I know my artistic skill level is high, but it is not reflecting in my grades. What are they looking for?

In order to achieve a high grade at A-level Art you must ensure that you are experimenting and recording the process of your experimentation. It is vital to demonstrate that you have developed your ideas and it is easy to go through this process without saving examples of the different stages you have gone through. Taking photographs can be the best way to do this, which will then allow you to combine with written reflections in your sketchbook. 

Another vital element that goes hand in hand with the aforementioned, is developing your critical writing skills. You must work on critical reflection of your own work and ideas, as well as those of other artists you have drawn upon. You must demonstrate critical understanding of the sources you are drawing upon and the wider context of the issues you are engaging with.