Liz Bull, Design and Technology and Engineering Subject Advisor

In November 2025, the long awaited Curriculum and Assessment Review (CAR) was published, bringing an end to months of anticipation. The Design and Technology community had been on tenterhooks waiting for the outcome of the report carried out by Becky Francis and her team in the hope that the subject will be given weighting within the curriculum it truly deserves. The government response to this report was released on the same day and is an easier document to navigate.

In this blog I’ll look at the key recommendations relating to GCSE Design and Technology, the Cambridge Nationals Engineering qualifications and the Cambridge Advanced National in Engineering (AAQ).

Background and overview

Over the past two years, I have been working alongside The Design Council, The Design and Technology Association and Cleapss, attending meetings with a wide range of stakeholders including higher education institutions, subject specialists and teachers. The outcome of these meetings was A Blueprint for Renewal: Design and Technology Education, published in June 2024. This report helped with evidence and responses to DfE enquiries and why this subject in our schools is in decline. 

I am pleased to see that the CAR report has recognised the need to refresh the current curriculum content, not only for KS3, 4 and 5, but also in the primary sector. At least two of the four recommendations from the Design Council will be addressed, and once we really know and understand the extent of the changes, more may follow. We do now know that the content of D&T will be reviewed and revised. Food education will be enhanced but given a distinct strand within D&T and renamed Food and Nutrition. 

“We will revise the design and technology curriculum and GCSE subject content to focus on developing pupils’ design capability and introduce the concept of sustainability within the programme of study.” (Government response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, November 2025).

Sustainability is threaded through the review. This places D&T in a good position, as there has been recognition that to build a sustainable economy a knowledge of materials to better reflect the design world and environment is essential. 

Examination and NEA

In our Striking the Balance report, Cambridge OCR identified that students in England typically sit between 24-31 hours of exams at the end of year 11. The DfE will now work with Ofqual and awarding organisations to reduce examination time. 

We know that many Design and Technology students, who yearly sit a 2 hour exam without extra time, struggle to perform at their best, so a reduction in the time and content requirements of the examination unit would be well received by our community. 

The review also flagged that there is a need for Non-Examined Assessment (NEA) within some subjects, including Design and Technology and Engineering. The NEA forms an important part of the assessment journey, and we don’t yet know if the current 50/50 split will remain the same for D&T as more details need to be clarified. The Cambridge National in Engineering already has a 60/40 split which has proved more manageable for students and teachers.

Cambridge National in Engineering

I was pleased to read that the KS4 vocational qualifications, including the Cambridge Nationals in Engineering, will not be revised. These have only been running for a few years in schools, and the results of how successful they are will be monitored over the next few years. Vocational subjects will also appear in the new revised Progress 8 in option ‘buckets’ 7 and 8.

V Levels and AAQs (Cambridge Advanced Nationals)

As set out in the white paper and confirmed in the CAR report, V Levels will be the only pathway of vocational qualifications at Level 3 in future. They will sit alongside A Levels and T Levels, providing simplicity and clarity. The successful launch of the Cambridge Advanced National in Engineering will eventually be replaced by a V Level in Engineering. At present we do not know which subjects will be in each wave, so this may not happen for up to 5 years.

Join our CAR briefing webinar 

We’ll be running a free CAR briefing webinar at 4pm on 3 February 2026 to explain the impact of the Curriculum and Assessment Review on Design and Technology and Engineering. You’ll have a chance to ask questions and pass on your thoughts about the proposed changes. You can join any of our subject briefings by signing up on our teacher networks page.

Stay connected

At Cambridge OCR we’re committed to making assessment straightforward and are here to support teachers and students at every step of the way. Contact us if you have any specific questions about the CAR, or what it means for you and your students. You can always join our teacher panels to help us shape the development of these qualifications as we go through reform. 

To stay up to date with subject news from us, make sure you sign up to receive emails. You can also follow us @OCR_DesignTech on X (formerly Twitter).

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About the author

Liz joined the Design and Technology and Engineering subject advisor team in April 2022. Before joining OCR, she was Head of Department at her local secondary school where she taught Design and Technology alongside Engineering qualifications.