Design and Technology

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Introduction

Design and technology is fundamental to how we live our lives. From the roofs over our heads, to the phones in our pockets, we are becoming ever more dependent on technology. As technology continues to develop and evolve, and new technologies emerge, it is increasingly important that we continue to nurture our future designers.

Our students learn to use current technologies and consider the impact of future technological developments. They learn to respond creatively to solve problems as individuals and members of a team.

Students respond with ideas, products and systems, challenging expectations where appropriate. They combine practical and intellectual skills with an understanding of aesthetic, technical, cultural, health, social, emotional, economic, industrial and environmental issues.

Through design and technology students develop confidence in using practical skills, to manage their time and become discriminating users of products. They apply their creative thinking and learn to innovate through using skills that are transferable to many other contexts.

KS3

Students will engage in a range of design and make project and theory based lessons, to prepare them for the rigours of GCSE design & technology.

KS3 Plan of study 2024 25

KS4

Examination Level:	GCSE
Examination Group:	EDEXCEL
Examination Value:	50%
Examination Structure:	1hr 45mins paper
Coursework:	50%

Assessment Requirements:

Component 1 - Written paper – 100 marks - 50%

Section A

Core content (40 marks)

Section B

Specialist materials category (60 marks)

This section contains a mixture of different question styles, including open-response, graphical, calculation and extended-open-response questions. There will be 15 marks of calculation questions in component 1.

Students Study:

Students may only choose one design and technology specialist materials category from the following list:

Design and technology – Graphics
Design and technology – Resistant materials

Component 2 – Coursework - 100 marks - 50%

Students will undertake a project based on a contextual challenge released by Edexcel on the 1st of June, a year before certification. The project will test students’ skills in investigating, designing, making and evaluating a prototype of a product. Tasks will be internally assessed and externally moderated. The marks are awarded for each part as follows.

Investigate (16 marks)
Design (42 marks)
Make (36 marks)
Evaluate (6 marks)

At the end of the course all students will gain a GCSE in design & technology but, although they will have followed different subject specific pathways, these will not be named specifically on the final qualification. The GCSE design & technology qualification will operate on a level 9–1 awarding.

The tasks for 2023-24 academic year were:

Theme 1 Charities Contextual challenges:

(a) How can products be used to raise money for a charity?

(b) How can products be used to promote awareness of a charity?

Theme 2 Religious Celebrations Contextual challenges:

(a) How can products be used to educate people about a religious festival?

(b) How can products be used to commemorate a religious event?

Theme 3 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) Contextual challenges:

(a) How can products be used to encourage participation by students in STEM activities or clubs at school?

(b) How can products be used to celebrate and recognise achievement in STEM activities?

GCSE Results 2023

Congratulations to the Year 11 students on achieving

48% grades 9-4 in Design & Technology

86% grades 9-4 in Graphics

90% grades 9-4 in Electronics

GCSE Results 2022

Congratulations to the Year 11 students on achieving

62% grades 9-4 in Design & Technology

70% grades 9-4 in Graphics

89% grades 9-4 in Electronics

Curriculum Map

Curriculum map

Career Value

Technological skills are in high demand. It is an area of skills shortage and employment is high with excellent career prospects.

A technology qualification is highly beneficial in a wide range of careers. With technology increasingly influencing our lives, an understanding of technology is useful in many fields of employment. Beyond this there are a wide number of options from degree studies through to basic vocational levels in a wide range of industries. At degree level, study in technology may follow a design route, science route or technical route although technology subjects are not valued simply for their development of practical skills related to particular industries but also for their emphasis on creative thinking, research, testing solutions, project management and working as part of a team.

If you have any questions to ask about this course, Miss Langshaw will be pleased to discuss them with you.

Useful Links

List of suggested wider reading sources/videos and websites:

Books

Design for the 21st Century (Icons Series) - Charlotte Fiell and Peter Fiell
Thames and Hudson - the eco-design handbook - by Alastair Fuad-Luke.
DATA - Designing with Pro/Desktop - John Hutchinson
Design Sketching (ISBN 978-91-976807-0-7) by Erik Olofsson and Klara Sjolen
The Eco-Design Handbook ISBN-13: 978-0500288399
Design Museum: Contemporary Design ISBN-13: 978-1847325983
Product Designs: Process ISBN-13: 978-1856697255
Making IT Manufacturing Techniques For Product Design ISBN-13: 978-1856697491
Drawing For Designers ISBN-13: 978-1856697439

Websites and Magazines:

TV Shows

Name of show	Synopsis	Links to?	Where it is available to watch
Grand designs	Kevin Mccloud follows intrepid individuals trying to design and build their dream home	Architecture	Channel 4 on demand
World’s most extreme	…explores jaw-dropping, mind-boggling places, structures and vehicles.	engineering	Channel 4 on demand
David Jason’s great British inventions	David Jason explores his favourite British inventions and learns how they were thought up.	Product design	Channel 4 on demand
Building giants	…uncovers the world’s next generation of engineering wonders.	Engineering	Channel 4 on demand
£4 million restoration: historic house rescue	A medieval masterpiece in Wales is restored and brought back from the brink	Architecture	Channel 4 on demand
Guy Martin vs the robot car	Which is the fastest driver? Guy Martin or an artificially intelligent autonomous vehicle.	Engineering - automotive	Channel 4 on demand
Better by design	Multi-award winning designers Richard Seymour and Dick Powell rethink malfunctioning everyday objects	Product design	Channel 4 on demand
Made in Britain	Series looking at how things are made, from household items to large machinery.	Product design Engineering Food	ITV player
Extreme engineering	Explore some of the world’s most dangerous and innovative structures and buildings, from the South African gold mines, to the San Francisco Bay bridge and the Melbourne stadium	Engineering - structural Architecture	Discovery History
How it’s made	Find out how everyday items are made.	Product design Engineering	Discovery Science
How do they do it?	…puts more everyday items under the microscope to explain the technology, designs and processes behind how they are made.(S14,E08)	Various disciplines: Food Vehicles Product design Architecture Engineering	Discovery Science
Richard Hammond’s BIG!	… sees him go behind-the-scenes of the largest structures and machines in the world to gain insight into the science of ‘big’. Richard will investigate how engineers go about building, maintaining and using these superstructures.	Architecture Engineering - structural	Discovery
Megafactories	Lift the lid on how millions of your everyday products and iconic designs begin life on the assembly line in a brand new series of Megafactories	Engineering - automotive	National geographic