How industry juries work in art and design school

An industry jury is a panel of working professionals who assess your final project in person. At PGA every course ends with two: an internal mock jury with faculty, then an external jury of at least two professionals from studios, agencies, media companies and production houses, who hold the final 40 marks.

A grade from your own teacher tells you whether you met the course. A jury tells you whether the work would survive a real client. That gap is what PGA’s teaching model is built to close, so every final project, in every course, every semester, is judged by people who hire for a living.

The semester, step by step

Every PGA course runs for sixteen sessions and ends with a final project. Here’s how that project is built and judged.

Sessions 1 to 7: skills. The first half of the course teaches the skills the final project will need.
Session 8: midterm. The midterm exam.
Session 8 or 9: the brief. The final project is announced. You choose a topic and start development under your teacher.
Sessions 9 to 15: development in stages. You show progress every class: concept, drafts, iterations, execution. Your teacher reviews and pushes the work each week.
Presentation training. Before juries you’re trained to present: explaining the concept, describing your process, justifying decisions and answering questions.
Internal jury. A full mock defence with faculty. The project must be 100% complete, with its development documentation and a concept explanation. You get specific changes to make.
Project pasting day. Print work is mounted on your assigned display board with your own mounting materials; screen work (animation, film, digital design) is set up on multimedia systems and submitted in organised folders. Faculty collect and check submissions.
External jury. Working professionals assess each project. Students are called in one by one. Only jurors and faculty are in the room.

The one rule that catches people out

A final project isn’t accepted if you present the finished work without its development stages, or if your teacher can’t verify you made it. Faculty check concept development, drafts, iterations and final execution. Keep every sketch, draft, test render and rough cut. They’re evidence.

Who the jurors are

At least two external jurors assess each course, and the panel grows with the size of the class. They come from the industry the course serves: animation studios, design agencies, media companies and production houses. Many are PGA alumni.

What the jury marks

The external jury holds 40 marks of the course, scored against a rubric with six criteria:

Criterion	What they’re asking
Concept development	Is there a clear idea, and did it develop?
Creativity and originality	Is it yours, and is it fresh?
Technical execution	Is it well made in its medium?
Presentation skills	Can you explain it clearly?
Project logic and explanation	Do your decisions make sense for the goal?
Professional quality	Would it hold up in front of a client?

Each juror scores you independently. The marks go into your final course grade.

How to prepare

Lead with the idea, in one sentence, before you show anything.
Show the process: two or three key drafts that explain how you got there, including one that didn’t work.
Justify decisions: why this typeface, this shot, this colour, this format.
Know your weak spots and say what you’d do with more time. Jurors respect it.
Answer critique, don’t defend against it. “That’s fair; I’d change X” beats an argument.
Rehearse at the internal jury exactly as you’ll present at the external one, and actually make the changes you’re given.
Keep to time. Plan for three to five minutes of presentation, then questions.
Check your setup on pasting day: files open, videos play, prints are straight.

What students get out of it

Beyond the marks: practice presenting to strangers, direct feedback from the industry, a finished portfolio piece every course, and, often, a first conversation with a future employer. Final projects are also shown to peers and visitors, which regularly leads to internships and job offers.

The jury process on the institute pages, with the full semester timeline.
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