, Product Design, Interior Design, Architecture, Ceramics, Jewellery, and Digital Media.
Our Elective Programme is designed to help you develop your gifts and interests as part of an enhanced level 3 programme. We will help you realise your potential by nurturing your talent and preparing you for study at the most prestigious universities or for progression to competitive higher-level apprenticeships. Your options range from our Honours Programme, which might include following a fourth A level, to specialist Futures Programmes that will support your career goals.
If you’re not quite ready to start on a Level 3 Technical course (T Levels) or a Vocational Level 3 course (BTEC) but want to begin on the path to your chosen career, the Transition Programme could be for you.
Transition Programmes are tailored to prepare students to move onto Technical or Vocational Level 3 study. They will give you the opportunity to improve your English and Maths, your work readiness skills and introduce you to the technical skills and concepts that you will need for future study and employment.
As part of the Transition Programme you will study a BTEC Level 2 Award in your chosen subject area as well as the BTEC Level 2 Extended Award in Work Skills. You will also have the opportunity to resit GCSE English and/or Maths if you have not yet achieved a grade 4.
Entry criteria for Transition Programmes is four grade 3s including grade 3s in English Language and Maths GCSE.