Government proposes Design and Technology education reform
The Department for Education wants to reform the Design and Technology GCSE scheme that would see current separate qualifcations such as resistant materials and textiles brought together under one title.
The Department for Education worked closely with the Design and Technology Association, the Dyson Foundation, and the Royal Academy of Engineering to overhaul the GSCE content, which now emphasises the iterative processes of design.
If approved the new GCSE content will be introduced in September 2017 and follows a first draft of content which was unveiled in 2014. In the draft, the subject had moved from its craft-based roots into a ‘cutting edge qualification’ focused on both design and making.
Schools minister Nick Gibb said that the reform is “critical” to the development of a qualification that requires students to have a broad knowledge of the design processes, materials, techniques and equipment that are core to the subject.
“Subject experts have advised that such processes are at the core of contemporary practice,” he said in a statement. “By teaching students this approach, the new qualification will prepare them for further study and careers in design, engineering, manufacturing and related areas. The content also sets out, in detail, the mathematical and scientific content that students must know and use that relate closely to design and technology.
“Together these changes aim to ensure that all students have the knowledge and skills to design and make products or prototypes, using the best material, equipment and techniques, to solve real-world and relevant problems across a range of contexts.”
The results of the consultation and the Department's response will be published in autumn 2015.