GCSE-readyKS3 Design and Technology: common mistakes
The wrong answers students pick most often in our Design and Technology questions, and why they are wrong. Read these before a test, then open the lesson for anything that surprises you.
Designing for users
- Design briefs and specifications
- Not “A detailed list of measurements”. That describes a specification, not a brief.
Workshop skills and materials
- Workshop safety and risk assessment
- Not “The chance of an accident happening”. That is a risk, not a hazard.
- Not “You must not do something”. That is a red prohibition sign.
- Woods: hardwoods, softwoods and manufactured boards
- Not “A softwood”. The softwood name is about the tree, not about how soft the wood is.
- Not “Wood fibres mixed with resin and pressed”. That describes MDF.
- Hand tools and workshop processes
- Not “Marking gauge”. A marking gauge marks a line parallel to an edge.
Mechanisms and electronics
- Types of motion and levers
- Not “Reciprocating”. Reciprocating is back and forth in a straight line, not an arc.
- Electronic systems: input, process, output
- Not “All the bulbs go off”. That would happen in a series circuit.
Healthy eating and food safety
- Food hygiene and safety: the 4Cs
- Not “The date after which food may lose quality but is still safe”. That describes a best before date.
Materials and their properties
- Properties of materials
- Not “Resisting scratches”. That is hardness.
- Not “Malleability”. Malleability is being hammered or rolled into shape.
- Metals: ferrous, non-ferrous and alloys
- Not “Copper and tin”. Copper and tin make bronze.
- Textiles: fibres and fabrics
- Not “Weft”. The weft runs across the fabric.
Nutrition and cooking
- Nutrients and what they do
- Not “Vitamin C”. Vitamin C helps absorb iron, not calcium.
Materials, structures and control
- Structures and forces
- Not “A part under tension”. A part in tension is a tie.
Industry, sustainability and evaluation
- Scales of production and quality
- Not “A shape you draw round”. That is a template.
- Sustainability and the 6 Rs
- Not “Throw products away”. Refuse in the 6 Rs is about saying no, not rubbish.
- Not “Recycle”. Recycling means processing the material into something new.
Food choices and food science
- Food science: what happens when we cook
- Not “Proteins set when heated”. That is coagulation.
- Where food comes from: source and seasonality
- Not “Making bread from flour”. Making bread from flour is secondary processing.