S3 Design and Manufacture:
Reporting Window 1

Content covered:

S3 Design and Manufacture provides pupils the opportunity to develop creative and practical skills in design and making.

Pupils study the design process from brief to finished design proposal. Skills are developed in idea generation, development, and refinement towards a working solution.

In manufacturing their final design pupils have learnt about the properties and uses of materials, as well as a range of manufacturing processes and techniques.

Design Tasks in S3 Design and Manufacture include:

• Practice Box

• Penny box

• Desk lamp

Please also see image carousel at bottom of page which contains a detailed Learner Journey diagram. 

The following benchmarks / skills were looked at when grading your child’s work:

• Understands approaches to designing and that a range of strategies and phases can help arrive at a potential proposal that meets specific criteria.

• Justifies design decisions.

• Select tools and equipment to mark-out, cut, shape, form and finish models independently.

• Identifies potential health and safety risks in the manufacture of models and plan the safe working practices required.

• Produces accurate prototypes, in scale, by reading drawings and sketches to retrieve dimensional and material information.

• Describe the different categories of materials.

• Describes the properties of materials.

• Recognises sustainability issues when selecting materials.

Please also see image carousel at bottom of page which contains a detailed assessment grid. 

The majority of work covered in S3 Design and Manufacture is based around CfE Level 4 Outcomes and Benchmarks as detailed above. 

Please also see image carousel at bottom of page which contains a detailed assessment grid. 

Working Level and Working Grade descriptions for S3 Design & Manufacture:

Fourth A: A pupil achieving this level- will be making excellent progress at CfE Level 4, is achieving well against all the outcomes covered. They will be demonstrating these key skills in the projects that they have so far completed. There will be evidence that they have taken the project further than was required.

Fourth B: A pupil achieving this level- will be making good progress at CfE Level 4, is achieving well against most the outcomes covered. They will be demonstrating these key skills in the projects that they have so far completed.

Fourth C: A pupil achieving this level- will be making reasonable progress at CfE Level 4, is achieving well against some the outcomes covered while finding others challenging. They will be demonstrating these key skills in the projects that they have so far completed.

For pupils working at levels A-C, National 5 Design and Manufacture as one of the 6 main subjects is recommended.

Fourth D: A pupil achieving this level- will be making some progress at CfE Level 4, is achieving against a few of the outcomes covered while finding others challenging. They will be demonstrating these key skills in the projects that they have so far completed.

For pupils working at level D, we recommend National 5 Design and Manufacture as one of the 6 main subjects would be possible.

Third A to D: A pupil achieving these levels- will be making some progress at CfE Level 3, is achieving against a few of the outcomes covered while finding most challenging. They will be demonstrating these key skills in the projects that they have so far completed.

For pupils working at Third level, National 4 Design and Manufacture as one of the 6 main subjects is recommended.

Second A to D: A pupil achieving these levels- will be making some progress at CfE Level 2, is achieving against one or two of the outcomes covered while finding most challenging. They will be demonstrating these key skills in the projects that they have so far completed.

At this stage in the Design & Manufacture curriculum, pupils on a pathway towards achieving SCQF Level 5 in S4 will be working at Fourth C or above. 

Further information, including an overview for all subject areas can be found here.