The national curriculum for Design and Technology aims to ensure that all students:

• Develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world.
• Build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users.
• Critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others.
• Understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.

Through a variety of creative and practical activities, students are taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making.

When designing, students are taught to:

• Use research and exploration, such as the study of different cultures, to identify and understand user needs.
• Identify and solve their own design problems and understand how to reformulate problems given to them.
• Develop specifications to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that respond to needs in a variety of situations.
• Use a variety of approaches to generate creative ideas.
• Develop and communicate design ideas using annotated sketches and detailed plans.

When making, students are taught to:

• Select from and use specialist tools, techniques, processes, equipment and machinery precisely, including computer-aided manufacture.
• Select from and use a wide range of materials, components and ingredients, taking into account their properties.

When evaluating, students are taught to:

• Analyse the work of past and present professionals and others to develop and broaden their understanding.
• Investigating new and emerging technologies.
• Test, evaluate and refine their ideas and products against a specification, taking into account the views of intended users and other interested groups.
• Understand developments in Design and Technology, its impact on individuals, society and the environment.
• Understand the responsibilities of designers, engineers and technologists.

As part of their work with food, students are also taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating.  Instilling a love of cooking in students opens a door to one of the great expressions of human creativity.  Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables students to feed themselves and others affordably and well, both now and in later life.