Design and Technology is an inspiring, rigorous, and practical subject. OCR’s GCE Design Engineering and Product Design, supports progression beyond A level into higher education or apprenticeship programmes. There is a focus on ensuring the content reflects authentic practice, giving an insight into how creative, engineering, and manufacturing industries function. The OCR specifications require you to apply mathematical and scientific knowledge, understanding, and skills and reflect the importance of Design and Technology as a pivotal STEM subject. Why study this subject at A-Level? • The course will strengthen your critical thinking and problem-solving skills within a creative environment, enabling you to develop and make prototypes that solve real-world problems, considering your own and others’ needs, wants, aspirations, and values. • You will develop intellectual curiosity about the design and manufacture of products and systems, and their impact on daily life and the wider world, making you a more discriminating purchaser. • It will help you to be creative in your approach to work and develop your sketching ability and use of digital technologies in designing and creating quality products. • You will learn about a range of materials and, components and manufacturing methods to help create functional products. • You will learn to work collaboratively to develop and refine your ideas, responding to feedback from users, peers, and expert practitioners. • You will gain an insight into the creative, engineering, and manufacturing industries and learn about the iterative design practices and strategies they use. • You will learn about important issues that affect design in the wider world such as sustainability, globalisation and inclusive design; to become an empathetic and successful designer who can consider the wider social implications of products.