Arts

• To be eligible for admission to a course of study in Arts, candidates must have obtained

at least ‘S’ grades for three subjects considered.

• As there are many subjects in the Arts Stream for the G.C.E. (Advanced Level)

Examination, subjects are classified under four baskets.

• Students should have obtained passes in three subjects at the G.C.E. (Advanced Level)

Examination from the following baskets.

Basket 01- Social Sciences/ Applied Social Studies

1. 1Economics
2. 2Geography
3. 3History
4. 4Home Economics
5. 5Agricultural Science/ Mathematics/ Combined Mathematics
6. 6Communication & Media Studies
7. 7Information & Communication Technology
8. 8Accounting/ Business Statistics
9. 9Political Science
10. 10Logic & Scientific Method
11. 11One subject from Technological Subjects:

• Civil Technology
• Electrical, Electronic and Information Technology
• Agro Technology
• Mechanical Technology
• Food Technology
• Bio-Resource Technology

Guidance for selection of subjects from basket 01

• Students should select at least one subject from this basket.
• Students can also select all three subjects only from basket 01.

There are three exceptions to this rule. These are;

1. 1Students selecting three National Languages; Sinhala, Tamil and English from the basket 04 (Language Basket) as the three subjects, need not to select any subject from basket 01.
2. 2Students selecting a combination of National and Classical languages need not to select any subject from basket 01.

National Languages are;

Sinhala Tamil English

Classical Languages are; Arabic Pali Sanskrit

For example, students can select three subjects like Sinhala, Pali and Sanskrit etc. These students need not to select any subject from basket 01.

However, no candidate can select three classical languages as three subjects. They can select a maximum of two classical languages only.

1. 1Students selecting two languages from the basket 04 and the third subject from Religions and

Civilizations or Aesthetic subject classified under basket 02 and 03 given below need not to select any subject from basket 01.

Basket 02 - Religions and Civilizations

1. 1Buddhism
2. 2Hinduism
3. 3Christianity
4. 4Islam
5. 5Buddhist Civilization
6. 6Hindu Civilization
7. 7Christian Civilization
8. 8Islamic Civilization
9. 9Greek & Roman Civilization

Guidance for selection of subjects from basket 02

• A candidate can select maximum of two subjects from the basket 02.
• However, if a religion (e.g: Buddhism) is selected as a subject, the related civilization

of the selected religion (e.g: Buddhist Civilization) cannot be offered as another subject from this basket.

Basket 03- Aesthetic Studies

Aesthetic subjects consists of four subject areas. These are;

1. 1Art
2. 2Dancing
3. 3Music
4. 4Drama & Theatre

This can be further sub-classified as;

1. 1Art
2. 2Dancing a. Sinhala b. Bharatha
3. 3Music a. Oriental b. Carnatic c. Western
4. 4Drama & Theatre a. Sinhala b. Tamil c. English

Guidance for selection of subjects from basket 03

• Students can select two subjects out of above four subject areas. However, no student is

allowed to select the two subjects from one subject area.

Basket 04 - Languages

The language basket has three subject areas.

These are;

1. 1National Languages
2. 2Classical Languages
3. 3Foreign Languages

National Languages are

• Sinhala
• Tamil
• English

Classical Languages are

• Arabic
• Pali
• Sanskrit

Foreign Languages are

• Chinese
• French
• German
• Hindi
• Japanese
• Malay
• Russian
• Korean

Guidance for selection of subjects from basket 04

• Students are allowed to select a maximum of two subjects from this basket. For example,

when selecting the three subjects, students can select Chinese and French from basket 04 and the other subject from another basket.

However, there are exemptions to this rule. These exemptions are also discussed under guidance for selecting subjects from basket 01.

Exemptions are;

a. A student can select three National Languages. e.g: Sinhala, Tamil and English

b. A student can select at least one subject from National Languages and two subjects from Classical Languages.

No candidate is allowed to offer three Classical Languages or three Foreign Languages.

• The above guidance is useful to select subject combinations for different degree programmes

of a course of study in Arts in almost all Universities and Higher Educational Institutes.

• The medium of Instruction of the course of study in Arts offered by the universities are as

follows.

University Medium of Instruction 01 University of Colombo Sinhala/ Tamil/ English 02 University of Peradeniya Sinhala/ Tamil/ English 03 University of Sri Jayewardenepura Sinhala 04 University of Kelaniya Sinhala 05 University of Jaffna Tamil 06 University of Ruhuna Sinhala 07 Eastern University, Sri Lanka Tamil 08 South Eastern University of Sri Lanka Tamil 09 Rajarata University of Sri Lanka Sinhala

• However, some Universities and Higher Educational Institutes offer some degree programmes

under Arts Stream which may expect different advanced level subject combinations for selection. The reason for offering such different combinations is to enhance the quality and relevance of such degree programmes for the purpose of employment and to be in line with the expectations of the society.

There are 11 such courses of study offered by different Universities and Higher Educational Institutes. These are;

1. 1Course of study in Performing Arts & Mass Media offered by the Sripalee Campus of the University of Colombo
2. 2Course of study in Arts offered by the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka
3. 3Course of study in Communication Studies offered by the Trincomalee Campus of the

Eastern University, Sri Lanka

1. 1Course of study in Peace & Conflict Resolution offered by the University of Kelaniya
2. 2Course of study in Islamic Studies offered by the South Eastern University of Sri Lanka
3. 3Course of study in Arabic Language offered by the South Eastern University of Sri Lanka
4. 4Course of study in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) offered by the

University of Kelaniya, University of Sri Jayewardenepura and Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka

1. 1Courses of study in Music, Dance, Drama and Theatre and Visual Arts offered by the

University of the Visual and Performing Arts

1. 1Courses of study in Music, Dance and Art & Design offered by the University of Jaffna
2. 2Courses of study in Music, Dance, Drama & Theatre and Visual & Technological

Arts offered by the Swamy Vipulananda Institute of Aesthetic Studies of the Eastern University, Sri Lanka

1. 1Course of study in Music offered by the University of Sri Jayewardenepura

Information pertaining to these courses of study is given below.