Design Technology

GCSE Design & Technology: Materials

“If it grows it is nature. Everything else has been designed”

We are passionate about design and creative approaches to problem solving across a range of materials. The use of modern technology is a key skill here as we prepare our students for future careers in the design industry. Design thinking is in huge demand across all industries too. Ours is a subject where you turn your ideas from drawings and sketches into 3-dimensional reality. In Design and Technology our aim is to enable students to explore and develop their own creative abilities and problem solving skills through a range of materials, processes and experiences in our well resourced department. User centred design is fundamental to what we do so we enable students to design for others in an inclusive way with a developed understanding of how human activity impacts on the environment.

Students will follow a Timbers specialism in GCSE Design and Technology. This will enable our students to apply their designing and making skills and use cutting edge computer aided design and computer aided manufacture technology to develop their ideas in this material area. Within the two year course, there will also be opportunities to explore the core elements of electronic systems, graphics, textiles, metals and polymers. To achieve a GCSE grade, students design and make a final product prototype in response to a contextual challenge. There is also a final exam in this subject covering core content across the material areas.

You will continue to build on the exciting D&T topics that you learned at KS3 and you will further develop your designing and making skills by experimenting with a range of new processes and materials. You will make ‘real products to solve real problems’ and you will develop your confidence and presentation skills by working on your own and with others who enjoy D&T.

As you refine your skills and see your ideas become reality, you will start to develop your own areas of expertise. This would be a step toward choosing a career in this field. We will talk to you about the endless opportunities in this subject area.

Course Content

In the First Year of the course, you will work on a number of topics linked to a variety of Core material areas that will help you to understand how different materials become products. We will inspire and help you to improve your designing and modelling and you will develop your own presentation style to show your ideas in the best possible way.  You are likely to complete modules of work in a number of areas that will include;

• Study of design history and contemporary designers 

• Polymers

• Papers and Boards

• Electronic Systems

• Timbers

• Metals

• Modern Textiles

In the second year of the course you will specialise to complete a design and make task. This is assessed in school and will showcase your skills in D&T. This task will include the following areas:

• Investigating design possibilities

• Generating and Developing design ideas

• Making a prototype of your final idea

• Evaluating your product

Students currently specialise in Timber Materials for their final product. The exam board set the theme based on a real world problem for which you must DESIGN and MAKE a solution.

You will gain a GCSE grade in Design and Technology when you complete this course. To be successful, you will need to:

1.  Successfully complete a design and make project that will be assessed by your teacher (50% of the overall GCSE grade)

2. Complete a written exam in your specialist area that will be assessed by the exam board  (50% of the overall GCSE grade)

In Year 10 you will gain a broad understanding of designers, materials and processes in a variety of areas. Year 10 projects will help you to develop your skills and knowledge in order to design and make products to a high standard.

In Year 11 you will produce your final high quality piece of ‘design and make’ work. This product will  bring together all of your design and making knowledge and skills in a final product that you should be proud to call your own that must solve a real world problem for your identified user. 

Careers in Design and Technology are in demand and evolving rapidly and the skills you will learn are extremely desirable to employers. You will have an excellent foundation for moving up to A Level Product Design; you will have skills that will suit Design based training courses at College or University, or employment in the creative and technical industries,  Apprenticeships are also a growing area where your Design and Technology skills will be valued by employers. Earnings for those candidates with DT problem solving, communication and technical skills currently exceed those for those with other subject skills.