The course develops your creative design skills and gives you the technical ability you need to use production methods and materials creatively, including general and specialist IT skills, such as computer-aided design (CAD). Studying Product Design makes you proficient in these areas and prepares you for Higher Education, industry, entrepreneurship, and careers in many related areas. Our A level requires you to identify market needs and opportunities for new products, initiate and develop design solutions, and make and test prototypes/products. You acquire subject knowledge in design, technology, and engineering, including how a product can be developed through the stages of prototyping, realisation, and commercial manufacture. This qualification will excite and engage you with contemporary topics covering the breadth of this dynamic and continually evolving subject. It creates empathetic learners who develop the ability to confidently critique products, situations, and society in every walk of life, now and in the future. Our Department participates in many national Design and Engineering competitions and runs a biannual residential trip, to learn about the automotive and renewable energy industries.
Grade 8 in GCSE Design Technology is required. You should also be practically confident and be willing to build and test your ideas.
In Year 12 you will acquire new knowledge and skills using our state-of-art equipment and workshops. All the topics are on the OCR website, ranging from user-centred design, and entrepreneurship to beam deflections and mechatronics. One of the projects in Year 12 is ‘Upcycling’. Pupils visit an aeroplane salvage company, where they take parts from a range of aircraft and are tasked with upcycling them into marketable products, which are then hopefully sold. Another is a user-centred design project where you work with less abled individuals and develop a product which will help them. In Year 13, you will spend most of your time working on an individual project, where you will apply the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the course. • NEA: Iterative Design Project (50%) A non-examined ‘Iterative Design Project’ is a substantial design, make and evaluate project centred on the iterative processes of exploring, creating, and Evaluating. You will be required to identify a design opportunity or problem from a context of your own choice and create a chronological portfolio supported by real-time evidence of your project development. Innovative approaches will be required resulting in a final prototype that can be tested against the user and the market. • Written Exam 1: Principles of Product Design (26.7%) This paper assesses your ability to analyse existing products, your technical knowledge and understanding of materials, product functionality, manufacturing processes and techniques. This paper also allows you to demonstrate your understanding of design thinking and wider social, moral, and environmental issues that impact the design and manufacturing industries. • Written Exam 2: Problem Solving in Product Design (23.3%) This paper focuses on the application of your knowledge, understanding and skills of designing and manufacturing prototypes and products to given situations and problems. You will be required to demonstrate your higher thinking skills to solve problems and evaluate situations and the suitability of design solutions. Some pupils enter their creations into national competitions or go on to patent their ideas and prototypes.
About Education Provider
| Region | London |
| Local Authority | Haringey |
| Ofsted Rating | |
| Gender Type | Co-Educational |
| ISI Report | View Report |
| Boarding Fee | Unknown |
| Sixth Form Fee | £25,515 |
| Address | North Road, Highgate, N6 4AY |
The course develops your creative design skills and gives you the technical ability you need to use production methods and materials creatively, including general and specialist IT skills, such as computer-aided design (CAD). Studying Product Design makes you proficient in these areas and prepares you for Higher Education, industry, entrepreneurship, and careers in many related areas. Our A level requires you to identify market needs and opportunities for new products, initiate and develop design solutions, and make and test prototypes/products. You acquire subject knowledge in design, technology, and engineering, including how a product can be developed through the stages of prototyping, realisation, and commercial manufacture. This qualification will excite and engage you with contemporary topics covering the breadth of this dynamic and continually evolving subject. It creates empathetic learners who develop the ability to confidently critique products, situations, and society in every walk of life, now and in the future. Our Department participates in many national Design and Engineering competitions and runs a biannual residential trip, to learn about the automotive and renewable energy industries.
Grade 8 in GCSE Design Technology is required. You should also be practically confident and be willing to build and test your ideas.
In Year 12 you will acquire new knowledge and skills using our state-of-art equipment and workshops. All the topics are on the OCR website, ranging from user-centred design, and entrepreneurship to beam deflections and mechatronics. One of the projects in Year 12 is ‘Upcycling’. Pupils visit an aeroplane salvage company, where they take parts from a range of aircraft and are tasked with upcycling them into marketable products, which are then hopefully sold. Another is a user-centred design project where you work with less abled individuals and develop a product which will help them. In Year 13, you will spend most of your time working on an individual project, where you will apply the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the course. • NEA: Iterative Design Project (50%) A non-examined ‘Iterative Design Project’ is a substantial design, make and evaluate project centred on the iterative processes of exploring, creating, and Evaluating. You will be required to identify a design opportunity or problem from a context of your own choice and create a chronological portfolio supported by real-time evidence of your project development. Innovative approaches will be required resulting in a final prototype that can be tested against the user and the market. • Written Exam 1: Principles of Product Design (26.7%) This paper assesses your ability to analyse existing products, your technical knowledge and understanding of materials, product functionality, manufacturing processes and techniques. This paper also allows you to demonstrate your understanding of design thinking and wider social, moral, and environmental issues that impact the design and manufacturing industries. • Written Exam 2: Problem Solving in Product Design (23.3%) This paper focuses on the application of your knowledge, understanding and skills of designing and manufacturing prototypes and products to given situations and problems. You will be required to demonstrate your higher thinking skills to solve problems and evaluate situations and the suitability of design solutions. Some pupils enter their creations into national competitions or go on to patent their ideas and prototypes.
