Course Intro

The Course provides a broad and practical experience in product design and manufacture. It provides opportunities for learners to gain skills in designing and communicating design proposals and opportunities for learners to refine and resolve their design ideas effectively. It highlights the close relationship between designing, making, testing, and refining design ideas and provides opportunities for learners to apply practical skills and an understanding of the properties and uses of materials and manufacturing processes. The Course combines elements of creativity and designing for aesthetic or visual impact with elements of designing for the practicalities of manufacturing. It helps the learner appreciate the importance to a product of form, function, and performance. It helps them develop strategies for the evaluation of these attributes and to refine and resolve their designs accordingly.

The Higher Design and Manufacture Course differs in purpose and aim from the equivalent Courses at National 4 and National 5. It does so most obviously by requiring learners to give greater priority to evaluating design proposals and arriving at a resolved design. Of necessity, this may reduce time spent on crafting quality prototypes. Subsequently it is likely to increase the time spent on making practical models in order to inform and refine design proposals.

Typical learners who might do the Course

This Course is a broad-based qualification, suitable for learners with an interest in design and technology generally. It is suitable for learners with a keen general or specific interest in product design and manufacturing. It is suitable for those wanting to progress onto higher levels of study in the subject.

Recommended Entry

Students would normally be expected to have attained one of the following:

• Grade “A” pass at National 5 level Design & Manufacture
• Students with a “B” pass may be accepted onto the course if authorised by the Head of Dept

The aims of the Course:

• skills in design and in refining design proposals
• practical skills in the planning and development of models and prototypes
• skills in evaluation and research
• knowledge and understanding of manufacturing processes and materials
• an understanding of the impact of design and manufacturing technologies on our environment and society

Mandatory Units: Higher

• Design & Manufacture (Design Higher)
• Design & Manufacture (Manufacture Higher)

Students studying Higher will also have to sit an external exam & complete design assignment.

Next steps

After successfully completing the course students will be able to undertake:

• Design & Manufacture (Advanced Higher)
• Graphic Communication (National 5/Higher)

Skills & Knowledge

The Course provides learners with opportunities to develop:

• researching and evaluating existing product types
• selecting and using a range of research techniques and evaluating their usefulness
• selecting and applying a range of idea generation techniques
• writing a detailed specification based on function and performance
• applying a range of creative design skills when refining and resolving product design tasks which encompass a range of key design factors
• selecting and using graphic techniques to visually represent design solutions, justifying the chosen selection of techniques
• selecting, using and evaluating a range of simple modelling and manufacturing techniques to represent design ideas in three dimensions
• planning a manufacturing process and analysing its effectiveness
• selecting and using a range of tools, equipment, software and materials in designing, making and testing models and prototypes
• evaluating their own design proposals and associated manufacturing practicalities, and applying suggestions for improvement
• a broad understanding of the impact of a range of design and manufacturing technologies on our environment and society
• critically evaluating a range of factors that influence the design and manufacture of products
• understanding of a broad range of industrial and commercial manufacturing processes and the properties and uses of materials

The Course allows learners to engage with technologies. It allows them to evaluate both the impact that design and manufacturing technologies have on our environment and society and how technologies have impacted on the world of the designer and on the manufacturing industry.

Careers & Further Study

Today’s modern day technological society is developing and changing at an almost unbelievable rate.

Studying Design & Manufacture could lead to a career in:

• Product Design
• Industrial Design
• Engineering
• Building Design
• Interior Design
• Manufacturing
• Modern Apprenticeship