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 Questioning
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Talking with users and responding to feedback
Learners identify the needs, wants and values of their intended users in Unit 2, which usually means asking users questions and listening to their answers. The specification also lists collaborating with others to understand the role of feedback in design thinking as a learning experience, and Appendix A maps speaking and listening to both units.
Literacy: Questioning, Listening to understand
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils ask a partner three prepared questions about what they want from a lunch box and note the answers.
- Year 8
- Pupils interview a younger pupil or family member about a product, using follow-up questions, and summarise what they heard in three points.
- Year 9
- Pupils show their model to a user, ask for feedback, repeat the main comments back to check they have understood, and decide which ones to act on.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, Section 2.1.1, page 20; Opportunities for integration of learning experiences, page 23; Appendix A, page 32
“identify the needs, wants and values of the intended user(s)”
Progression step 3
I can ask and answer questions, building on and developing the ideas of others in group discussions.
I can listen to others’ ideas/presentations, and understand that they may have a different perspective to my own, in order to respond appropriately.
Progression step 4
I can listen to gain different people's views and ideas on various subjects, using them to arrive at my own conclusions.
I can respond to others' points of view with confidence and sensitivity, summarising and evaluating what I have heard, read or seen.
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).