GCSE Design & Technology

Overview

For parents: Each exam board teaches Design & Technology slightly differently. Ask the school which board they use — it's the key to revising the right content.

Topics

Design & Technology key terms

Original definitions for core course vocabulary, informed by the references below. Not an official or exhaustive board-specific glossary.

40 of 40 terms

Design brief

A concise statement of the need or problem a design should address.

Designing and evaluating

Design specification

A set of requirements against which a proposed product can be developed and assessed.

Designing and evaluating

User-centred design

Design that places intended users' needs, capabilities and experiences at the centre of decisions.

Designing and evaluating

Iterative design

Repeatedly developing, testing and improving ideas in response to findings.

Designing and evaluating

Prototype

A model or early version used to explore or test aspects of a proposed product.

Designing and evaluating

Anthropometrics

Measurements of human bodies used to inform dimensions and fit.

Designing and evaluating

Ergonomics

Designing products and environments to suit human use, comfort, safety and efficiency.

Designing and evaluating

Market research

Gathering information about potential customers, competing products and demand.

Designing and evaluating

Product analysis

Examining a product's function, materials, manufacture and suitability for users.

Designing and evaluating

Evaluation

Judging a design or product against evidence, user needs and specification requirements.

Designing and evaluating

Hardwood

Timber from broad-leaved trees, usually flowering trees; the term does not guarantee physical hardness.

Materials and properties

Softwood

Timber from coniferous trees; some softwoods are harder than some hardwoods.

Materials and properties

Manufactured board

A sheet material made by processing and bonding wood fibres, particles or layers.

Materials and properties

Ferrous metal

A metal or alloy containing iron as a principal constituent.

Materials and properties

Non-ferrous metal

A metal or alloy in which iron is not a principal constituent.

Materials and properties

Alloy

A metallic material made by combining a metal with one or more other elements.

Materials and properties

Thermoplastic

A polymer that can be softened by heating and reshaped repeatedly.

Materials and properties

Thermosetting polymer

A polymer that forms permanent cross-links during curing and cannot simply be remelted.

Materials and properties

Composite

A material combining distinct components to obtain useful properties.

Materials and properties

Smart material

A material that changes a property in response to a stimulus such as heat or light.

Materials and properties

Tension

A pulling force that tends to stretch a material or component.

Forces, systems and mechanisms

Compression

A pushing force that tends to shorten or squash a material or component.

Forces, systems and mechanisms

Shear

Forces acting across a material in opposing directions, tending to make sections slide past each other.

Forces, systems and mechanisms

Torsion

A twisting action applied to a component.

Forces, systems and mechanisms

Lever

A rigid member that turns about a pivot to transmit or modify force and movement.

Forces, systems and mechanisms

Gear ratio

The relationship between the tooth counts of meshing gears, determining changes in speed and turning effect.

Forces, systems and mechanisms

Cam

A shaped rotating component that controls a follower's motion.

Forces, systems and mechanisms

Linkage

Connected rigid members that transfer or alter movement.

Forces, systems and mechanisms

Input

A signal, force or energy supplied to a system.

Forces, systems and mechanisms

Feedback

Information about a system's output returned to influence its operation.

Forces, systems and mechanisms

CAD

Computer-aided design: using software to create, modify or model designs.

Manufacture and sustainability

Computer-aided manufacture (CAM)

Computer-aided manufacture: using computer-controlled equipment to make components or products.

Manufacture and sustainability

CNC

Computer numerical control: programmed instructions directing machine movements and operations.

Manufacture and sustainability

Tolerance

The permitted variation from a specified dimension or other requirement.

Manufacture and sustainability

Quality control

Checking products or components against agreed standards to identify faults.

Manufacture and sustainability

Quality assurance

Planned procedures intended to prevent defects and maintain consistent quality throughout production.

Manufacture and sustainability

Batch production

Making a specified quantity of one product before changing production to another batch.

Manufacture and sustainability

Mass production

Producing large quantities of standardised products, usually through repetitive processes.

Manufacture and sustainability

Life-cycle assessment

Assessing environmental impacts across a product's materials, manufacture, use and disposal.

Manufacture and sustainability

Planned obsolescence

Designing a product with a deliberately limited useful or desirable life to encourage replacement.

Manufacture and sustainability

Exams

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Revision

Tell GCSE.es which Design & Technology topics feel weak. Your dashboard then picks a short, timed next step — learn the key idea, check yourself, review mistakes.

Practice

• ✓ Key terms you tap to reveal
• ✓ Quick multiple-choice quizzes
• ✓ 3, 6, 9 and 12-mark exam-style questions
• ✓ Marking with feedback and a model answer

Available free inside your GCSE journey. Questions are written by GCSE.es, not taken from real past papers.

Resources

Short, focused tasks for the Design & Technology topics you find hardest — learn the key idea, check yourself, then try a marked exam-style question.