Year 12:

At A level, candidates develop an understanding of a broad range of materials, with emphasis on the life cycle of products, manufacture and final disposal. This specification also considers the broader issues for the designer, including the environmental sustainability of products and consumer safety. Students will be taught in depth about a vast range of materials, their properties and how their properties can be altered during their manufacture. They will also have the opportunity to experience using most of the materials covered when producing a workable product, to further increase their practical skills.

 

Year 13:

The specification offers candidates the opportunity to further develop the knowledge and practical skills having started their NEA portfolio at the end of Year 12. Candidates will continue to develop a body of coursework alongside an understanding of the processes and procedures of commercial production and manufacture when experiencing the design process of producing a product to solve a particular problem that they have highlighted.

Examination board: At Samuel Whitbread Academy, we follow the Pearson Edexcel A Level Product Design examination board.

Details of this course can be found here: 
https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-a-levels/design-technology-product-design-2017.html

 

Impact

In Product Design we are interested in solving real life problems with creative thinking. Our aim is to teach our students how to begin the design process, from gathering the relevant information, to creating proposals and developing a concept into a workable solution. Our aim is to make our students aware of the vast amount of materials and technologies available to us in the world today, and the future, so to be fully aware of what is available to them when designing and manufacturing products.

Students are regularly assessed to check their understanding and process within each of the units they are taught in Key Stage 5

Our assessments include:
● End of unit assessment
● Peer assessment homework marking
● Fortnightly exam style questions which are teacher assessed and feedback instantly provided.
● Tracking sheet
● Monitoring of classwork, folder checks
● Practical outcomes assessment

The Design and Technology department consistently and regularly provide feedback to our students through our KS5 folder scrutiny process, assessment-based questions, and enquiry question assessments, ensuring that all of our learners make progress through their topic-based learning. We encourage the students to be as organised as possible and support them in the management of their paperwork.

 

Course Overview Videos

Sixth Form Design and Technology students at Samuel Whitbread Academy enjoy a range of internal and external, high quality revision materials. All of our revision materials are available on the 6th Form Learning Platform. Other revision materials include the following:

Past papers available from the exam board as well as other useful information regarding the course.
https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-a-levels/design-technology-product-design2017.coursematerials.html#%2FfilterQuery=category:Pearson-UK:Category%2FExam-materials

Fantastic site full of information about the subject of design and technology.http://www.designandtech.com/resistantmaterials/