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A Level Photography

Comberton Sixth Form

West Street, Comberton, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB23 7DU

GCE A/AS Level or Equivalent

Level 3

Available start dates

Tuesday, 01 September 2026

Comberton Sixth Form

2 Year(s)

Full time

Daytime/working hours

Course Summary

Why Study Photography?

Photography plays an increasingly important role in our lives: We carry devices with cameras around in our pocket, we share images and communicate on social media with photography, we are exposed to the world and its issues through photography on the internet. The digital revolution has seen photography become a hugely creative subject with software allowing for control of every pixel in an image. Technology is driving creativity into completely new and exciting directions. This is a really exciting time to study the subject; whether you are interested in artistic, documentary or commercial styles of photography, the course at Comberton aims to inspire your work towards a professional standard. Our pupils achieve excellent results with many going on to study the subject at degree level.

Course Details

What will I study?

The Photography course at Comberton is well-equipped to give students the best possible start to their potential career in the world of contemporary photography. All our students to date have achieved places at highly-regarded degree courses and we have recently out-performed the other main sixth form colleges in the area. Our early cohorts of students are now entering the world of photography professionally and are feeding back to current students about their experience. We continue to build on our successes and embrace new technology that seems to develop rapidly every year.

The Photography A-Level course is split into three components:

1.Foundation Skills
2.The Personal Project
3. The Exam Project

Foundation Skills

Pupils will explore the basics of Photography from the beginning. This will include early learning modules on camera mechanics, how exposure works, RAW processing and Photoshop, shooting and composition.

Once familiar with these skills, the course then develops knowledge of studio photography, using different types of flash lighting and studio techniques to produce professional-looking portrait and fashion work. You will also learn about more complex forms of contemporary photography such as multi-shot HDR and cutting-edge Photoshop compositing methods. As the work advances, you will start to develop interests in particular genres of photography that inspire you. This leads to…

The Personal Project

This is your major coursework project and is worth 60% of your mark. You will begin in the third term of your first year and carry over into the first term of the second year. This is a chance to explore a style of photography, and individual photographers, in great depth. This has always resulted in a highly successful body of work. You will plan and execute a number of shoots that will develop skills in chosen areas. The learning at this point will involve individual tutorials and personalized skills-teaching for your chosen style. Alongside this there will be some further whole-class learning in Speedlight photography and creative darkroom techniques.

The Exam Project

This is a project that begins with a list of possible start points from the exam board (EDUQAS). You are encouraged to interpret these towards your own interests and goals as you explore and develop new styles. The project is worth 40% of the whole mark and culminates in a three day extended studio and editing period. There will be a residential trip as part of this. Recent years have seen us visit London, Paris and New York.

All students exhibit their work each year for moderation and the end-of-year show. Your best work will be framed by us and will be presented alongside your work-journals/Powerpoints that document the background work to your final pieces. We then run a second exhibition in the Performance Hall celebrating the best of the year’s work.

Photography Extras

We run a biannual residential trip in which we have visited Paris and New York in recent years. There are also further trips to London. Some students get the chance to produce professional commercial work through school contacts and relationships with local business.

How will it be delivered and assessed?

Entry requirements

Minimum Entry Requirements:

5 x 5s

4 in English and Maths

Subject Specific Entry Requirements:

None

Your next steps...

What can I do with Photography after sixth form?

Photography A level and Photoshop skills can support applications for further qualifications and careers in many creative fields including film, graphic design, advertising, fine art, illustration and web design. Specific careers in photography could involve photo-journalism, portrait, scientific, fashion or sports photography, publicity and freelance work.

For more courses like this, check our courses page.