Printmaking Courses

Guidelines for submission for formal assessment

Look at OCAs Student Support Guide Assessments and how to get qualifed, available
to download from, OCAs student website: oca-student.com. This will tell you about the
assessment process. Also look out for videos and other tips on assessment that are
posted on weareoca.com. Look out for updates on these guidelines on oca-student.
com
Digital Submissions
Please note that all written work (tutor reports, learning logs and blogs do not have to be printed out, if they
are submitted digitally) submitted for assessment MUST be submitted digitally as well as printed out and
submitted on paper along with the rest of your submission. Digital work should be submitted to assessment@
oca-uk.com, clearly stating your name, student number, the course name and what the digital work attached
is (eg critical review, essay etc) This is a requirement and is to enable OCA to carry out plagiarism checks on
work, and a requirement of our validation with the University for the Creative Arts.
If you are submitting an entirely digital portfolio on CD or a USB stick, or entirely via a blog, only a sustained
piece of writing (such as an essay or critical review) needs to be sent to assessment@oca-uk.com as well as
printed out and submitted for assessment in hard copy.
If you are submitting work on a USB stick or a CD please ensure you check it thoroughly for viruses before
you send it in.
Presentation
OCA strongly recommends students purchase an A1 lightweight plastic portfolio. The best are polylite
portfolios made of lightweight sturdy corrugated plastic. These portfolios are spacious and boxlike with plastic
catches that can be taped up. These are generally robust and spacious enough for all student requirements as
well as cheaper to post. They are also cheaper than other portfolios. We do not recommend using leather or
leatherette portfolios which are heavy, nor the use of plastic sleeves which create refection on work.
Transporting any work that is too big to go in a plastic portfolio, either because its too thick, too long or wide,
or 3D in nature, should be wrapped carefully in a suitable box, labelled and added to a contents list and sent
with your submission. Please do not wrap up work in your own makeshift portfolios, since this often involves
them having to re-wrap and repair them, and they are often heavier to post.
All your work should be clearly labelled, stating which assignment it relates to, with your name and student
number on the back of every item you submit. Where there is a clear link between project work and your
learning log, or blog, this should be clearly labelled or cross referenced in some way. You must supply a
Contents list with your submission.
The professionalism of your presentation is important and you will lose marks for poor presentation. Students
may consult with their tutor if they feel unsure about what to include in their submission based on their
strengths and weaknesses and also for guidance on presentation methods.
Level one course (HE Level 4)
The outputs from each assignment: monoprints, relief prints, collatype block prints, and combination
prints demonstrating experimentation
Your sketchbooks and studies
Your learning log
Contents list
Important note about Assignment one for level one courses.
Although Assignment one is not formally assessed component of the course, the assessors do want to see it,
so that they gain a comprehensive view of your development. So, if you are applying for formal assessment,
do send assignment one in with all the others.
Level two course (HE Level 5)
The outputs from each assignment: including landscape, abstract, chiaroscuro and portrait prints plus a
print inspired by your memory
Your sketchbooks and studies
Your critical review of between 1,500 and 2,000 words this should be submitted as a sixth assignment,
but you should be working on this along side your other work (send both physical and digital copies)
Your learning log
Contents list
Level three course (HE Level 6)
Four series of prints, each series of between 6 and 12 prints
Your sketchbooks and studies
Your critical review of between 3,000 and 3,500 words (send both physical and digital copies)
Your learning log
Contents list
You must also submit copies of all your tutor report forms. If your tutor has annotated your written work,
then you must submit the annotated version of the written work as well as the fnal version.
Your overall submission may not weigh more than 20 kg in total.
Any submission in excess of 20 kg will incur a surcharge for additional postage and admin. All essays and
reviews must be sent physically AND digitally. They must be emailed to the following address at OCA:
assessment@oca-uk.com. The email must be headed with your name and student number. OCA checks
students work with a software plagiarism checker.
It is a requirement that you purchase an A1 lightweight plastic portfolio. The best are polylite portfolios
made of lightweight sturdy corregated plastic. These portfolios are spacious and boxlike with plastic catches
that can be taped up. These are generally robust and spacious enough for all student requirements as well as
cheaper to post. They are also cheaper than other portfolios. We do not recommend using leather or leatherette
portfolios which are heavy, nor the use of plastic sleeves which create refection on work. Transporting any
work that is too big to go in a plastic portfolio, either because its too thick, too long or wide, or 3D in nature,
should be boxed separately and securely, labelled and added to your contents list. Please do not wrap up
work in your own makeshift portfolios, since this often involves OCA having to re-wrap and repair them, and
they are often heavier to post.
Guidelines on submitting work to your tutor for review (not for assessment).
Package up your work from the section of the course you have completed. This should be sent in an A1
portfolio plus a box if necessary. Tutors are keen to see your sketchbooks but please do not submit more than
ONE sketchbook each time you send work to your tutor for review. This can be inserted into the portfolio when
you send it to your tutor. You should also include the relevant section of your learning log, unless you can
email this to your tutor. If you keep a learning blog, please provide the url to your tutor.
Please note that assignments sent to your tutor for review should weigh no more than 5 kg. This includes
the weight of the portfolio and sketchbook. If your work weighs more than this there will be a surcharge for
postage and administration to return your work.
Clarifcation on presentation of work when studying multiple courses
If you are studying more than one OCA course at the same time, you must ensure that your work on the
courses you are studying do not overlap in any way. You must keep separate learning logs, demonstrating
that the research you do is specifcally for each of the courses. It is essential that when you present your work
for assessment that it is clear which work relates to which course. There must be a discrete set of work for each
course so that the assessors are clear what they are assessing.
Students cannot present the same piece of work for marks on two different units. However, if a students is
studying two units at the same time and doing general sketchbook work for example, to support both units,
this person can submit the sketchbooks for both units as evidence of background research.
About assessment at OCA
The assessment process involves your work being marked by one assessor and then moderated by another
assessor. The average amount of time spent reviewing each submission at assessment is 45 minutes, but this
may increase at level 3 (HE6).
The assessment process is validated by an external examiner who observes the assessment and reviews a
sample of the submissions.
The resulting marks are provisional. The marks are then confrmed by an exam board convened by the
validating university, UCA.