Design and Technology (Product Design)

Course summary

The course offers an exciting opportunity to extend the design awareness that has been building up through the GCSE courses. This specification provides you with the routes to continue your studies either exclusively or as a combination of focus material areas. Working through the course, students will divide their time between focused technical skills, learning and developing their designing skills. The first year will be spent honing DT skills; updating communications techniques; and completing a materials study. The majority of the second year will involve a major practical task, supported by a portfolio followed by a formal examination. Students study a range of manufacturing methods; social, moral, cultural and ethical dimensions that relate to technological decisions; sustainable development; health and safety and global development; and constraints that economic and ergonomic factors place on designing and making products. It is expected that there will be much external research and that individual students seek out ‘real’ clients. The designed products are produced to reflect your interests and studies and are manufactured as full-size prototypes. If appropriate, the products will be entered into local and national competitions. The course offers the depth of design awareness required for further study at university level in courses such as Architecture and Engineering, as well as the practical and analytical skills required to pursue further study in Product Design. However, the skills obtained are transferable into many disciplines, and previous students have moved on to courses in Dentistry, Environmental Science and, in several instances, Psychology