Entrance exams

The process for taking entrance exams at Dionisio Ortiz Art School in Cordoba is based on current regulations (Order of 17 April 2008, BOJA 87 of 2 May 2008 that regulate the exam period, structure and organisation of entrance exams for vocational training courses in Plastic Arts and Design, and Order of 24 February 2007, BOJA 41 of 26 February 2007, which determines the procedure for student admission.)

Entrance exams are held between 25 and 30 June each year in the ordinary exam period and, exceptionally, when places remain available on courses after the registration process, in an extraordinary exam session held on 12 September or the next working day, as applicable.

The date of the entrance exams will be set at least 15 days in advance and the following information will be published: date, structure and type of tests in the exam, duration and any materials needed.

The director of the Art School, in accordance with the process of deciding any vacant school places and according to the procedure established in the sole article of the Order of 19 February 2008 modifying the Order of 24 February 2007, will publish the list of vacant places on each vocational training course, taking into account that they must be offered according to the following scheme:

• 50% of places for applicants who only have to take the specific exam
• 30% of places for applicants who are exempt from the exams
• 20% of places for applicants taking the general exam + specific exam

Places that are not filled by sections b and c will be moved to a, while if there are still places left unallocated in section a, they will be divided proportionally between b and c.

All applicants who do not meet the academic requirements will be required to sit the General Exam.

The exam paper is unique and common to all courses of the same level. It consists of a written test on questions set by the Court, and a text analysis.

• INTERMEDIATE COURSES: the maximum duration of the exam will be one and a half hours, and the content will be related to the ESO curriculum.
• ADVANCED COURSES: the maximum duration of the exam will be two hours, and the content will be related to the core subjects in the Baccalaureate curriculum.

Evaluation criteria: students’ will be assessed on their comprehension of the text and highlighted terms, clarity and precision of explanations, coherence of reasoning, and personal, critical and reasoned judgement.

Marking will be performed by the relevant examination boards at the end of the exam, and students will be marked with a PASS or FAIL. The Evaluation Commission will draw up and sign the corresponding minutes for publication on the same day.

A period of 48 hours is established by the regulations for candidates to make a written COMPLAINT about the results, and the Evaluation Committee must REVIEW THE COMPLAINT within the following 24 hours, recording any decisions made in a report that will be published on the noticeboard to inform the interested parties.

Candidates who are marked with a FAIL in the General Exam will be excluded from the exam period and will not be able to sit the Specific Exam.

A pass in the General Exam will be valid for subsequent exam periods.

Successful candidates who have been awarded a PASS and candidates who are exempt from the GENERAL entrance exam must sit the SPECIFIC entrance exam.

Exam papers will be different depending on the level of the training course the applicant has applied for and will consist of two tests:

INTERMEDIATE COURSES:

– TEST 1Duration: maximum duration of one and a half hours. The test will consist of making sketches for a work within the scope of the training course to which the student has applied based on a topic proposed by the Evaluation Commission.

– Evaluation criteria: applicants will be assessed on their analysis skills, sense of description and clarity of ideas, as well as their ability to communicate graphically.

-TEST 2: maximum duration of three hours. The test will consist of creating a two or three-dimensional work, based on the sketches drawn in the previous test.

– Evaluation criteria: applicants will be assessed on their skills at synthesis based on their use of compositional elements, as well as their sculptural and aesthetic sense in relation to the course they wish to study.

ADVANCED COURSES:

-TEST 1: maximum duration of one and a half hours. The test will consist of making a drawing based on a specific model.

– Evaluation criteria: applicants will be assessed on their suitable use of techniques and procedures related to two-dimensional representation, and their ability to produce a graphic analysis of the proposed form, distinguish its basic structural elements, and represent them in a personal synthesis of composition and expression.

-TEST 2: maximum duration of three hours. The test will involve creating a two or three-dimensional work based on a proposed topic that is closely linked to the relevant training course; appropriate sketches must be made containing the data and views necessary to be able to read the graphic work.

– Evaluation criteria: Applicants will be assessed on their ability to methodically apply, as applicable, the basic descriptive procedures of the designed object or graphic design, and their ability to use, in accordance with their own creative ideas, the expressive possibilities of the graphic or sculptural elements and the functional adequacy of the work that they produce.

Marking will be performed by the corresponding examination boards upon completion of the exams. Each test shall be graded with a numerical score from 0 to 10 to one decimal place. The final grade will be the arithmetic mean of both tests, expressed to two decimal places, which shall only be calculated when the applicant has obtained a grade of five or more in both tests.

The Evaluation Commission will draw up and sign the corresponding minutes for publication on the same day.

A period of 48 hours is established by the regulations for candidates to make a written COMPLAINT about the results, and the Evaluation Commission must REVIEW THE COMPLAINTS within the following 24 hours. Decisions will be recorded in minutes that will be published on the noticeboard to communicate the results to the interested parties.

Entrance exams will be valid for all centres in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia that teach vocational training in plastic arts and design and passing the exams will give applicants the right to register in accordance with regulations in force during the corresponding training course year (Decree 326/2009 of 15 September, BOJA 191 of 29 September 2009).

The Director of the Art School will publish the list of applicants admitted to each training course and who may register, taking into account the scores obtained by applicants and the number of vacant places that are available in accordance with the Order of 19 February 2008. In accordance with the provisions of Article 29 of the Order of 24 February 2007, priority will be given to students who have taken the test at the school itself. Only in the event that vacancies still remain will these places be awarded to applicants who have successfully taken the test at another school.

An appeal against the final decision of the Evaluation Commission may be lodged with the head of the corresponding Provincial Delegation.

A pass in the Specific Exam and its grade will NOT be valid for subsequent exam periods.

Students must register in the July period, otherwise he or she will have to re-apply for pre-registration and take the Specific Exam in the September exam period, in the event that it is held because vacancies remain.