Design technology updates

The new DP design technology course will be launched in February 2025 for first teaching in August 2025. First assessment will take place in May 2027.

Below you will find an overview of the course updates. For a technical breakdown of the DP curriculum and assessment methods for this course, read the design technology subject brief.

You also can view information on the current design technology course.

To view all subject briefs, visit the DP curriculum page.

Overview of the new course

Design technology is a problem-solving and innovation approach that places a strong emphasis on understanding the needs and perspectives of the intended end user(s). It is a flexible and iterative process that can be applied to a wide range of challenges, from product development to service design and beyond.

A relevant and effective design technology education needs to reflect societal change with a greater focus on skills and the interconnectedness of concepts, contexts and content, and to facilitate deep learning and student understanding. New developments have been implemented to address these needs.

 

The updated design technology curriculum explores three themes: design in theory, design in practice and design in context. Through these, design technology students will develop long-enduring knowledge and understanding of the design thinking process. The study of their interconnections will provide students with opportunities to explore different perspectives and conceptual frameworks.

Conceptual learning

The updated design technology course follows rigorous design content and highlights concepts that underpin learning. The course aims to develop understandings that connect factual, procedural and metacognitive knowledge and recognizes the importance of connecting learning with concepts. This includes a non-linear, ongoing process of adding new knowledge, evolving understandings and identifying misconceptions.

Conceptual understanding will enable students to be aware and critical of their own knowledge and to transfer and apply skills and understandings to new or different contexts in creative, generative, autonomous and dynamic ways.

The syllabus structure has been reimagined, incorporating subject-specific concepts within a framework that focuses on models and concepts that enable teachers to create their own pathways for the two-year programme.

Greater emphasis on skill development

Design technology emphasizes the subject's practical nature. The skills emphasized in the course are framed by the approaches to learning (ATL) skills and categorized into different aspects, including inquiry skills and techniques appropriate at this level of study.

 

Nature of design technology

The nature of science is an overarching theme in the DP sciences. The nature of design technology explores conceptual understandings related to the purpose, features and impact of design thinking and knowledge. Students will have the opportunity to analyse, discuss, challenge and refine their understanding of the design ideas and concepts encountered during the course. An understanding of nature of design technology is valuable on several levels:

• It develops design technology literacy.
• It provides a framework in which students can more easily access the design technology course content.
• It supports student learning.

Experimental programme

Practical work

Practical work continues to be a central aspect of the design technology course. Teachers are encouraged to develop their own practical scheme of work that allows students to gain a deeper understanding of the subject content and associated concepts, which provides opportunities to develop a wide range of skills. The practical scheme of work should be broad and balanced to provide students with the opportunity to experience a wide range of tasks, from closed to open inquiry and from hands-on experimentation to the use of simulations and modelling, incorporating technology where appropriate.

Collaborative sciences project

The collaborative sciences project, previously referred to as the “group 4 project”, is an interdisciplinary sciences project that addresses real-world problems students can explore through the range of subjects in the sciences group.

This project provides an excellent opportunity for students to work with students taking other DP sciences courses, either in their own school or from other IB World Schools.

Through the project, students will:

• integrate factual, procedural and conceptual knowledge developed through the study of their science discipline(s)
• apply their collective understanding to develop solution-focused strategies that address the issue
• develop an understanding of how interrelated systems, mechanisms and processes impact a problem
• evaluate and reflect on the inherent complexity of solving real-world problems
• develop an understanding of the extent of global interconnectedness between regional, national and local communities
• become empowered to grow into active and engaged citizens of the world
• gain appreciation of collective action and international cooperation
• strengthen their ATL skills, including teambuilding, negotiation and leadership.

Changes to the assessment model

External assessment

All students will sit two external examinations:

• Paper 1 includes multiple choice questions on the syllabus
• Paper 2 includes short-answer and extended-response questions of intertwining skills, concepts and understandings placed into a suitable design technology

Other changes include:

• The removal of the optional topics in paper 2
• The removal of paper 3.

Internal assessment (IA)

The design project is an open-ended task in which a student must identify, analyse, evaluate and redesign an existing product to meet the needs of an intended user(s). Students need to develop a physical fidelity model for testing and evaluation purposes. The changes are:

• “REDSIGN” is the start point for the design project.
• The assessment language used in the IA is more quantifiable. For example:
  • Criterion C, D & E image requirements per page are stated in clarifications.
  • Criterion C – “Range" is quantified within the assessment grading.
• Design projects are not intentionally tied to the syllabus but instead informed by the learning through the syllabus content.
• Students are able to creatively design a project from any field of design: product design, robotics, textiles, architecture, food, etc. (this list is not exhaustive).
• Subject-specific vocabulary is crucial for providing clarity and accuracy to the students' written material, and its use is rewarded across all the assessment criteria.
• SL and HL have the same criteria, hours and marks, but they have different weightings (see table below).
• Students will continue to an individual report with a maximum word count of 3,500 words.

Assessment criteria, duration and marks are the same for both SL and HL. The only difference is the weightings.

	Criterion	Criterion strands	Duration	Weighting	Marks
SL	Criterion A Empathize	3	50 hours	40%	33
	Criterion B Defining the project	2
HL	Criterion C Ideation and modelling	2		30%	33
	Criterion D Designing a solution	2
	Criterion E Presents a solution	2

 
A summary of the approximate page count and recommended word count is provided. The word count is a recommendation only, not a target. Students and teachers have the flexibility to allocate the word count based on assessment needs.
 

	Grade marks	Approximate page count	Recommended word count
Criterion A Empathize	9	9	900
Criterion B Defining the project	6	4	1,200
Criterion C Ideation and modelling	6	8	900
Criterion D Designing a solution	6	10	300
Criterion E Presents a solution	6	4	200
Total	33	35	3,500