Credit sources and keep your work your own
Document references, distinguish research from your own work, and follow the centre's submission and authentication process.
StudyForA provides original planning and reflective practice, not Cambridge-marked artwork or a complete studio course. Art & Design outcomes are personal and open-ended; text responses cannot verify material handling, image quality, safety or the quality of a portfolio. A qualified art teacher should review practical work and portfolio choices.
Before you begin
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
What helps a portfolio remain transparent and authentic?
What you will learn
- Produce and present original candidate work with transparent source information.
- Evaluate how the work communicates your intention, using evidence from the decisions you tested.
Keep a source record
Record the maker, title or description, date and source for references where that information is available.
Identify your own photographs, drawings and experiments. If you adapt a reference, explain what changed and why.
Protect the candidate's authorship
The artwork and portfolio must be the candidate's own work. Do not submit copied images or another person's work as your own.
Use the current Cambridge Handbook and submission guidance. Teachers authenticate work and centres manage the digital submission.
Sources for this lesson
Pause and explain
Why keep source and process notes?
Worked example
A portfolio page combines a candidate's drawing and a reference image. What should be made clear?
Show the worked solution
- Separate the candidate's drawing from the reference.
- Name or cite the reference source.
- Explain how it informed a later original choice.
Answer Label the reference and the candidate's own drawing separately, add source details, and note which feature informed the experiment. This makes authorship and influence clear.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
You use a public-domain photograph to study a building. What should you record on the page?
Give me a hint
Record the source and the specific way you used it.
Compare my reasoning
- Identify the image and source.
- Label your own study clearly.
- Explain what you changed or learned.
Record the creator if known, image description, source and date accessed; label the study as your own drawing from that reference. Then describe the architectural feature you observed. Follow the teacher's guidance on image rights.
Look for these in your work
- Provides source details
- Separates study from source
- Explains learning
A classmate offers you a finished design to copy for your portfolio. What should you do?
Give me a hint
Keep your work your own and seek an original starting point.
Compare my reasoning
- Decline to submit the other person's design.
- Record any permitted discussion as feedback if relevant.
- Develop a new response from your own observation and tests.
Do not copy or submit the classmate's design. You can discuss a general visual question with the teacher, then make your own observations, experiments and decisions.
Look for these in your work
- Protects authorship
- Uses feedback appropriately
- Returns to original investigation
A digital file contains images from several sources and the candidate's own work. How can the candidate prepare a clear submission record?
Give me a hint
Use a page list and label each image consistently.
Compare my reasoning
- List the candidate's own work and source material.
- Check that every reference is cited and every page is in order.
- Review the current centre and Cambridge submission requirements.
Prepare a source list and clearly label the candidate's work, references and process pages. Confirm file format, order and upload requirements with the teacher; the site does not submit or authenticate Cambridge portfolios.
Look for these in your work
- Tracks all sources
- Checks order and authorship
- Uses current guidance
Common mistakes
- Leaving source images unattributed
- Presenting a generated or found image as personal observation
- Assuming an AI tool can authenticate the candidate's process
What can you explain now?
Why keep source and process notes?
Compare with the explanation
They make influence and authorship transparent
Clear records support the centre's authentication responsibilities.
After trying it yourself, choose your next review. This is your self-assessment.
Your review choice appears on Today. Sign in to sync it across devices.
Make it stick
Explain one visual decision you made and what evidence informed it.
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.