Design and Technology
Contact : Mr S D Ellis Email : elliss @ pocklingtonschool . com
Course : A Level Design and Technology Exam Board : AQA
Design and Technology enables students to participate successfully and with confidence in an increasingly technological world . Design skills and the ability to visualise new ideas can be useful in many job families such as marketing , sales and advertising , arts crafts and design , broadcast media and performing arts , journalism and publishing , construction , as well as engineering and manufacturing .
CONTENT OF COURSE
The first part of the course , in the Lower Sixth , will be nonexamined project work designed to build on the student ’ s existing design and making skills and to better equip them for the more industrial nature of the A level coursework component . 50 % of the course will be based on the theory content , supporting the coursework as well as preparing them for the written papers . Students will undertake a substantial design and make task and produce a final prototype ( NEA ). The context of the task is to be determined by the student .
COURSE ENTRY AND QUALIFICATIONS
This course requires students to engage in both practical and theoretical study and to be both analytical and logical thinkers and creative risk takers . There is also a 15 % maths skills component over the two written papers ; students need to be good communicators using both written and drawing skills .
Those who wish to study Design at A level require a pass in Design GCSE at grade 6 or above .
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY AS A QUALIFICATION FOR FURTHER STUDY AND CAREER OPTIONS
Design and Technology is a practical and valuable subject . It enables young people to actively contribute to the creativity , culture and wealth of themselves and the wider world . It teaches how to take risks and so become more resourceful , innovative , enterprising and capable . Students develop a critical understanding of the impact of design and technology on daily life and the wider world . Additionally , it provides excellent opportunities for students to develop and apply value judgements of an aesthetic , economic , moral , social , and technical nature both in their own designing and when evaluating the work of others . The two year syllabus will allow students greater scope to identify and explore their own areas of interest leading to greater choice in the topic for their own piece of coursework ( NEA ).
The report The UK Creative Industries : unleashing the power and potential of creativity features newly commissioned data from Oxford Economics , which projects that , with the right investment , the sector could recover faster than the UK economy as a whole , growing by over 26 % by 2025 and contributing £ 132.1 billion to the economy in GVA - over £ 28 billion more than in 2020 , and more than the financial services , insurance and pension industries combined . Not only a major driver of economic growth , the data reveals that by 2025 the Creative Industries could create 300,000 new jobs .
COURSE OUTLINE
A level ( examining all components of the 2 year course )
PAPER CONTENT MARKS AVAILABLE
Paper 1 Technical principles 120 Paper 2 Design and making principles 80
NEA ( Coursework )
Practical application of technical principles , designing and making principles
100
“ Imagination is more important than knowledge . For knowledge is limited , whereas imagination embraces the entire world , stimulating progress , giving birth to evolution .”
Albert Einstein “ Cosmic Religion and Other Opinions and Aphorisms ” 1931
20