About Design Council

About Design Council

Design Council has been the UK’s national strategic advisor on design for over 75 years.

We are an independent not-for-profit organisation that champions design and its ability to make life better for all. Our Design for Planet mission aims to accelerate the critical role design must play to address the climate crisis.

Annex B: History and Context of Design and Technology at Secondary-Level in England

1988 –2002: D&T becomes a statutory entitlement to all pupils

England and Wales were the first countries in the world to establish D&T as a statutory entitlement to all pupils through the National Curriculum in the 1988 school reforms. The curriculum included D&T as a compulsory subject from 14-16 (GCSE equivalent level), unless a student provided sufficient reason to ‘disapply’ from the course.

This follows a longer history of Thatcher supporting design. In a 1982 speech she remarked ‘I am convinced that British industry will never compete if it forgets the importance of good design”. Between 1982 and 1987, Thatcher hosted the No.10 Design Seminars, although John Woodham questions their effectiveness of bringing about real change. She went on to open the Design Museum in London in 1989.

Lady Margaret Parkes, Chair of the working group that helped to introduce the subject to the school curriculum, stated:

“ The aim of our proposals for design and technology is to prepare pupils to meet the needs of the 21st century; to stimulate originality, enterprise, practical capability in designing and making and the adaptability needed to cope with a rapidly changing society”.

2002: The removal of D&T as a compulsory KS 4 subject

D&T was a compulsory GCSE subject in schools until September 2002. This was revoked following the government’s green paper on ‘extending opportunities, raising standards’ under Blair’s government.

The reasons given in the green paper for this were:

– Existing ‘disapplication’ processes were deemed to be too constraining and negative for pupils. In response, the green paper argued for a different configuration of compulsory subjects, and a statutory requirement of access to others. D&T was second highest subject ‘disapplied’ by students (where a young person can choose not to take a compulsory subject for various reasons).

– The requirement to have to study D&T and foreign languages at KS 4 was deemed ‘too constraining’ for pupils.

– That many students did not see D&T as central to their course of study (p.26)

– There is a tacit suggestion that the creativity skills etc. developed from KS1-3 through D&T should be applicable and developed further across a range of KS4 subjects and through work placements.

It is worth noting that this change in status only affected D&T at 14-16 level. The subject continues to be a compulsory part of the curriculum between Key Stages 1 to 3 (i.e. from 11 – 14).

2010: The introduction of Ebacc puts further pressure on Design and Arts education

In 2010 the Coalition government introduced the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) as an accountability measure for schools. It measures the proportion of young people who secure grade 5 or above in English, Maths, Science, a humanity and language GCSE. Arts subjects, and design, are not included . It then uses this measure to rank schools on performance tables.

Analysis from the Cultural Learning Alliance in 2013 found that this accountability disproportionally affected the provision of arts and design education in schools. The argument is that if arts provision does not help a school’s performance assessment, it will be deprioritised for other subjects that do.

2011: A DfE review of the national curriculum recommends that Design and Technology is re-classified.

A 2011 expert panel convened by the Department of Education to review the National Curriculum argued that design and technology should be re-classified because it lacks ‘sufficient disciplinary coherence’ (p. 24), placing it on a par with PSHE.

Whilst D&T has remained a part of the national curriculum, some have argued that D&T currently lacks a coherent, design-oriented curriculum and body of knowledge to underpin it.

A report from the Design Commission (of which Design Council was a part) strongly argued against the demotion of D&T at secondary, in addition to calling for a host of wider education reforms. It instead argued that design education is a key driver to unlock economic growth.

A summary from a debate in the House of Lords on the paper can be found here, and a presentation based on the full report (can’t find it) here.

2012: Design and the Cultural Education Plan V1

In 2012, Darren Henley was commissioned by Ed Vaizey –then Minister for DCMS – to undertake a comprehensive review of cultural education.

Amongst his recommendations was that Design should be given greater priority in the school curriculum, and placed on a par with STEM subjects. He argued that both art and design curricula should better provide skills for industry, introduce practical applications of science and mathematics, and retain drawing and visualisation skills89. The government’s response to this recommendation was that the status of the subject in the curriculum would be ‘under review’, but no concrete changes seemed to have resulted.

2017-2019: New D&T Specification introduced

After the new specification was introduced in 2017, there has been a 23% drop in uptake, and a related uptick in art and design, which included 3D design and graphic design pathways.

The key change was merging previous separate singlespecialism subjects (fashion and textiles, resistant materials) into a single subject. More marks were given to examined papers than previously. Both changes have been described as ‘push’ factors moving teachers from D&T to Art and Design (which is 100% coursework/Non Examined Content). The positives of the changes are summarised here.

Our world is changing at such a speed that we, and the rich biodiversity of our planet are struggling to adapt. Yet the solutions to so many of the world’s challenges exist, it is simply a question of making them happen. To do this we need great minds, to imagine, design and create tomorrow’s solutions to today’s problems. […] We are born makers and must nurture and value design and technology as a core tenant of our education system, if we want to live in harmony with planet earth.

Will Butler-Adams OBE,Chief Executive Officer at Brompton Bicycle