Sarah Griffiths, Art teacher at the academy, said she was extremely proud of the students.

She said: “They were given the theme of a retail outlet. They could choose anything that interested them about it and they had to produce a body of work to represent that shop. We had a real mix from Pandora and vintage to sports shops. They Year 11 students started work on this in Year 10 and the Year 13 students have been working on their final pieces since September last year.

“There has been a really diverse range of artwork. Year 13 were very ambitious and their work was varied. Sometimes students can follow the group but their work has all been individual. They’ve also used computer-aided design with photoshop and illustrator which means they are developing skills that would be good for working in the industry.”

Maxine Clay, 18, is in Year 13 studying a National Extended Art and Design Diploma and is planning on going to university to study Fine Art.

She said: “I looked at the LBGT community in particular. I used words and completed a self-portrait and wanted to explore how people are judged. I was massively pleased with my final piece as I didn’t think I would be able to complete it.”

Cara Wheatley, 16, is in Year 11 studying GCSE Art and used two books to create a dress.

She said: “My theme was vintage. I love craft and working with my hands and I basically used two books to create a dress, the skirt is rolled up pages from the books. It took a lot of work but I was really pleased with the end result.”

James Wignall, 16, is studying GCSE Art in Year 11 and used sports shops as a starting point for his work.

He said: “I used cardboard relief work to re-create the different sports logos such as Nike and Ellesse. I was very happy with how it turned out.”