A full morning of assessing students who’d had taken a combination of painting, illustration, and life drawing modules, followed by one student who’d completed the MA Fine Art Portfolio module. Some reflections on attitudes to assessment in general (rather than those that were necessarily evident today):

• The fear of failure can be a cause of failure.
• Don’t think that you’re doing anything new.
• If you think you’re something special, then you really do have a problem.
• Rejoice in the strengths and graces that others possess.
• The close of the second year is the last opportunity for a genuine reform that can lead to unfettered success. Take it!
• Self-reform is an act of the will; it cannot be taught, insisted upon, or undertaken by anyone else.

At 2.00 pm, the external temperature topped 23°c. It was good to be working in the cool of the School. By mid afternoon, with a very few exceptions, the students’ exhibition spaces were either resolved or close to being.

3.30 pm. A second MA Fine Art Portfolio tutorial. Then, more manoeuvres around the studios and galleries. I daren’t think how many times I’ve ascended and descended the central staircase over the past two weeks. Over the past week, I witnessed some consternation among the students as they’ve realise that they’re finally leaving. ‘I want to take my third year again!’, one exclaimed.

In the evening, I wrote up my critique of the day’s individual assessments. One cannot distil into a small text box everything that was said in their presence. The efficacy of advisement, however, comes not in its record but in its delivery.