High School Courses

The dates for the 2026 HSC program are:

Module 1
Tuesday 14 – Friday 17 July 2026 and;

Module 2
Monday 28 September – Friday 2 October 2026

The HSC Intensive provides an opportunity for Year 11 students in Visual Arts to enrich and extend their study within a choice of seven specialised disciplines:

Ceramics

Armed with clay and an array of raw materials, students will embark on an exploration of the natural world. Students will uncover the potential of clay as they meld, shape, and fire their compositions. They will learn new creative processes and push the boundaries of what’s possible within the ceramic studio. This immersive experience takes them on a journey from inspiration through research and development, and on to a realised artwork ready for exhibition.

Life Drawing

Prepare to be immersed in the art of capturing the subject of the human figure. Students will spend the entire course drawing the undraped life model. Through this process, students will improve their observational drawing skills, delving deep into proportion, perspective in foreshortening, and form. Different methodologies will be employed to capture the figure – from lightning-quick gestural sketches that capture the spirit of the moment to sustained explorations that place the figure in a spatial context.

Painting

Be inspired by the champions of art history as you enter the compelling world of transcription – a unique process that involves the analysis and reinterpretation of historically significant images. Through meticulous research and hands-on practice, students explore the formal qualities and language of these masterpieces. This program empowers students to explore the depths of artistic expression as they observe the surface, composition, and the interplay of planar and architectural space. They will also explore the cultural and conceptual context of each painting, unlocking the artistic intent of the artworks that they are researching. This newfound perspective will infuse their own creative medium with fresh and exciting insights.

Printmaking

Students will immerse themselves in a diverse array of printmaking techniques to enhance and broaden their experience within the printmaking studio. Central to our program is a focus on etching in an exploration of contemporary technical, aesthetic, and creative intentions. The course is designed to fuel independent research and imagination to produce a folio of prints.

Sculpture

Students will dive headfirst into the exploration of the human figure using a variety of sculptural methods. Starting with a hands-on study in clay, they’ll investigate the human form and progress to a sustained exploration of the figure. The culmination of this course is the creation of a large-scale figure using select methods of construction. With this final project, students are encouraged to reinterpret sculptural conventions and traditions.

Still Photography

Students immerse themselves in the full spectrum of image‑making, from the expressive possibilities of digital photography to the tactile magic of analogue processes. They explore visual‑storytelling techniques, master composition, light, and colour, and have hands‑on experiences with analogue processes such as 35mm film, photograms, cyanotypes, and digital photo shoots and professional post‑production editing. This workshop empowers students to sharpen their photographic instincts and transform the way they see the world.

Time-based forms

Students will explore creative practices that unfold through duration, movement, and sequence. Through the mediums of video, animation, sound, and performance documentation, students learn how rhythm, pacing, narrative structure, and editing shape the viewer’s experience. Through completing their own artworks, students develop technical skills in recording and post‑production while also investigating conceptual approaches to time, change, and transformation. 

The fee for all students who are accepted into the NAS HSC Intensive Studio Practice is $475*. All regional students who require boarding will be asked to pay an additional $475 ($950 total). This will be payable on acceptance to the course.

Boarding facilities are limited and can only be offered to rural/​​regional students. Boarding students will be offered share accommodation at a nearby hostel and are always supervised by two teachers. Students living within the Sydney Metropolitan and Blue Mountains area, the Central Coast and Wollongong will not be offered boarding facilities. Alternate accommodation suggestions can be supplied upon request.

In the event of the student needing financial assistance, a ​“NAS Regional Boarding Scholarship” may be applied for on the application form. This will cover full or partial fees. Eligible students are those who, due to financial restrictions and without the scholarship, would find it difficult or impossible to attend the program. A letter of support from the school should accompany the application outlining the student’s eligibility.

Please note: The NAS HSC Intensive Studio Practice now operates as a University Developed Board Endorsed Course, and as such the National Art School will have responsibility for:

• Forwarding a list of participating schools to the NSW Education Standards Authority so that the course appears in Schools Online to enable those schools to enter their students.
• Informing school principals in writing if at any time a student is at risk of receiving an ​‘N’ (Non-completion) Determination.
• Advising the school in writing when students have satisfactorily completed the course.

Each School will have responsibility for:

• Entering students into the course on Schools Online at the commencement of Year 12. Once the school has entered the student’s course on Schools Online, the NAS HSC Intensive Studio Practice appears on the student’s HSC certificate as a one-unit course but will not contribute to the student’s ATAR count. NAS will issue each student with a ​“Statement of Results” which will include a mark out of 50.

* Course Fees may change

To apply for the course, you need to be a high achiever in your Preliminary Visual Arts Course and show that you’re serious about your studies. You also need an endorsement from your Visual Arts teacher.

Applications for the HSC Intensive Studio Practice program are now open. Applications close 2 April 2026. Applicants will be informed of the result of their application at the end of May 2026.
 

Our off the shelf workshop topics give your students a taste of tertiary study. Facilitated by experienced NAS Artist Educators, the workshops cover a range of topics, styles, and mediums. Please see our off the shelf topics below. If you have another topic in mind, please let us know and we can organise a bespoke workshop for you.

DRAWING

Expressive Drawing

In this workshop students will explore expressive Drawing techniques and increase their knowledge and understanding of the importance of medium, composition and form.  Students will be guided through approaches to observing still lives and develop their own expressive voice. Using various drawing mediums, students will be encouraged to experiment with colour, layer and mark making to develop expressive work.

The Built Environment

Working plein air on the NAS site, students will investigate the built environment focussing on perspective, architectural forms, and linear composition. Supported by experienced NAS Artist Educator, students will develop compositional techniques that capture the essence of the world around them using a variety of drawing mediums.

CERAMICS

Hand building

Students will develop skills in using a range of hand building techniques to explore your ideas and create your own projects in clay. Move from pinch pots to vessels and coiling to sculptures, while learning a range of surface decoration techniques that create texture and colour, with tools and found materials. Completed artworks will be painted using underglaze and slip application.

Wheel throwing (Only available as a bespoke booking)

Students will experiment with techniques of forming clay objects on the wheel. Learn how to throw pots with a strong architectural form to create objects of simplicity and beauty. Explore the basic structures, movements, and techniques of wheel throwing. The workshop will offer discoveries and direction for developing projects in the students’ practice as well as developing their own technical skills and understanding of the medium.

PAINTING

Methods and Materials in Realism

Working from series of natural and domestic still life objects, students will be introduced to painting techniques and be guided through a series of structured exercises and demonstrations of methods and materials. Students will learn the fundamental skills of painting, including preparing supports, using coloured grounds, using tonal underpainting, setting the palette, mixing colours, handling paint and structuring paint in layers.

Composition and Colour

Students will explore methods of abstraction through painting. Working with colour theory and the elements of design, students will develop their own unique compositions inspired by the 20^th century Modernists. Students will learn the fundamental skills of painting, including preparing supports, using coloured grounds, using tonal underpainting, setting the palette, mixing colours, handling paint and structuring paint in layers.

PHOTOMEDIA

Techniques in the Darkroom – Camera Obscuras

Experiment with photography by taking photos with a camera obscura. Explore paper negatives and capturing images using the pinhole technique. Develop the images in the darkroom to view your magic images.

Long Exposure Photography – Drawing with Light

Explore drawing with light with long exposure photography. Create your own unique light installations using torches, glow sticks, fairy lights and more. Learn about long exposure and low light photography to capture your amazing work on camera.

PRINTMAKING

Etching

Explore the medium of etching with a variety of tools and techniques. Learn to work with acid, hard ground, soft ground, chine-collé and other techniques, and acquire the skills to transfer your printing plates onto paper using a printing press. Students will explore the exciting range of results that are possible through the etching process as a single print or small series of artworks. Students will be encouraged to draw inspiration from the natural and sandstone features of the National Art School for their image making.

Experimental Printmaking

Students will begin by exploring individual ideas around the concept of ​‘nature’ to inspire a series of experimental prints. The workshop will combine a range of printmaking processes such as monoprinting, and relief printing to enrich the student’s knowledge and scope of the printmaking studio. In an expressive and experimental manner, students will explore the potential mark making possibilities to develop their ideas and imagery using a playful and direct approach. Through a process of selection and refinement, students will create a small collection of original prints that record the process of experimentation, printed marks and micro compositions.

SCULPTURE

This workshop will introduce the student to a variety of construction techniques in cardboard. They will build skills and understanding in developing the human form as a maquette (small sculpture) in cardboard using a Cubist interpretation of the figure. Projects will also include looking at the figure in motion as well as how the techniques and understanding of the figure could be used in an installation. This workshop will help build their understanding of weight, proportion, scale, balance and form.

Bookings open in October of each year for the following calendar year. A minimum of two-months’ notice is required for workshop bookings. All bookings can include a complimentary campus and gallery tour upon request.

Dates

Workshops are available during school term depending on available studio space. Please see below which days disciplines are usually available.

Monday: Major Disciplines
Tuesday – Friday: Drawing

Booking confirmation will be sent to schools when they receive their invoice. Payment must be made for the workshop prior to arriving on campus.

Price

For a workshop quote, please contact education.​outreach@​nas.​edu.​au.

The workshop fee covers:

• One National Art School Lecturer
• One Education Assistant (for major discipline workshops)
• One Studio Technician
• Studio hire
• Materials
• Administration