May 2024 Design and Technology update
Here is your May 2024 update for GCSE and A level Design and Technology.
I hope that the NEA marking and sample submissions have gone smoothly at your centre and your students are doing well in their exams.
This update will bring you information on the exams, support available for exam preparation and other useful items, to help you in the coming weeks.
Please also spare a little time to fill in the below surveys. Your views are vital and will help shape the future of D&T.
1 June - Contextual challenge release
As per the GCSE D&T NEA timeline, on 1 June 2024 contextual challenges for Summer 2025 series will be released. You will be able to access these from the teaching and learning materials section of the qualification page. The link below will take you there.
Survey on your GCSE D&T NEA experience
We would like to understand your experience around the Non-examined assessment, the contextual challenges and your expectations around moderation of GCSE D&T this series. If you have a moment, we would like your response to this survey:
Future looking surveys for Design and Technology and Food
To better understand the perspectives of current GCSE D&T and Food teachers, we've created two brief surveys to inform our decisions on future qualifications.
We would like to explore a specific question around 100% coursework as an alternative assessment model for D&T, and see if alternative models are preferred to the current exam and coursework split.
This survey enables us to consider your valuable insights and understand how changes might impact your students. Your input is crucial in shaping the future of our qualifications.
| Qualification and component | Date and time |
|---|---|
| A level Design and Technology - Component 1 | 05 June, pm |
| GCSE Design and Technology - Component 1 (1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F) | 18 June, am |
Materials to support revision
| A level D&T Revision | GCSE D&T Revision |
|---|---|
| Maths guide | Maths guide |
| A level D&T 2008 Textbooks | Student book |
| Mapping document | Hodder my revision notes |
| PG online resources | |
| Mocks marking training event files | Mocks marking training event files |
Exam Wizard
An online resource containing a huge bank of past paper questions and support materials to help you create your own mock exams and tests as full papers or based on specification topics. Available for a range of GCSE and A level Design and Technology, including all past papers, SAM and AdSAM.
Summer 2024 support for students
Help your students feel as prepared as possible for the upcoming exam season.
In addition to all the support you provide, both Ofqual, JCQ and Pearson have a range of information to help inform and guide your students during this busy time. Please take a look at the information we’ve summarised below and pass it on to your students.
Support from Ofqual
The Ofqual Student Guide 2024 provides students with information about this year’s arrangements for GCSE, AS and A level qualifications, and explains what support is in place when taking exams and assessments.
Read the Ofqual Student Guide 2024
Support from JCQ
The JCQ has a range of information and support for students – from coursework and onscreen exams to written exams, along with a checklist for exam day.
Take a look at all the support JCQ have to offer for students
Support from Pearson
As the revision season is now fully under way and students begin to turn their focus towards the summer exam series, we’d like to share our Getting ready for exams guide that includes some top tips and advice including:
- preparing for exams
- what happens on exam day
- where to find further support
- what happens once exams are over
Take a look at the guide and please pass it on to your student
You can stay up to date with all our support for 2024 on our Qualifications
According to data published by Ofqual, possession of a mobile phone accounted for 44.5% of all cases of student malpractice - 2,180 cases - in the summer 2023 series. This was an increase on the 1,825 cases seen in the summer 2022 series.
The JCQ awarding bodies have set out the agreed sanctions for the different types of candidate malpractice, including for possession of a mobile phone. These can be found in Appendix 6 of the JCQ Suspected Malpractice Policies and Procedures.
You can see that the sanctions for possession of a mobile phone are severe, because we need to maintain the security and integrity of our exams:
- mobile phone in the candidate’s possession but no evidence of being used by the candidate – loss of marks
- mobile phone in the candidate’s possession and evidence of being used by the candidate – disqualification
We really want to see a reduction in this form of malpractice, which has such a significant impact on so many candidates. Please ensure that you’ve taken the following steps to help your learners avoid committing malpractice:
- clear communication to learners and their parents about items prohibited in exams, including mobile phones
- clear publication and display of the JCQ exam room posters - sharing the JCQ Preparing to sit your exams infographic with learners and their parents
- having a member of your centre’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT) deliver a pre-exam series assembly, to clearly explain the expectations of learners and the exam rules
- ensuring you have in place, and learners know about, a process for the safe collection and storage of their mobile phones during exams
Subject advisor
Evren Alibaba
Design and Technology
