Design & Technology
Why study Design & Technology?
Design & Technology enables you to understand and apply iterative design processes through which you will explore, create and evaluate a range of outcomes.
Throughout the course, you will use creativity and imagination to design and make prototypes (together with evidence of modelling to develop and prove product concept and function) that solve real and relevant problems, considering your own and others’ needs, wants and values.
You will have opportunities to apply knowledge from other disciplines, including Mathematics, Science, Art & Design, Computing and Social Sciences. You will acquire subject knowledge in Design & Technology that builds on any learning in previous years, especially that of Year 9, where you will have completed an number of design and make projects, incorporating knowledge and understanding of different materials and manufacturing processes in order to design and make, with confidence, prototypes in response to issues, needs, problems and opportunities.
You will learn how to take design risks, helping you to become resourceful, innovative and enterprising citizens. You will develop an awareness of practices from the creative, engineering and manufacturing industries. Through the critique of the outcomes of design and technology activity, both historic and present day, you will develop an understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world and understand that high-quality design and technology is important to the creativity, culture, sustainability, wealth and wellbeing of the nation and the global community.
What will I study in Year 10?
New and emerging technologies - Bluetooth, AI, larger capacity batteries have all affected the design process as well as the wider world - an investigation into what has changed and what might change in the future to disrupt or improve our world further.
Energy and systems - How energy is generated and stored in order to choose and use appropriate sources to make products and power systems
Materials science including smart and composite materials, shape memory alloys, nano materials and more will be investigated as well as how they are used/applied in the real world
Mechanical devices - The functions of mechanical devices used to produce different sorts of movements, including the changing of magnitude and the direction of forces
Electronics and programmable systems - Soldering, components and how integrated circuits can be used to make systems perform specific functions
Metals, Papers & Boards, Polymers, Timbers and Textiles - In-depth study of each material and a practical make to reinforce and apply your understanding of their properties.
The design process and following contexts - How the iterative process is applied in industry to achieve successful products and designs and techniques for application in your own design work
Investigate and analyse the work of others/inspiring designers - How can others inspire our own designs?
Design communication including CAD modelling. Computer modelling techniques will be investigated and practised alongside traditional technical drawing skills and applied to your own design work.
Manufacturing techniques including computer-aided manufacture and 3D printing.
What will I study in Year 11?
The main focus of the first term in Year 11 will be the continuation of the non-examined assessment (NEA).
This is your personal project so will largely be directed by the requirements of your own project. You will most likely be putting the final details together before the manufacture of a detailed and functioning prototype is produced and evaluated.
Revision and content will then be focused upon to prepare you for the exam itself.
How will I be assessed?
The GCSE in Design & Technology consists of one externally-examined paper and one non-examined assessment component. Students must complete all assessments in May/June in any single year.
Component 1 is the written examination lasting 1 hour 45 minutes, which is worth 100 marks and 50% of your final grade.
Component 2 is the non-examined assessment, for which you will pick one of the contexts provided by the exam board for a project. It is assessed in terms of the following:
Investigate (16 marks), Design (42 marks), Make (36 marks), Evaluate (6 marks)
Total: 100 marks, making up the final 50% of your GCSE grade.
The examination board is Pearson Edexcel and the specification number is 1DT0. You may view the full specification here.
What else should I know?
The study of Design & Technology seeks to prepare you to participate confidently and successfully in an increasingly technological world. It helps you to be aware of, and learn from, wider influences on design and technology, including historical, social/cultural, environmental and economic factors.
The aims and objectives of this qualification are to enable you to:
Demonstrate your understanding that all design and technological activity takes place in contexts that influence the outcomes of design practice
Develop realistic design proposals as a result of the exploration of design opportunities and users’ needs, wants and values
Use imagination, experimentation and combine ideas when designing
Develop the skills to critique and refine your own ideas while designing and making
Communicate your design ideas and decisions using different media and techniques, as appropriate for different audiences at key points in your designing
Develop decision-making skills, including the planning and organisation of time and resources when managing your own project work
Develop a broad knowledge of materials, components and technologies and practical skills to develop high-quality, imaginative and functional prototypes
Be ambitious and open to explore and take design risks in order to stretch the development of design proposals, avoiding clichéd or stereotypical responses
Consider the costs, commercial viability and marketing of products
Many design and make tasks throughout the year will develop a range of skills on all the equipment available in the design and technology workshop.
There will always be a focus on safety and planning.
The extra sessions of Design & Technology studied by some in Year 9 will lay a good foundation for beginning the GCSE here, however if you have not accessed these sessions then please speak to Mr Morris.
If you have any queries about this curriculum, please contact: Mr Jamie Morris, Head of D&T, on jm@farlingtonschool.com