11–12Visual Arts 11–12 Syllabus (2026)

The Visual Arts 11–12 Syllabus provides students with opportunities to engage in art making and art criticism and art history through the investigation of artists, artworks, the world and audiences. Students also investigate and integrate Practice, Artworld concepts and Viewpoints to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills in the visual arts.

Through the study of Visual Arts 11–12, students:

• develop the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to communicate ideas and meaning through the interrelated practices of Visual Arts: art making, art criticism and art history
• develop and refine their practice by investigating ideas, concepts and interests through research, exploration and understanding of materials, techniques and processes
• explore the relationships between artists, artworks, audiences and the world
• make artworks that communicate meaning with intention and increasing independence
• develop skills in analysis and evaluation to make judgements about artists, artworks and visual arts practices from diverse cultural, social, historical and contemporary contexts
• construct points of view and arguments about how meaning is constructed and communicated in their own artworks and the artworks of others.

The Year 11 Visual Arts course comprises a study of:

• 120 indicative hours across 2 focus areas.

Year 11 focus areas	Indicative hours
Art making	60
Art criticism and art history	60

In the Year 11 Visual Arts course, students are required to:

• undertake at least 2 case studies that integrate Art making and Art criticism and art history
• study Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ artworks and the artists who create them
• study artworks and practices by artists from different times, places and contexts
• make artworks in at least 2 different art forms
• develop bodies of verbal and written critical interpretations and historical accounts of the world of Visual Arts
• use a Visual Arts diary to document art making and sources.

The Year 12 Visual Arts course comprises a study of:

• 120 indicative hours across 2 focus areas.

Year 12 focus areas	Indicative hours
Art making	60
Art criticism and art history	60

In the Year 12 Visual Arts course, students focus on interpretative investigations and relationships and are required to:

• study at least 3 case studies in Art criticism and art history
• study Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ artworks and the artists who create them
• study artworks and practices by artists from different times, places and contexts
• make a body of work
• develop bodies of verbal and written critical interpretations and historical accounts of the world of Visual Arts
• use a Visual Arts diary to document art making practice, research and sources.

Case studies are designed by teachers to support investigations into Practice, Artworld concepts and Viewpoints in Art making, and Art criticism and art history in Year 11 and Year 12. Case studies can be studies of individual cases from the world of art, and they can also be a part of related investigations into broader cases. Case studies can vary in duration, from 5-20 hours, depending on the scope, depth and breadth of the investigation.

The content of a case study focuses on cases that exemplify issues and complexities within the world of art that arise within Practice, exchanges among Artworld concepts and Viewpoints. Case studies can include established artworks, artists and practitioners, forms, and practices interpreted through the lens of one or more Viewpoints. Case studies may be drawn from historical or contemporary contexts. They may consider artists and practitioners with diverse abilities or experiences or from diverse backgrounds.

Case studies that include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Communities should align with Loading .

In Year 11, case studies explore Practice, Artworld concepts and Viewpoints in specific ways. Each case study should develop students’ understanding of the function, scope and nature of Practice, Artworld concepts and the relationships between these and Viewpoints in Art making and Art criticism and art history.

In Year 12, the range of case studies must provide sufficient scope and depth to support student autonomy and understanding of the highly integrated relationship between Practice, Artworld concepts and Viewpoints in Art criticism and art history. Case studies consider how Practice, Artworld concepts and Viewpoints contribute to the development of a complex and nuanced understanding of visual arts over time. Case studies in Art criticism and art history must provide opportunities for students to develop a range of critical interpretations and historical accounts including reviews, debates, critiques, historical explanations of art in the form of narrative accounts, documentaries, and comparative accounts of practice shaped by subject matter, conventions and traditions in Art criticism and art history.

Some students with disability may require adjustments when engaging in Art criticism and art history. This may include the use of assistive technology (AT) to access images, digital archives, artworks, and other resources in accessible formats.

In Visual Arts 11–12, Art making provides students opportunities to explore a range of art forms as well as the intentions evident in the representation of ideas, concepts and subject matter.

In Year 11 and Year 12 the range of art forms includes:

• ceramics
• collection of works
• designed objects and environments
• documented forms
• drawing
• graphic design
• painting
• photomedia
• printmaking
• sculpture
• textiles and fibre
• time-based forms.

When developing artworks or bodies of work, students investigate a range of artworks, artists, ideas, representations and subject matter. Investigations into the practices of others support students to develop their conceptual, technical and material practice to shape meaning.

Throughout Year 11, students produce artworks related to the ideas, concepts and subject matter from their studies of Practice, Artworld concepts and Viewpoints. Through investigative art making, students make informed decisions and refine artworks that can develop into provisional bodies of work. Through this study, students come to understand the nature of their practice.

In Year 12, students extend and consolidate their understanding of art making through the development and production of a body of work. The body of work demonstrates their increasingly integrated knowledge and application of Practice, Artworld concepts and Viewpoints. It represents a student’s interests as points of view through a body of work. The body of work can take the form of a single work or a series of works produced in one of the art forms. It is created with consideration of the art form’s material qualities and technical conditions and the significance and meanings of these within the traditions of the visual arts.

Some students with disability may require adjustments, including assistive technology (AT), to engage in making artworks and/or the creation of a body of work.

Students are required to keep a Visual Arts diary in Year 11 and Year 12 to document their art making practice.

In Year 12 there should be connections between the content of the diary and what students produce as they develop their body of work. The Visual Arts diary supports the ongoing and formative exchanges between teachers and students in the development of artworks and bodies of work.

The Visual Arts diary should document:

• research, planning, reflection, intentions, strategies, motives and judgements
• research on artists’ practice
• development of ideas, concepts and representational strategies
• investigations of subject matter, interests, issues and conceptual challenges
• experimentation with skills, materials, procedures and art forms
• exploration of artwork properties, compositional choices, materials and techniques
• refinements, curatorial choices, evaluations and decisions.

The Visual Arts diary should include evidence of their material and technical practice and may include sketches, research, annotations, notes and ideas, critical comment and reflections, photographs, and collections of objects. It can take the form of a sketchbook, folder, container for 3D works, digital formats or a combination of these. The Visual Arts diary may be developed in formats that best accommodate a student’s needs, including enlarged print, multimodal representations, braille, speech-to-text and translated texts.

Students must clearly cite all sources used in the development of their body of work, including imagery, sound, technical details, processes, products, digital platforms, applications, software, generative tools and print references. They must also document all matters that arise, including appropriation of artworks, Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property (ICIP) protocols and Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDSov).

In Years 11 and 12, students engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artworks, artists and practitioners. This content supports students to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ Cultural Knowledges, Practices and Expressions. This content is to be applied intentionally, shaping the development of knowledge, understanding and skills within the Visual Arts 11–12 Syllabus.

The study of artworks by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, including artists, historians, critics and curators, should consider the following.

Cultural connection to Community, Country or Place

• Students recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artworks are grounded in relationships to Country or Place, kinship systems and Community values. Students learn how these connections influence artistic ideas, choices, materials, techniques and the meanings represented in artworks.

Historical, political and social perspectives

• Students investigate how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artworks can respond to historical events, political movements and social change. Students consider how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists can use the visual arts to communicate resilience, Cultural continuity, identity and truth-telling across time.

Representation, identity and voice

• Students explore the artistic and Cultural value of artworks, considering how identity, diversity, histories and Cultures are represented and how these expressions sustain Cultural Knowledges across generations. They learn about how connections to Country or Place, Storytelling and lived experiences shape artistic voice, and influence the meanings, intentions, and use of signs and symbols within artworks.

Creative and collaborative processes

• Students consider how art making reflects Cultural Practices such as collective creation, Storytelling, intergenerational learning and Community collaboration. Students explore the importance of engaging with Elders, Cultural Knowledge Holders, artists and Community members in the development of visual artworks.

Ethical and respectful engagement, including Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP)

• Students engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artworks in ways that respect Cultural protocols and integrity and that demonstrate respect, connection, and care for Country or Place. This includes understanding permissions, Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP), Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDSov), and appropriate use of stories, signs and symbols.

Audience, interpretation and meaning

• Students consider how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artworks communicate relationships with Culture, Community, Cultural identity and Country or Place, and how different audiences engage with and understand these connections.
• Students reflect on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artworks are viewed and interpreted, and how this informs a range of meanings.

Schools are required to ensure they follow Loading  in delivering the Visual Arts 11–12 Syllabus.