Design and Technology

Aims

Product Design is an exciting course which encourages candidates to take a broad view of technology and design; to develop their capacity to design and make innovative products and to appreciate the complex relations between design, materials, manufacture and marketing. Entry requirement Those wishing to study Design and Technology A Level should have studied GCSE Design and Technology, Product Design or other associated Design and Technology specification. Course structure

The Design and Technology department follows the AQA A Level Design and Technology: Product Design Specification.

Lower Sixth

The course in the first year will have centre assessed focused practical and design tasks as detailed below.

Make: Desk light project

The make focuses on industrial processes for manufacture and CAD/CAM

Designing: Shelter design

The design section will focus attention on ‘blue sky’ thinking an innovation when designing

Investigation: Student self-selected product investigation

This unit will help students to understand: • Material selection • Manufacturing processes • Sustainability issues • Health and safety Alongside the practical sessions throughout the first year, staff will deliver the associated theory. This will give the students the knowledge they need to be internally assessed at the end of the year, leading into the second year of studies. There are no external examinations in the first year.

Upper Sixth

Paper One: Technical principles

30% of A Level - 120 marks Written examination: 2 hours 30 minutes Assessment on: • Materials classifications, applications, testing and performance characteristics • Mixture of short answer and extended responses

Paper Two: Designing and making principles

20% of A Level - 80 marks Written examination: 1 hour 30 minutes Assessment on: Section A: Six short questions on visual stimulus of product(s) Section B: Commercial manufacture

Non-exam assessment (NEA):

50% of A Level - 100 marks • Substantial design and make project • Digital design portfolio and photographic evidence

Career opportunities Many of our A Level students go on to study Product Design or Industrial Design at university. However, with skills in designing and manufacturing, problem solving and time-management, the options for further study are very broad. Combined with Sciences or Mathematics, Design and Technology gives a good foundation to study engineering or architecture; when studied with more creative subjects such as Art, students often follow a more graphics-based path.