Product Design A Level
Examining Board: AQA
Overview
Ready to transform your boldest ideas into real-world innovations? AQA A Level Product Design is a dynamic, hands-on course where your creativity meets cutting-edge design and manufacturing. You will master advanced materials technology, exploring everything from sustainable polymers to smart materials that respond to their environment. Through industry-standard CAD design software, you will bring your concepts to life in 3D before moving into the workshop to develop high-level practical making skills, using both traditional hand tools and modern manufacturing methods. Best of all, the Non-Exam Assessment (NEA) gives you complete creative freedom to pick your own design brief and create a working prototype from scratch. If you want to develop the vital problem-solving skills used by top architects and engineers worldwide, this is where your career begins.
Course Content
A Level Product Design has the following Principles
Technical Principles
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Materials and Applications
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Material Enhancement
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Forming, Redistribution, and Addition Processes
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Adhesives, Fixings, and Finishes
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Modern Commercial Practice
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Health, Safety, and Legislation
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Protecting Designs
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Design for Manufacture
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Enterprise, Marketing, and Communication
Designing and Making Principles
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Design Methods and Theory
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Socio-Economic and Cultural Influences
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Ergonomics and Anthropometrics
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Product Analysis and Evaluation
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Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC)
Entry Requirements
5 GCSEs at Grade 4 or above, including Mathematics and English Language, and Design Technology Grade 6.
How is it Assessed?
Paper 1: Technical Principles (30%)
Paper 2: Designing and Making Principles (20%)
Non-Exam Assessment: Substantial Design and Make Project (50%)
Future Pathways with Product Design
An AQA A Level in Product Design opens up a wide range of career, university, and apprenticeship pathways by blending technical engineering skills with creative problem-solving.
Industrial Design, Product Design, Automotive Design, and Fashion/Textile Design.
Mechanical Engineering, Design Engineering, Robotics, and Civil Engineering.
Architecture, Interior Architecture, Landscape Design, and Urban Planning.
Product Developer, CAD Technician / Digital Modeler, Ergonomist, Sustainability Consultant, Graphic or Packaging Designer.
Aerospace & Automotive Engineering (e.g., with Jaguar Land Rover, Airbus, or Rolls-Royce), Civil Engineering & Construction, Manufacturing & Logistics Automation.
