What is Component 1 Making, and what goes into the portfolio and learning file?
Component 1 Making, Exploring materials, techniques and processes (overview): the controlled-assessment portfolio of practical work plus a learning file, covering health and safety, the creative industries and business and employability.
A CCEA GCSE Contemporary Crafts overview of Component 1 Making, the controlled-assessment component worth the larger share of the qualification. Covers the portfolio of practical work and the learning file, exploring materials, techniques and processes, health and safety, connections to the creative industries, and business and employability, all marked against the four assessment objectives.
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What this dot point is asking
This is an overview of Component 1 Making, in full Making: Exploring materials, techniques and processes. Component 1 is a controlled-assessment (coursework) component and the larger of the two, carrying the greater share of the qualification. Because it is a practical body of work built up over the course rather than a timed exam, this page sets out its structure and what it covers, not a list of facts to memorise. In Component 1 you produce two connected things: a portfolio of practical work and a learning file.
The shape of Component 1
Component 1 is where most of your sustained making and reflection lives.
The component is marked against the same four objectives (develop, refine, record, realise) as the rest of the course, so the principles from the rest of this module apply throughout. The work is built up during the course and submitted for marking and moderation by CCEA.
The portfolio of practical work
The portfolio is a sustained body of practical work. It takes one or more starting points and works through the design and making process: recording and researching, developing design ideas from sources, experimenting and refining with materials, and realising finished craft outcomes. The point of the portfolio is breadth and depth: it should show you can sustain a project, explore a range of materials, techniques and processes, take creative risks, and evidence all four objectives across connected work rather than a single object.
The learning file
The learning file is the reflective backbone of the component. It records and annotates the journey: your intentions, what you take from a source, why you chose a material, why an experiment was kept or rejected, and how you evaluate the outcome. The learning file is where AO1 develop and AO3 record are most clearly evidenced, because it makes your thinking visible to a marker. A strong learning file is honest and specific, not long for its own sake.
What else Component 1 covers
Beyond the making, Component 1 builds wider craft knowledge.
- Health and safety. You learn to work safely with tools, equipment, materials and processes, an essential part of any craft practice and of the component.
- The creative industries. You make connections between your own work and the wider creative industries, seeing where craft sits in the real world.
- Business and employability. You develop an understanding of business models and employability options open to craftworkers, from selling work to working to commission.
These are not separate essays; they are understanding woven through the practical work and recorded in the learning file.
Try this
Q1. What two things do you produce in Component 1 Making? [2 marks]
- Cue. A portfolio of practical work and a learning file.
Q2. Name two areas of wider craft knowledge Component 1 covers beyond the making. [2 marks]
- Cue. Any two: health and safety; connections to the creative industries; business models and employability options.
Q3. Why does the learning file matter for the marks? [2 marks]
- Cue. It records and annotates your thinking, evidencing AO1 develop and AO3 record by making your design and material decisions visible.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of CCEA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Component 1 (structure)8 marksDescribe what Component 1 Making asks you to produce and what it covers.Show worked answer →
A structure question on the Making component. The skill is showing you understand it is a sustained body of practical and reflective work, not a single object.
What you produce: a portfolio of practical work that explores materials, techniques and processes through the design and making process, together with a learning file that records and annotates the journey.
What it covers: alongside the making, Component 1 asks you to understand health and safety, to make connections between your own work and the wider creative industries, and to understand business models and employability options in craft.
Judgement: explain that the whole component is marked against the four assessment objectives, so a strong submission evidences researching, developing, refining and realising, with the learning file making the thinking visible. A top answer links the practical work to the wider context rather than treating them separately.
Component 1 (preparation)12 marksExplain how you would build a strong Component 1 portfolio and learning file over the course.Show worked answer →
A preparation question rewarding an understanding of process and balance across the objectives.
Coverage: make sure the portfolio evidences all four objectives, with rich preparatory work (researching, developing, refining) behind any final pieces, because those three objectives carry three quarters of the marks.
Materials and context: explore a range of materials, techniques and processes, work safely, and connect your practice to real craftworkers and the creative industries so AO1 and the contextual elements are evidenced through understanding, not copying.
Learning file: annotate decisions about design and materials, and reflect on what worked, so the journey reads clearly and the thinking is visible.
Judgement: conclude that a strong Component 1 is a connected, well-evidenced body of practical and reflective work that shows growth from starting point to finished craft outcome, presented so a marker can follow it. Breadth of process beats a few polished objects.
Related dot points
- The four assessment objectives (AO1 develop, AO2 refine and experiment with materials, AO3 record, AO4 realise a craft outcome), each carrying equal weight across both components.
A focused CCEA GCSE Contemporary Crafts guide to the four assessment objectives. Covers what AO1 develop, AO2 refine, AO3 record and AO4 realise each reward, why every component is marked against all four equally, and how to evidence each objective through a craft portfolio, learning file and final made piece.
- The design and making process: researching, designing and developing ideas, experimenting and refining with materials, making and evaluating, evidenced through a portfolio and learning file.
A focused CCEA GCSE Contemporary Crafts guide to the design and making process. Covers how to move from a starting point through research, design development, experimenting and refining with materials, making and evaluating, and how to evidence each stage in a portfolio and learning file that meets all four assessment objectives.
- Component 2 Working to a Brief (overview): the externally set stimulus paper with a choice of briefs, the preparatory making and a final original craft or design outcome, the externally set component of the qualification.
A CCEA GCSE Contemporary Crafts overview of Component 2, Working to a Brief. Covers the externally set stimulus paper with a choice of briefs, the preparatory period of researching, designing and refining, the final original craft or design outcome, and how the four assessment objectives are met under controlled conditions.
- Craft materials and processes: ceramics, glass, metal, found and recycled materials, resins, textiles and wood, their properties, the techniques each suits, and working safely.
A focused CCEA GCSE Contemporary Crafts guide to craft materials and processes. Covers the range of media you can use, ceramics, glass, metal, found and recycled materials, resins, textiles and wood, the properties of each, the techniques and processes they suit, and the importance of working safely with tools and materials.
- Craft in context and the creative industries: investigating and analysing craftworkers and craft traditions, developing your own ideas from them, and connecting your practice to the creative industries, business models and employability.
A focused CCEA GCSE Contemporary Crafts guide to craft in context and the creative industries. Covers how to investigate and analyse craftworkers and craft traditions, how to develop your own ideas from a source rather than copying, and how to connect your practice to the wider creative industries, business models and employability options.
Sources & how we know this
- CCEA GCSE Contemporary Crafts specification — CCEA (2017)
- CCEA GCSE Contemporary Crafts assessment — CCEA (2017)