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The Apprentice of Fine Arts (AFA) in Creative Writing

Developed, delivered, and awarded by The Writers’ Examination Board (WEB) in association with Bristol Grammar School (BGS)
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About us

Welcome to the Writers’ Examination Board (WEB). Working in association with Bristol Grammar School, we administer a programme in Creative Writing, which launched for first teaching in September 2017 and for which we awarded our first set of grades in 2019. This will hopefully be of interest to teachers who had a positive experience of delivering the AS/A2 qualification in Creative Writing formerly offered by AQA until it expired in 2019.
We have a small cohort of twelve centres, mostly in the south of England, including schools from both the maintained and the independent sectors. Most centres run the AFA as a fourth enrichment/elective course alongside A-Levels. A description of the AFA is published on the UCAS website, so candidates may add the AFA to their UCAS applications, but the AFA does not currently receive tariff points.
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Click here to view the course specification

2027-2029
2024-2025

Click here to view the course specification

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Key highlights

Why choose this course?

The AFA is closely based on the A-Level in Creative Writing (AQA) that ran until 2019.

AFA and UCAS information

The AFA does not have tariff points, but an EIP of the AFA is published on the UCAS website and candidates may add it to their UCAS applications.

Course overview

Portfolio
WRITE-1: non-examined assessment (60% of the AFA)
Commissioned Writing
WRITE-2: 2-hour examination (15% of the AFA)
Responsive Writing
WRITE-3: 3-hour examination (25% of the AFA)

Resources for the AFA in Creative Writing

Participating centres can share resources, ideas, teaching materials, and exemplars using OneDrive. When you become a participating centre, please ask David Briggs to provide access to this drive.

OneDrive
One Drive

Please note: you will only be able to access this drive when you become a participating centre.

Support and professional development

WEB hosts a biennial meeting at BGS for the principal examiners to present the outcomes of assessment for the three components. This meeting also provides an opportunity to review the AFA specification and to provide more guidance on delivering the AFA.
It may be possible for David, Andrew, or Maria to visit your centre to provide more guidance on how to deliver the specification. Please approach WEB to discuss terms.
For general questions and queries, and to enquire about becoming an AFA centre, please contact David Briggs.

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AFA components

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