Eduqas GCSE Design and Technology (C600): complete guide to Component 1 (Design and Technology in the 21st Century), the design and make NEA, the six in-depth areas and the command words

WJEC Eduqas GCSE Design and Technology (specification C600) is assessed by two equally weighted components: a written exam, Component 1, Design and Technology in the 21st Century, and a non-exam assessment, Component 2, the design and make task. Each is worth 100 marks and 50 percent of the qualification. The course teaches you to solve real problems through creative designing and making, while building the technical knowledge of materials, energy, systems, mechanisms and manufacturing that the written paper tests. This page is the index: below is a map of the two components, the core and in-depth content, the maths you must master, and the command words that run across the whole course.

How C600 is assessed

Eduqas splits Design and Technology into two equally weighted components, both worth 100 marks.

• Component 1, Design and Technology in the 21st Century. A 2 hour written exam, 100 marks, 50%, sat at the end of the course. It is split into Section A (the core technical principles every learner studies) and Section B (in-depth questions on one chosen area of study).
• Component 2, design and make task. The non-exam assessment (NEA), 100 marks, 50%, around 35 hours. A design portfolio plus a final prototype, made in response to a WJEC contextual challenge released on 1 June of the year before submission, internally assessed and externally moderated.

There is a single entry code, C600QS, that enters a learner for both components. There is no second written paper: the NEA is where designing and making is evidenced, and the written exam is where the underlying technical knowledge is examined.

Component 1: Section A and Section B

Component 1 is one paper with two sections, and the split is the key thing to understand.

Section A: core technical principles. Every learner answers these, whatever their specialism. The core covers new and emerging technologies (industry, enterprise, sustainability, people, culture, society and the environment), energy generation and storage, developments in new materials (smart, modern and composite materials and technical textiles), the systems approach to designing (input, process and output), mechanical devices (motion, levers, gears, pulleys and cams), and materials and their working properties across all six categories.

Section B: in-depth area of study. Each learner answers one question from six areas of study, going deeper into the sources, properties, processes, treatments and finishes of a single category:

1. Papers and boards
2. Natural and manufactured timber
3. Ferrous and non-ferrous metals
4. Thermoforming and thermosetting polymers
5. Fibres and textiles
6. Electronic systems, programmable components and mechanical devices

You study all six at core level for Section A, then specialise in one for Section B, usually the area that matches your workshop and your NEA.

The core technical principles

The written exam tests the technical knowledge that underpins good designing and making, across the core areas below.

New and emerging technologies

How new technologies change designing, making, industry and the workforce; enterprise, innovation and marketing; the impact of automation, CAD and CAM, flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) and just in time (JIT); sustainability and the 6 Rs; and the effect of design on people, culture, society and the environment.

Energy generation and storage

Fossil fuels and nuclear power, renewable sources (wind, solar, tidal, hydroelectric and biomass), and energy storage including primary and rechargeable (secondary) cells.

Developments in new materials

Smart materials (shape memory alloys, thermochromic and photochromic pigments), modern materials (graphene, titanium, metal foams, nanomaterials), composite materials (GRP and CFRP), and technical textiles (conductive, fire-resistant, microfibres and Kevlar).

Systems approach to designing

The input, process and output model; sensors (switches, light-dependent resistors, thermistors); processing with transistors, integrated circuits and programmable microcontrollers; and outputs (LEDs, buzzers, motors), with feedback.

Mechanical devices

The four types of motion (linear, rotary, reciprocating and oscillating), levers and linkages, and rotary systems (gears, pulleys and belts, cams and followers), including gear and velocity ratios.

Materials and their working properties

The physical and working properties, sources, standard forms and ecological and social footprint of the six material categories: papers and boards, timbers, metals, polymers, textiles, and electronic and mechanical components.

Component 2: the design and make task

The NEA is a design and make project worth 50 percent, taking around 35 hours.

• Investigate. Analyse the WJEC contextual challenge, research the context, the user and existing products, and write a design brief and a measurable specification.
• Design. Generate, develop and model ideas, communicating them through sketches, drawings, CAD and prototypes, then plan the manufacture of a final outcome.
• Make. Manufacture a final prototype safely and accurately, applying suitable processes and finishes.
• Evaluate. Test against the specification and the user throughout, and judge fitness for purpose with suggested improvements.

The portfolio is concise and focused on the chosen challenge, and the quality of the final prototype counts as well as the documented thinking.

The maths that runs across the course

C600 carries applied maths worth at least 15 percent of the qualification, examined in Component 1. You must be confident with:

1. Ratio and proportion. Scaling a drawing up or down, reading and writing ratios such as 1:2, 1:5 or 2:1, and converting between drawing and real sizes.
2. Percentages. Percentage increase, decrease, waste and material efficiency, and reading data from charts.
3. Gear and velocity ratios. Working out the ratio from the number of teeth on meshing gears or pulley diameters, and what it means for speed, direction and torque.
4. Costing. Material and component cost from stock forms (price per sheet, length, rod or kilogram) times the quantity used, including allowing for waste.
5. Areas and volumes. Working out the quantity of stock material needed and the amount of waste.

In every case the marks come from showing the working, attaching the unit, and interpreting what the figure means for the product or its cost.

The command-word ladder

Eduqas ties its command words to the depth of answer expected, so the verb tells you what earns the marks.

1. State, Name, Give, Identify. Short recall, one or two marks, no development.
2. Describe, Calculate. A worked number, or a point with some detail.
3. Explain. A developed reason, cause leading to effect.
4. Discuss, Evaluate, Justify. A two-sided argument leading to a supported judgement.

The 6 to 9 mark extended questions sit at the top of this ladder and decide the grade. They are marked on a levels-of-response grid, so they need developed reasoning and, for evaluate and justify, a balanced conclusion applied to the product or context.

The topics, dot point by dot point

Each topic area has an overview guide, dot-point answer pages and a quiz. Browse the full set at /gcse-eduqas/design-and-technology/syllabus.

For the official specification

WJEC Eduqas publishes the full specification (C600), past papers and mark schemes at eduqas.co.uk. Always revise from the current specification and Eduqas's own materials, because the question style, the maths and the mark schemes are board-specific.