Foundation Design and Technology
Foundation Design and Technology is a two year Entry Level and Level 1 course for learners aged 14 to 16, taken in Engineering Design, Fashion and Textiles or Product Design. Literacy runs through both units: the Unit 1 topic tests use objective and short answer questions full of technical vocabulary on safety, materials and processes, and the Unit 2 design project asks learners to analyse an existing product, write a design brief and specification, annotate and present ideas and evaluate their prototype. Numeracy is lighter and practical: setting sizes in the specification, measuring and drawing accurately, planning time across a 40 hour project and, in Engineering Design, knowing volts, amps and ohms. KS3 should build clear technical writing alongside accurate measuring in millimetres.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level and Level 1
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- Medium
- Amount of numeracy work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Design and Technology in the 21st Century: Three topic tests of 20 minutes each (1 hour in total): a Core Knowledge and Understanding test on health and safety (16 marks) and two pathway tests on Materials and Components and on Tools, Techniques and Processes (12 marks each), 40 marks, 30%, set and marked by WJEC, digital or paper format within a four week window
- Unit 2: Design Project: Non-examination assessment, a sustained design and make task of approximately 40 hours based on a contextual challenge set by the centre, 60 marks, 70%, set and marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
Skills that use Communicating with symbols
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Electrical units: volts, amps and ohms (Engineering Design)
Engineering Design learners know the measurements used in electronic circuits: voltage in volts, current in amps and resistance in ohms, with its symbol. This is tested in the Unit 1 pathway topic tests, and no calculation such as Ohm's law is listed.
Numeracy: Communicating with symbols, Measurement
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils read the voltage printed on batteries and a power supply and write each value with its unit and symbol.
- Year 8
- Pupils use a multimeter to measure the voltage across a bulb and the resistance of three resistors, recording each reading with the correct unit.
- Year 9
- Pupils read resistor values from the colour code, check them with a multimeter, and explain why 0.22 kilohms is the same as 220 ohms.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 1, Section 1.1.3, page 14
“the following measurements within the electronical circuits:”
Progression step 3
I can use appropriate notation, symbols and units of measurement.
I can read and interpret scales or divisions on a range of measuring instruments.
Progression step 4
I can use appropriate notation, symbols and units of measurement, including compound measures.
I can read and interpret scales on a range of measuring instruments.
Good to know
- Unit 1 questions are short: the topic tests use "multiple choice questions (MCQ), objective test questions (OTQ) and short answer questions" and can be sat on paper or on screen (Section 3.2, page 25).
- No marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar are mentioned; all marks sit under AO1 to AO4 (Section 3.1, page 24), and "The Assessment Pack will include all detailed information relating to assessment." (page 24).
- Writing in Unit 2 is marked through annotation: "Written evidence must be annotated to show how it meets the marking criteria." (Section 3.3, page 26).
- Spoken work such as presentations is evidenced by the teacher: performance evidence "must be documented using observation records" (Section 3.3, page 26).
- Numeracy is not named in the content, and calculations are not listed; Engineering Design learners only need to know "the following measurements within the electronical circuits:" volts, amps and ohms (Unit 1, page 14).
- Appendix A (pages 32 and 33) ticks Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing for both units, but ticks only "Developing Mathematical Proficiency" for Unit 2 and none of the number, geometry and measurement or statistics strands.
Links with other qualifications
The specification says the qualification "provides a broad basis for progression onto GCSE Design and Technology" (page 8). The Foundation shares the GCSE's design brief, specification, annotation and evaluation writing and its technical vocabulary, but tests knowledge through short answer topic tests rather than extended written answers. GCSE Design and Technology steps up the numeracy, with measuring to tolerances, estimating material quantities, waste and costs, using collated data to set specification criteria, scale drawing and, in Engineering Design, mechanical and electronic calculations. Accurate measuring and unit work also link with GCSE Mathematics and Numeracy.
Source: WJEC Entry Level/Level 1 Foundation Design and Technology specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).