Specification: Pearson-GCSE-Design-and-Technology
The EDEXCEL GCSE Design and Technology specification covers 70 topics with 0 learning objectives (Pearson-GCSE-Design-and-Technology). Use the topic browser below to explore subtopics, exam tips, common mistakes, and key terminology for each area of the course.
This subject will help you develop key knowledge and skills required for exam success.
70
Topics
0
Objectives
169
Exam Tips
108
Pitfalls
The Edexcel GCSE in Design and Technology provides students with a strong foundation in the iterative design process, blending creativity with technical and practical skills. Throughout the course, you'll explore how products are developed, manufactured, and brought to market, gaining a real understanding of the design world around you. You'll build knowledge across a wide range of materials—such as timbers, metals, polymers, textiles, and electronic systems—as well as modern manufacturing methods like 3D printing and CAD/CAM.
The course is structured to develop your ability to think like a designer: identifying user needs, generating ideas, modelling solutions, and evaluating outcomes in a cyclical, reflective manner. Core technical principles cover topics like sustainability, smart materials, mechanical systems, and health & safety, ensuring you grasp the fundamental theory that underpins all design disciplines. You will then specialise in at least one material area, allowing you to focus on projects that match your interests and strengths, whether that's working with wood, metal, fabric, or electronics.
Edexcel’s specification emphasises designing for real-world contexts and encourages you to engage with wider issues including environmental impact, social responsibility, and the influence of culture on design. By the end of the course, you'll have not only a robust theoretical understanding but also a portfolio of creative, well-crafted projects that demonstrate your practical abilities—preparing you excellently for further study at A Level, apprenticeships, or careers in the creative, engineering, and manufacturing industries.
The qualification is assessed through two components: one written examination and a non-examined assessment (NEA). The written paper lasts 1 hour and 45 minutes and is worth 50% of the GCSE (100 marks). It consists of three sections: Section A tests core technical principles, Section B assesses specialist technical principles in your chosen material area, and Section C evaluates designing and making principles. The NEA makes up the remaining 50% (100 marks) and is a substantial design-and-make project where you respond to a contextual challenge set by Edexcel, producing a portfolio and a final prototype. Both components are taken at the end of the linear course.
Identify, investigate and outline design possibilities to address needs and wants
Design and make prototypes that are fit for purpose
Analyse and evaluate – • design decisions and outcomes, including for prototypes made by themselves and others • wider issues in design technology
Demonstrate and apply knowledge and understanding of – • technical principles • design and making principles
Demonstrates comprehensive and accurate knowledge
Applies knowledge effectively to new contexts
Develops sophisticated analytical arguments
Give a single fact or term
Name, select, or recognise
Set out main features briefly
Give an account of what something is like or what happens
Give reasons with developed cause→effect chains
State similarities AND differences (both required)
Examine in detail showing cause→effect→consequence chains
Weigh up BOTH sides, reach JUSTIFIED conclusion
Make judgments about importance with justification
Show formula→substitution→calculation→answer with units
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