gcse art coursework mark scheme

The Art Teacher

Art Lesson Ideas, Plans, Free Resources, Project Plans, and Schemes of Work. An 'outstanding' art teacher in Greater Manchester. Teaching KS3 and KS4 art and design.

GCSE Art Scheme of Work: Landscape & Mark Making

The aim of this GCSE Landscape and Mark Making art project was designed for students to explore a range of painted mark making techniques, then choose the most suitable to develop into their landscape ideas.

The full scheme of work for this GCSE Art Landscape & Mark-Making Project is available on TES here OR on TPT here .

The outcomes were some fantastic painted, printed and collaged landscapes, focusing on movement, atmosphere and texture. The brief was:

Many artists are inspired by landscapes. Some draw or paint from direct observation, others create pieces from memory. Research relevant artists, looking at how they create movement and different atmospheres in their work. Develop mark-making techniques then produce a final outcome based on a landscape you have happy memories of.

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Students started by looking at (and researching) artists such as Van Gogh and Georges Seurat , here are some of the slides I used to introduce them and start discussions about the features of their work:

The GCSE art students then had a series of lessons based on different painted mark making techniques using acrylic and watercolours. I also introduced indian inks, pen and pencil work, all focused on mark-making. Some of their outcomes are below.

The different mark making lessons can all be found here.

The aim of this mark-making research was for students to explore how different painted mark making techniques created various textures and surfaces. They could also start to think about what sort of painting techniques would create which mood or atmosphere, for example ‘busy’, ‘active’ or ‘calm’ and ‘relaxing’.

The full GCSE project is available on TES here OR on TPT here .

Next we looked at how to compose our paintings, and students identified that landscapes often fit into the rule of thirds. They used this to draw some landscapes from memory. I asked the students to think of happy memories, such as going to the beach, playing out on fields, visiting family or friends etc.

The art students worked on a minimum of two drawings, with the aim of using their best one moving forward to turn into a painting. They made adjustments to their drawing work to improve the composition, then started experimenting in their sketchbooks with different mark-making techniques in the different sections of their landscapes.

Once they were happy with the technique they had chosen, and confident with how to do it in their books, they moved onto canvas.

Students were ambitious with their work, the smallest canvas size was A2. This allowed them to be expressive and master using the materials we had looked at previously.

Throughout the process students continuously looked at different artists to influence their work, even if they didn’t use their technique on their final piece. For example, we looked at John Piper , and some students chose to use mono-printing and collage on their final pieces, whilst others did not.

This was a long GCSE painting project, but I think the amount of activities meant I could keep up the pace in lessons and continuously add timescales and deadlines. Students worked really hard and produced some excellent outcomes:

You can get this GCSE Mark-Making scheme of work in full on TES here. OR on TPT here .

What do you think of the scheme of work and the student outcomes? Let me know in the comments!

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Texture galore!💖

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Making and teaching art. Based in Manchester. View all posts by art_teacher_mcr

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GCSE Art and Design

8201, 8202, 8203, 8204, 8205, 8206

• Specification
• Planning resources
• Teaching resources
• Assessment resources
• Introduction

Specification at a glance

• 3.1 Knowledge and understanding
• 3.4 Art, craft and design
• 3.5 Fine art
• 3.6 Graphic communication
• 3.7 Textile design
• 3.8 Three-dimensional design
• 3.9 Photography
• 3.10 Progression
• Scheme of assessment
• Non-exam assessment administration
• General administration

This qualification is linear. Linear means that students will sit all their exams and submit all their non-exam assessment at the end of the course.

Subject content

Students choose one or more of the titles below for study.

• Art, craft and design
• Graphic communication
• Textile design
• Three-dimensional design
• Photography

Assessments

Component details

Component 1: portfolio.

The content of the portfolio will be determined by the particular requirements and nature of the course of study undertaken. There is no restriction on the scale of work, media or materials used.

• A sustained project developed in response to a subject, theme, task or brief evidencing the journey from initial engagement with an idea(s) to the realisation of intentions. This will give students the opportunity to demonstrate, through an extended creative response, their ability to draw together different areas of knowledge, skills and/or understanding from across their course of study .
• A selection of further work resulting from activities such as trials and experiments; skills-based workshops; mini and/or foundation projects; responses to gallery, museum or site visits; work placements; independent study and evidence of the student’s specific role in any group work undertaken.

The work submitted for this component will be marked as a whole. Students should carefully select, organise and present their portfolio and must ensure that it provides evidence of meeting all four assessment objectives. They must identify and acknowledge sources which are not their own and provide evidence of drawing activity and written annotation .

Work selected for the portfolio should be presented in an appropriate format and could include: mounted studies, sketchbooks, visual diaries, journals, design sheets, design proposals, models, maquettes, prototypes, storyboards, video, photographic or digital presentations, records of transient and site-specific installations.

Component 2: Externally set assignment

AQA will provide a separate externally set assignment for each title, each with seven different starting points. Students must select and respond to one starting point from their chosen title.

The externally set assignment provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate, through an extended creative response, their ability to draw together different areas of knowledge, skills and/or understanding in response to their selected starting point.

The extended creative response must explicitly evidence students’ ability to draw together different areas of knowledge, skill and/or understanding from initial engagement with their selected starting point through to their realisation of intentions in the 10 hours of supervised time.

Students must ensure that the total submission for Component 2 evidences coverage of all four assessment objectives and evidence of drawing activity and written annotation . Students must identify and acknowledge sources which are not their own.

Externally set assignments will be available to students and teachers from 2 January. They must be given to students in their entirety and must not be edited, changed or abridged in any way.

A preparation period which can begin on or after 2 January is followed by 10 hours of supervised unaided work in which students are required to realise their intentions. Students must not undertake any further preparatory studies once the first period of supervised time starts.

Preparatory period – from 2 January

• Students and teachers can access the externally set assignments on 2 January (or as soon as possible afterwards) but not before. It is at the discretion of schools to plan when their students start work on their assignments after 2 January.
• Following receipt of the externally set assignment paper, students should select one starting point from which to develop their own work.
• Students may discuss their starting points with the teacher.
• Preparatory work may be presented in any suitable two- or three-dimensional format such as mounted sheets, sketchbooks, journals, design proposals, models and maquettes, digital or non-digital presentations.
• Students must stop work on their preparatory studies as soon as the first period of supervised time starts.
• There is no restriction on the scale of work, media or material used.

Supervised time – 10 hours

• Following the preparatory period, students must undertake 10 hours of unaided focused study, under supervision.
• The first two hours of supervised time must be consecutive.
• Schools and colleges may timetable supervised sessions for the remaining eight hours at their own discretion.
• Students may refer to their preparatory work during the supervised time but must not add to it or amend it during the supervised time or between sessions.
• Students must not add to or amend work produced during the supervised time; either between sessions of supervised time or after the 10 hours of supervised time has been completed.
• Work produced in the supervised time must be clearly identified as such.
• Preparatory work and work produced during the supervised time must be kept under secure conditions between and following the supervised sessions. Work produced during the supervised time must be clearly identified as such.
• Only the preparatory work and the work produced within the 10 hours of supervised time can be submitted as assessment evidence for this component.

Students must not have access to the internet during the 10 hours of supervised time. Students are allowed access to web-based applications, eg Adobe Creative Cloud, but all other internet access must be disabled.

All work submitted for this component will be marked as a whole. Students may produce a single outcome or a series of related outcomes when realising their intentions in the supervised time. Outcomes may be evidenced in any two-dimensional, three-dimensional, digital or non-digital format. There is no restriction on scale of work, media or materials used.

The supervised time must take place under the guidelines set out in the document JCQ Instructions for the conduct of examinations .

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GCSE Art and Design

Centre personnel responsible for electronic submission of NEA marks and sample work will require access to IAMIS, which is now via the new Portal login .

Exams Officer and Admin account holders at your centre will be able to carry out these actions, or they can create ‘User’ accounts with IAMIS access for nominated persons at your centre e.g. teachers or department leads.

Should you require access please leave sufficient time to set up your account/access. It is also important to make your marks and sample submissions in line with WJEC/Eduqas published deadlines.

• Key Documents
• Past Papers / Mark Schemes

More and more teachers are choosing Eduqas – find out why!

Interested in switching?  Download our free  Guide to switching  for everything you need to know.

Choose Eduqas and you’ll benefit from:

• Friendly and straightforward advice and support.
• Our specification includes one coursework component and an Externally Set Assignment; and provides opportunities for flexible teaching approaches, allowing teachers to make the most of the resources and expertise available at their centres.
• The Externally Set Assignment paper offers an open choice of appealing themes, visual assignments or written briefs which are suitable for any of the 100 or more disciplines associated with any of the 7 titles.

Need further information?

You can also find out more about our package of support including free teaching and learning resources, direct access to subject-specialists, expert-led CPD, and regional support team on our  'Switch to Us’ pages.

The Eduqas Art and Design GCSE is designed to provide engaging, challenging, coherent and meaningful learning experiences through a flexible structure that supports the sequential and incremental development of creative practice.  Our rewarding and immersive programme of study broadens experience, develops imagination and technical skills, fosters creativity and promotes personal and social development. The focus of the GCSE Art and Design specification is to nurture an enthusiasm for Art, Craft and Design and, through a broad introductory foundation programme, to develop critical, practical and theoretical skills that enable students to gain a holistic understanding of a range of practices and contexts in the visual arts, crafts and design fields. Advantages of the Eduqas GCSE Art and Design course include:

• Opportunities for flexible teaching approaches, allowing teachers to make the most of the resources and expertise available at their centres.
• Content which enables teachers to continue with best practice and confidently plan and deliver programmes that work to the interests and abilities of their students.
• Breadth of study within a range of titles designed to enable students to develop and demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills.
• Discipline‐specific guidance, which provides supportive amplification of the specialist processes related to each title within the context of the criteria.

Why choose Eduqas?

• Our specification includes only one coursework component and the Externally Set Assignment paper offers an open choice of appealing themes, visual assignments or written briefs which are suitable for any art, craft or design discipline.
• We provide teachers with an extensive portfolio of marked exemplar work and a wealth of resources which are all freely available on the website .
• We offer Critical and Contextual Studies as a title option.
• Access to our  Art and Design Teacher Network  on Facebook
• Access  Lightbox: an online supportive tool and a comprehensive  Guidance for Teaching  resource, with helpful advice on teaching approaches, assessment administration, advocacy materials and FAQs

View our online resource for art teachers and students.

Important information, past papers, marking schemes, entry/amendment uploads & make post-results enquiries.

We offer an extensive range of free digital educational resources.

Connect with Art teachers in your area with our online networking map

Grade boundaries are the minimum number of marks needed to achieve each grade.

• Digital Resources

Lightbox – online resources for teachers and students

Lightbox is an online resource for art, craft and design teachers and students designed to support the objectives of Eduqas art and design qualifications.

View Lightbox resources here

You can also unlock your learners’ potential with an impressive range of FREE digital resources, teaching tools and materials on our resources website here .

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AQA GCSE Art & Design Grade Boundaries

Every year I seem to lose that useful bit of paper or image that has the AQA GCSE Art & Design grade boundaries on it. So I’m sticking them all in a blog post here. Useful for you and me.

Scroll down to see previous years’ grade boundaries.

Statement to Explain to Students Why their Grade Might Change

Your likely grade might change because:

• The moderator might come in and change the grades. He/She might move the whole cohort up or down.
• The exam board might change the grade boundaries. They may move them up or down.

Historic Art & Design Grade Boundaries

It’s interesting to see how the grade boundaries have changed over time. They don’t usually move by more than one number, however, after covid, there was more of a change. Compare 2019 below to 2022 above.

I am happy to reply to art teachers who comment below, but if you are a student wanting to know what grade you will get, I will not respond as it is your own teacher’s job to answer your questions. (I’ve had far too many and have just deleted then all.)

Useful Resources for Art Teachers:

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The Arty Teacher

Sarah Crowther is The Arty Teacher. She is a high school art teacher in the North West of England. She strives to share her enthusiasm for art by providing art teachers around the globe with high-quality resources and by sharing her expertise through this blog.

13 responses to “AQA GCSE Art & Design Grade Boundaries”

sorry just some additional info, her school only did component one, the portfolio, maybe that’s why?

All schools have only completed component 1. If the exam board is AQA, it is out of 96. Perhaps your daughter has remembered it incorrectly or the teacher slipped up and meant to say 96?

Hi, my daughter just got told her mark is 63 today, however her teacher told her that it is out of 72. I’m therefore quite confused. she seems to have gotten one of the highest marks in her class but the total mark being 72 isn’t correlating with these grade boundaries. she does fine art

Hi my daughter today received a mark of 50 for her textiles gcse (art & design) which is confusing is this a grade 5?

If the grade boundaries are the same as 2019 a 50 will mean your daughter hasn’t quite reached a 5. She will get a 4. However, it’s possible the grade boundaries might change.

Hi Sarah New teacher here and it’s my first year marking. I have a class of 6 Pupils and 9 pupils, for two different art subjects. Will the moderator we take the whole cohert down. Or do it one by one in a small class?

Hi Sarah, I’m guessing that if you enter the grades for both groups and get one ‘sample’ (list of students who will be moderated) that it would count as one cohort and be treated as such. If you get a separate sample for each class, it would be treated as separate cohorts. With groups that size I imagine all of them will be in the sample. For a definitive answer, why not contact your coursework adviser? If you ring or email your exam board, they will be able to tell you who that is. Moderators don’t change a single student’s mark but look to see if the cohort is in tolerance.

My daughter was given a final grade 73 – do you think this is likely to be a grade 7 or do you think the grade boundaries might be more lenient in 2022?

They might go up or down – it’s anyone’s guess!

My Daughter has been given a grade 63 today from her art teacher for her GCSEs but was told previously her work was at the level of a 7 = A so she is currently upset with her B grade comparing to 2019 grade boundaries, so my question is do you think the grade boundaries will change this year at all due to Covid?

I can’t predict if the grade boundaries will go up or down. I did wonder if they would go down because of covid, but that will only happen if teachers across the country have marked as normal i.e. marked like they would in non covid times. I fear teachers will mark too generously because their students have produced little because of covid and the boundaries could go up. In the last 15 years I don’t believe they have ever moved by more than one mark, so your daughter will most likely get a 6. She may have been given a 7 as the teacher was seeing potential but then it didn’t get realised, or it may be that the final outcome wasn’t as good as the sketchbook. Who knows! Ask your school for some feedback.

My daughter has an NEA for A Level Art. The maximum mark is 96 and her provisional mark is 82. What A Level grade does this equate to please ?

The A Level grade boundaries are different from above. Assuming your daughter is with the AQA exam board, an 82 is likely to be an A*. (Fantastic! Well Done!) Two things might change this. The moderator might come in and put all the marks of the whole cohort either up or down if he/she feels the school/college has been too mean or too generous. Or, the exam board could change the grade boundaries.

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GCSE Art & Design: 3D Project Guidance

• Resource Type: Student Resource , Video
• Subject Area: Art & Design resources , Design & Technology
• Applications/Fields: Education

Increasingly schools are choosing to adopt the GCSE Art and Design Qualification in addition to or as a replacement for the GCSE Design and Technology Qualification, specifically because it offers a 3D design option. This resource has been developed and shared by Steven Moss, from Manchester Communication Academy , one of the CREATE Education Hub Schools.

This resource provides a series of exemplar project sheets with guidance notes for students to use when working on their Portfolio Sustained Project (assessment component 1) and also on their Non-Exam Assessment (assessment component 2). These guidance sheets are also accompanied by a video which serves as an introduction and a guide taking students through the process of producing their project work.

The following 3D Design GCSE Qualifications are available:

• AQA Art and Design (Three Dimensional Design) 8205
• EDEXCEL Art and Design (9-11) Three Dimensional Design 1TD0
• OCR Art and Design (9-11) Three Dimensional Design J175
• WJEC Art and Design (Three Dimensional Design) 3655

The final page of the exemplar sheet references the mark scheme for the AQA 8205 specification, however, this could be substituted if you are following any of the other exam board specifications.

Some examples of previous students’ project outcomes are shown below.

In The Classroom

The video that accompanies this resource can be used as an introduction when students are starting their portfolio project work , it is also useful for showing to students who are considering taking the 3D Design course during options presentations as it shows the type of work that the course covers. The Portfolio Guidance PDF can be shared with students or used as a classroom display to guide them through the different stages of their independent project work.

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• WJEC Home chevron_right
• Qualifications

GCSE Art and Design

Centre personnel responsible for electronic submission of NEA marks and sample work will require access to IAMIS, which is now via the new Portal login .

Exams Officer and Admin account holders at your centre will be able to carry out these actions, or they can create ‘User’ accounts with IAMIS access for nominated persons at your centre e.g. teachers or department leads.

Should you require access please leave sufficient time to set up your account/access. It is also important to make your marks and sample submissions in line with WJEC/Eduqas published deadlines.

• Key Documents
• Past Papers / Mark Schemes

The WJEC GCSE in Art and Design is designed to provide engaging, challenging, coherent and meaningful learning experiences through a flexible structure that supports the sequential and incremental development of creative practice.

This rewarding and immersive programme of study broadens experience, develops imagination and technical skills, fosters creativity and promotes personal and social development.

The focus of the specification is to nurture an enthusiasm for Art, Craft and Design and, through a broad introductory foundation programme, to develop critical, practical and theoretical skills that enable students to gain a holistic understanding of a range of practices and contexts in the visual arts, crafts and design fields.

This linear specification provides the flexibility and capacity to build and extend the breadth and depth of student’s creative practice and offers the choice of a broad-based general course, plus seven distinct title options :

 Art, Craft and Design

 Graphic Communication

 Textile Design

 Three-Dimensional Design

 Photography

 Critical and Contextual Studies

Our professional learning experts are ready to answer questions on all our training courses.

View our online resource for art teachers and students.

An interactive map to support centres wishing to share experiences and ideas online and face-to-face.

Important information, past papers, marking schemes, entry/amendment uploads & make post-results enquiries.

Grade boundaries are the minimum number of marks needed to achieve each grade.

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This is a mass-produced replica of a famous miracle-working icon of the Virgin and Child, brought to Russia from Byzatium in the 12th century, known as the "Virgin of Vladimir", and currently kept in Moscow (State Tretyakov Gallery). The Virgin and Child are each identified by abbreviated inscriptions.

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The Moscow Metro Museum of Art: 10 Must-See Stations

There are few times one can claim having been on the subway all afternoon and loving it, but the Moscow Metro provides just that opportunity.  While many cities boast famous public transport systems—New York’s subway, London’s underground, San Salvador’s chicken buses—few warrant hours of exploration.  Moscow is different: Take one ride on the Metro, and you’ll find out that this network of railways can be so much more than point A to B drudgery.

The Metro began operating in 1935 with just thirteen stations, covering less than seven miles, but it has since grown into the world’s third busiest transit system ( Tokyo is first ), spanning about 200 miles and offering over 180 stops along the way.  The construction of the Metro began under Joseph Stalin’s command, and being one of the USSR’s most ambitious building projects, the iron-fisted leader instructed designers to create a place full of svet (radiance) and svetloe budushchee (a radiant future), a palace for the people and a tribute to the Mother nation.

Consequently, the Metro is among the most memorable attractions in Moscow.  The stations provide a unique collection of public art, comparable to anything the city’s galleries have to offer and providing a sense of the Soviet era, which is absent from the State National History Museum.  Even better, touring the Metro delivers palpable, experiential moments, which many of us don’t get standing in front of painting or a case of coins.

Though tours are available , discovering the Moscow Metro on your own provides a much more comprehensive, truer experience, something much less sterile than following a guide.  What better place is there to see the “real” Moscow than on mass transit: A few hours will expose you to characters and caricatures you’ll be hard-pressed to find dining near the Bolshoi Theater.  You become part of the attraction, hear it in the screech of the train, feel it as hurried commuters brush by: The Metro sucks you beneath the city and churns you into the mix.

With the recommendations of our born-and-bred Muscovite students, my wife Emma and I have just taken a self-guided tour of what some locals consider the top ten stations of the Moscow Metro. What most satisfied me about our Metro tour was the sense of adventure .  I loved following our route on the maps of the wagon walls as we circled the city, plotting out the course to the subsequent stops; having the weird sensation of being underground for nearly four hours; and discovering the next cavern of treasures, playing Indiana Jones for the afternoon, piecing together fragments of Russia’s mysterious history.  It’s the ultimate interactive museum.

Top Ten Stations (In order of appearance)

Kievskaya station.

Kievskaya Station went public in March of 1937, the rails between it and Park Kultury Station being the first to cross the Moscow River.  Kievskaya is full of mosaics depicting aristocratic scenes of Russian life, with great cameo appearances by Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin.  Each work has a Cyrillic title/explanation etched in the marble beneath it; however, if your Russian is rusty, you can just appreciate seeing familiar revolutionary dates like 1905 ( the Russian Revolution ) and 1917 ( the October Revolution ).

Mayakovskaya Station

Mayakovskaya Station ranks in my top three most notable Metro stations. Mayakovskaya just feels right, done Art Deco but no sense of gaudiness or pretention.  The arches are adorned with rounded chrome piping and create feeling of being in a jukebox, but the roof’s expansive mosaics of the sky are the real showstopper.  Subjects cleverly range from looking up at a high jumper, workers atop a building, spires of Orthodox cathedrals, to nimble aircraft humming by, a fleet of prop planes spelling out CCCP in the bluest of skies.

Novoslobodskaya Station

Novoslobodskaya is the Metro’s unique stained glass station.  Each column has its own distinctive panels of colorful glass, most of them with a floral theme, some of them capturing the odd sailor, musician, artist, gardener, or stenographer in action.  The glass is framed in Art Deco metalwork, and there is the lovely aspect of discovering panels in the less frequented haunches of the hall (on the trackside, between the incoming staircases).  Novosblod is, I’ve been told, the favorite amongst out-of-town visitors.

Komsomolskaya Station

Komsomolskaya Station is one of palatial grandeur.  It seems both magnificent and obligatory, like the presidential palace of a colonial city.  The yellow ceiling has leafy, white concrete garland and a series of golden military mosaics accenting the tile mosaics of glorified Russian life.  Switching lines here, the hallway has an Alice-in-Wonderland feel, impossibly long with decorative tile walls, culminating in a very old station left in a remarkable state of disrepair, offering a really tangible glimpse behind the palace walls.

Dostoevskaya Station

Dostoevskaya is a tribute to the late, great hero of Russian literature .  The station at first glance seems bare and unimpressive, a stark marble platform without a whiff of reassembled chips of tile.  However, two columns have eerie stone inlay collages of scenes from Dostoevsky’s work, including The Idiot , The Brothers Karamazov , and Crime and Punishment.   Then, standing at the center of the platform, the marble creates a kaleidoscope of reflections.  At the entrance, there is a large, inlay portrait of the author.

Chkalovskaya Station

Chkalovskaya does space Art Deco style (yet again).  Chrome borders all.  Passageways with curvy overhangs create the illusion of walking through the belly of a chic, new-age spacecraft.  There are two (kos)mosaics, one at each end, with planetary subjects.  Transferring here brings you above ground, where some rather elaborate metalwork is on display.  By name similarity only, I’d expected Komsolskaya Station to deliver some kosmonaut décor; instead, it was Chkalovskaya that took us up to the space station.

Elektrozavodskaya Station

Elektrozavodskaya is full of marble reliefs of workers, men and women, laboring through the different stages of industry.  The superhuman figures are round with muscles, Hollywood fit, and seemingly undeterred by each Herculean task they respectively perform.  The station is chocked with brass, from hammer and sickle light fixtures to beautiful, angular framework up the innards of the columns.  The station’s art pieces are less clever or extravagant than others, but identifying the different stages of industry is entertaining.

Baumanskaya Statio

Baumanskaya Station is the only stop that wasn’t suggested by the students.  Pulling in, the network of statues was just too enticing: Out of half-circle depressions in the platform’s columns, the USSR’s proud and powerful labor force again flaunts its success.  Pilots, blacksmiths, politicians, and artists have all congregated, posing amongst more Art Deco framing.  At the far end, a massive Soviet flag dons the face of Lenin and banners for ’05, ’17, and ‘45.  Standing in front of the flag, you can play with the echoing roof.

Ploshchad Revolutsii Station

Novokuznetskaya Station

Novokuznetskaya Station finishes off this tour, more or less, where it started: beautiful mosaics.  This station recalls the skyward-facing pieces from Mayakovskaya (Station #2), only with a little larger pictures in a more cramped, very trafficked area.  Due to a line of street lamps in the center of the platform, it has the atmosphere of a bustling market.  The more inventive sky scenes include a man on a ladder, women picking fruit, and a tank-dozer being craned in.  The station’s also has a handsome black-and-white stone mural.

Here is a map and a brief description of our route:

Start at (1)Kievskaya on the “ring line” (look for the squares at the bottom of the platform signs to help you navigate—the ring line is #5, brown line) and go north to Belorusskaya, make a quick switch to the Dark Green/#2 line, and go south one stop to (2)Mayakovskaya.  Backtrack to the ring line—Brown/#5—and continue north, getting off at (3)Novosblodskaya and (4)Komsolskaya.  At Komsolskaya Station, transfer to the Red/#1 line, go south for two stops to Chistye Prudy, and get on the Light Green/#10 line going north.  Take a look at (5)Dostoevskaya Station on the northern segment of Light Green/#10 line then change directions and head south to (6)Chkalovskaya, which offers a transfer to the Dark Blue/#3 line, going west, away from the city center.  Have a look (7)Elektroskaya Station before backtracking into the center of Moscow, stopping off at (8)Baumskaya, getting off the Dark Blue/#3 line at (9)Ploschad Revolyutsii.  Change to the Dark Green/#2 line and go south one stop to see (10)Novokuznetskaya Station.

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Jonathon Engels, formerly a patron saint of misadventure, has been stumbling his way across cultural borders since 2005 and is currently volunteering in the mountains outside of Antigua, Guatemala.  For more of his work, visit his website and blog .

Photo credits:   SergeyRod , all others courtesy of the author and may not be used without permission