Examination Board OCR
Qualification level GCSE
Specification code J310
Overview The course gives pupils an in depth look into the design world. The core element of the course introduces issues such as social, moral, economic and environmental considerations. It allows pupils to fully immerse themselves into a practical STEM subject, where they can experiment with knowledge also covered in other GCSE’s.
Curriculum 1 Core knowledge covers the following topic titles:
• Identifying requirements • Learning from existing products and practice • Implications of wider issues • Design thinking and communication • Material considerations • Mechanical devices and electronic systems • New and emerging technologies
2 Non-Examined Assessment - pupils are given three contexts to explore, completing a portfolio of work as they find a design opportunity, research into it, design, model and test a range of solutions, before manufacturing their final piece. This is a personal project in which students can follow their own path and are encouraged to stretch themselves to try new ideas and include new processes.
Assessment
Unit % of final assessment Type of assessment Timing of assessment
1 50% Written examination
2 50% NEA Summer of Year 11 June, Year 10 – March, Year 11
Do pupils need to study at GCSE for Sixth Form Level? Studying KS3 and GCSE is the ideal foundation to take the study further into A Level.
Pupil View “I’m so glad that I chose DT as it is the one subject where I get to do some fun practical work, which serves as a break from all the theoretical stuff I do in my other subjects. The lessons are very varied in style, and we have an amazing teacher. For someone looking for a more creative/practical subject, I would definitely recommend DT over one of the other practical subjects as it is so much more useful and the amount of work we do is sensible. I would also recommend it to people only taking humanities and languages as their options; school life would be so dull without DT.”
