Design & Technology

KS4 Options:

Food & Nutrition

This course is made up of three different components:

• Exam – One Paper (50%)
• NEA Task 1 – Food Investigation (15%)
• NEA Task 2 – Food Preparation Task (35%)

Exam

• Multiple choice questions (20 marks)
• Five questions each with a number of sub questions (80 marks)

Students will be tested on their theoretical knowledge of Food Nutrition & Health, Food Science, Food Safety, Food Choice and Food Provenance.

With the NEA tasks completed in Year 11, students will learn the theoretical knowledge needed during Year 10 with practical cooks woven into the curriculum to help consolidate the theoretical knowledge but also develop the practical skills needed for the NEA.

NEA Task 1

• Written or electronic report (1,500–2,000 words) including photographic evidence of the practical investigation

Students will undertake a food investigation task (set by the exam board) exploring the working characteristics, functional and chemical properties of different ingredients.

NEA Task 2

• Written or electronic portfolio including photographic evidence. Photographic evidence of the three final dishes must be included

Students will prepare, cook and present a final menu of three dishes within a single period of no more than three hours, planning in advance how this will be achieved.

It is important to note that practical work only makes up 32% of the GCSE so the focus will be on theoretical knowledge rather than cooking every lesson.

GCSE Design Technology

This course is made up of three different components:

• Exam – One Paper (50%)
• NEA Task – Food Investigation (50%)

Exam

Section A – Core technical principles (20 marks)

• A mixture of multiple choice and short answer questions assessing a breadth of technical knowledge and understanding.

Section B – Specialist technical principles (30 marks)

• Several short answer questions (2–5 marks)
• One extended response to assess a more in-depth knowledge of technical principles. (8 marks)

Section C – Designing and making principles (50 marks)

• A mixture of short answer and extended response questions. (2-8 marks)

Students will be tested on their theoretical knowledge of Design Technology, a base knowledge of all different material areas will be needed for Section A while for Section B, students will specialise in two different material areas (Timbers and Polymers) so will select question responses based on these material choices.

15% of the exam paper is testing mathematical applications such as area, volume, measurements etc.

10% of the exam paper is testing scientific principles such as impacts on materials like corrosion and oxidisation and alloys/composite materials.

With the NEA task completed in Year 11, students will learn the theoretical knowledge needed during Year 10 with practical challenges woven into the curriculum to help consolidate the theoretical knowledge but also develop their designing and practical skills needed for the NEA.

NEA Task 1

• Design & Make Portfolio (30-35 hours approximately)

Students will be given a context to choose from (provided by the exam board) and they will need to:

• Analyse the context to develop potential design opportunities
• Research around the context to gain an understanding of the design opportunities identified
• Work with a client having identified an appropriate target market
• Generate design solutions
• Develop a chosen design idea
• Create a working prototype
• Evaluate the prototype with feedback from their client

Students will put together a portfolio of work/evidence, including photographs of the completed models and prototype to submit to the exam board.

It is important to note that practical work only represents 10% of the total exam grade and this course is a designing theory GCSE.