Frequently Asked Questions for Schools

How does it work?
At the time of purchase you will be given a code, e.g. ‘YourSchool1234’ and a link.
Students then go to that link > Click Buy > Create an account > Click ‘Have a Coupon’ > Enter the code and click ‘Apply’.
This enrolment procedure is also the same for teachers. Once enrolled, students and teachers can access all of the course at any time by signing in at the same web address.
The code can be activated up to one year after purchase and once activated, students will have access to the course for 365 days.

How will this course help students gain higher grades?
Under ‘Photography’ in the Art and Design specifications, it states ‘Students are required to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills when undertaking work in Photography’. The very nature of this course encourages students to experiment with the technical control of photography building their skills in this area to a very high level.
The course will enable students to score very highly in AO2 and AO3 of the Assessment Objects. Assessment Objective 2 states; ‘Refine’ your work by ‘exploring’ ideas and ‘experimenting with techniques and processes’. The AO3 criteria states; ‘record ideas, observations and insights in visual and other forms’. Tasks are set and examples given that enable students to meet the very top of these assessment objectives. The course shows students how to control photographic techniques then evidence this learning not only in visual form, but by adding correct annotations using specific photographic keywords and phrases.
Without that technical control of photography, students cannot fully explore it’s potential and the skill level of their work will be limited within their GCSE or A Level. Without knowing the specific keywords and terminology they cannot record their visual work accurately or communicate their ideas properly when evidencing their work. This course gives students these skills enabling them to score very highly in these assessment objects and take full control of photography.

What does the course involve?
This course is designed to assist teachers of photography who have very little knowledge of how this complex craft works. It will provide students with all the technical knowledge needed to control photography enabling them to get much more creative with it. It will also help students achieve much higher marks in AO2 and AO3 of the GCSE or A level assessment objectives.
The course is structured in a series of lessons that cover the technical aspects of photography and is accompanied by a detailed guide and Scheme of Work for teachers to follow. Each lesson is based around a video which explains the topic and set’s tasks for students to complete. Where appropriate, lessons are accompanied with PDF’s, student examples and a quiz to assess their knowledge as they go through the course.
It’s structured to enable students to learn in manageable bite size chunks one step at a time. The structure of learning comes from over 15 years of tried and tested photography teaching techniques that are proven to get results.

How long will it take students to complete the course?
The project can take anywhere from half a term to a term as it’s dependent on your circumstances. The scheme of work that accompanies the course will give a rough guidance of time scale for each lesson e.g. 2-4 hrs. The shortest time provided will be based on a perfect set up of 5 students with 5 DSLR cameras and the longest time scale provided will be for a challenging set up of 30 students with 5 DSLR cameras. The lesson time can also be shortened by setting some of the tasks as homework’s.

What does it cost?
£299 + VAT for 30 Students

How long do students have access to the course?
Students have access to the course for 1 year from activating their code giving plenty of time for students to recap on parts of photography knowledge after they have finished the course.

How do I pay?
Click here to complete our Purchase Form and we will invoice your school

Will my payment renew automatically like a subscription?
No. Your payment is a one off cost and will not renew unless you want to continue using our services.

What devices will play the course?
Students can watch the course on any device that can access a web page and the internet. This includes smartphones, tablets, PC’s and Mac’s.

Can I watch my course offline?
No, but you can access it anywhere you can access the internet, for instance over Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G connections.

What equipment do I need?
Any of the following cameras: DSLR, Mirrorless, CSC or a good quality bridge camera and a tripod.

Do I need any photography experience to use this course?
No, this course is designed for beginners. It’s structured to enable students to learn one step at a time, in manageable bite size chunks which build their photography knowledge so they become very competent photographers.

Do students have to watch all the lessons in order of the curriculum outline?
We recommend you take the course one lesson at a time in the order they are presented in. Years of research has gone into proving that this structure works. However, if you feel you are confident in certain parts of the course you can move forward and back as you wish.

Can students watch lessons more than once?
Yes, you have full access to all of your lessons for one year after enrolment. Watch them once or one hundred times, it’s up to you!

Can I contact you if I need to?
Yes, if you have any technical problems you can contact us here.

Is the course kept up-to-date?
Yes, technology in the photography world can change pretty fast and the good news is, you don’t have to do anything to get these updates. The beauty of this course is that as resources and videos are updated they just appear in your course, simple!

As a teacher, what do I need to do?
As a teacher, all you have to do is facilitate the project and watch the students learn this beautiful craft! There is a teacher’s guide and scheme of work to follow and we recommend you read this and watch the lessons before you deliver them to students.

How do I assess the work?
Where appropriate students will complete quizzes to test their technical knowledge of photography. It’s recommended that students print the ‘Quiz Completed’ page to show as evidence. These quizzes also make great starter or plenary tasks during your lessons.
The quality of work in visual and note form is assessed in accordance with the general art and design assessment objectives. Specific keywords and terminology will be assessed in the quizzes and can be cross referenced with the accompanying PDF’s.

How do I access the course?
When you sign up you will go straight into your student area and be emailed a link to this for future reference. You can also go to https://online.theschoolofphotography.com and sign in at the top of the page to go to your student area. We recommend you bookmark this address for ease of access.

How does the Money Back Guarantee work?
Getting practical and hands on is needed when learning photography. Please remember to complete each task accurately.
The money back guarantee is on the basis students complete the tasks outlined in the course and have not learnt anything from them. You will need to send us all the digital pictures from the completed tasks with a description of how you took the shots. The pictures must contain all its metadata and must not have been tampered with in anyway. If we find you have made mistakes when completing the tasks, we may ask you to complete the tasks again accurately before offering any refund.
To claim a refund please email customercare@theschoolofphotography.com and we will inform you of what you need to do.

I have forgotten my log in details?
No problem. Go to https://online.theschoolofphotography.com/users/sign_in. You need to log in with the email you used to sign onto the course. If you have forgotten your password then click Forgot Password and follow the instructions.