Eduqas GCSE Design and Technology: sustainability and society - a complete overview

What this topic actually demands

Sustainability and society is where Eduqas C600 asks you to weigh the wider impact of design and to know the cutting-edge materials science has produced. It sits in Section A and rewards balanced judgement: the high-tariff extended questions often sit here. The marks come from explaining the 6 Rs and footprints with real impact, discussing ethics fairly, and matching new materials to uses.

This guide walks through the subtopics in specification order, then sets out the Eduqas exam patterns. Each subtopic has a matching dot-point page with worked exam questions; this overview ties them together.

The product life cycle and the 6 Rs

A product life cycle runs from extraction through manufacture, distribution and use to end of life, and a life-cycle assessment measures the total impact. The 6 Rs (rethink, refuse, reduce, reuse, repair, recycle) guide sustainable design, and design for disassembly lets a product be repaired, reused and recycled. The driver is that many resources are finite.

The ecological and social footprint

The ecological footprint is the environmental impact (resource depletion, pollution, carbon footprint, waste); the social footprint is the human impact (working conditions, communities, fair pay). Designers cut the ecological footprint with recycled, renewable and local materials, and the social footprint with fair trade and ethical sourcing.

Social, cultural and ethical issues

Products reflect and are shaped by culture and society. Inclusive design makes products usable by as many people as possible (large clear controls, lever handles, step-free access). Planned obsolescence (a designed-in limited life) is a key ethical debate, sustaining business and innovation but conflicting with sustainability. Design movements and designers influence style and approach.

Smart and modern materials

Smart materials respond reversibly to the environment: shape memory alloys (shape with heat), thermochromic (colour with heat) and photochromic (colour with light). Modern materials have superior fixed properties: graphene (strong, light, conductive), titanium (strong, light, corrosion-resistant), metal foams and nanomaterials.

Composites and technical textiles

A composite combines a fibre and a matrix for properties neither has alone: GRP (glass fibre and resin), CFRP (carbon fibre and resin, very high strength-to-weight), MDF and concrete. Technical textiles are engineered for performance: conductive, fire-resistant, microfibres and Kevlar.

The exam patterns Eduqas repeats

Component 1 tests this topic with short recall (name an R, a smart material), Explain questions (how design for disassembly supports the Rs, two properties of graphene), and high-tariff Discuss and Evaluate questions marked on a levels grid (planned obsolescence, the footprint of a product, sustainability of a material choice). Tie each point to its impact, weigh both sides of ethical issues, and match new materials to uses.

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 question style and command words are board-specific.