I was recently asked to gather some information for a student on the use of A-Level D&T in degree courses offered at Russell Group Universities. Easy I thought…
I set my sights on a quick turn around, so cleared a display board, laser cut a map of the United Kingdom, and stuck it in place with plenty of surrounding “water” where I could post all the different courses on offer. That evening I sat down, created a template page, copied it many times over, and prepared to Ctrl C – Ctrl V my way to an easy display, and the requested information. Then I started a Google search.
It turns out this isn’t a simple task. The student in question had already done some leg work for me, by identifying a course called Urban Planning BSc. I found it, read the course description, and holding back the jealousy that such a fantastic sounding course exists, clicked on the course requirements. ABB, with no specific subject requirements. Seriously? A course that describes in its content as including designing skills, graphic design and model making has no need for D&T. Hmmm, odd I thought. But I continued my search not yet disheartened.
Next up in my search, Architecture and Urban Planning BA, ABB, no required subjects. Are you kidding me? Now i’m getting annoyed. No subject requirements despite the course outlining CAD facilities, design studios, a range of cutting edge machinery including laser cutters, routers and 3D printers, the contents list goes on and on. The course sounded immense. The skills it developed would be a real credit to any cutting edge Architect, yet what does it take to get on the course? No required subjects. I.e. Just do the ones you think are easy, whatever you fancy, have a feet up approach to life, and when you get to us, you’ll find CAD, technology and designing a breeze. I started to get angry…
Architecture and Environmental Design BEng, AAA with Mathematics and Physics essential, Chemistry OR D&T desirable. A portfolio will be required. Okay so D&T gets the mention. I begin to calm a little. But for one moment let us consider the Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry student. Where will that portfolio come from and what will it contain? Perhaps they could fill it with equations or perhaps some experiments? (apologies in advance if you teach these subjects, I know that isn’t all you do). I continued my search long into the night…
Product Design and manufacture BEng, AAB with Mathematics a requirement, and D&T desirable. Hurrar. Desirable is better than most of my last hour of searching and finding nothing. At least the student can choose Mathematics and D&T, then find a third subject that gives them a specialism, such as chemistry or perhaps something broader like Drama or a Language.
And so my evening continued into the early hours, with each University I searched, I was either let down by finding nothing related to D&T, or struggled to find anything with the word “design” in it. In fact I only managed to create a display with 8 Russell Group degree courses. A sad realisation hit me suddenly. Now this wasn’t the usual, “oh dear D&T isn’t that good” moment that I seem to have over and over at the moment, but more that I was teaching in a school, a fantastic school, where Russell Group Universities are important. They hold status. They hold value, even just value in the parents eyes. They represent success to some, and prestige to others. The realisation I was having was that “no matter what I do, parents and students will (and should) steer clear of D&T at A-Level”. They should do so because University courses have not identified the subject as having value. They barely elude to it existing. In fact it would simply be “desirable” if you studied it, but on the whole don’t worry, Mathematics and the Sciences will carry you through. I felt dejected.
It is at this point you really need a pick me up. I had yet to find a true design course. Industrial Design popped up in the last University I searched, and it lightened my mood slightly. ABB. Mathematics, a Science (Physics) and D&T all required. A student choosing the only true Russell Group design degree would need to choose those three, and a good grade would be needed across the board. I studied Industrial Design, at Loughborough University. It was, and I believe still is, the most dynamic, challenging and progressive design course in the UK. A top 5 University, but not Russell Group. In fact finding non Russell Group University courses stating D&T as essential are numerous. But my search results of 8 sad little courses had left me feeling quite detached from the process. Thank god it wasn’t near a recruitment evening at school.
So what does this mean? Is D&T not for those academic students aiming for the prestige of the Russell Group? If you’ve chosen D&T, can you kiss goodbye to the Russell Group? It kind of feels that way. In fact if I were SLT, I would be focusing all my efforts on Mathematics, Sciences and either an Art or D&T course, whichever produced the better results,was cheaper, and had the stronger teachers. It might sound harsh, but its something I hear all the time at the moment when speaking to other schools. D&T or Art are being cut back, sometimes both in the tougher schools. It isn’t an Ebacc thing, it is a very clear path to University courses for both students and parents, and for those pushing towards the best Universities, some things are just desirable. If I had to find money somewhere by cutting back, one of these two subjects would be on my hit list. And given how poor and dated D&T is in many schools, I might lean towards Art because at least I can use the student work to decorate the school reception.
But it isn’t all doom and gloom. A student I teach this year was interviewed for Cambridge, and had D&T as an A-Level choice. Was she a rare individual who managed to wriggle through the net? Or is the message from Russell Group Universities simply misleading? I worry about the message, unsaid though it might be, as I worry it sends students, parents, and SLT teams down a path it is hard to turn back on. Am I just realising this, or have teachers and the subject known it all along, but simply said nothing? And can anything be done about it?
What was painfully clear for me in carrying out this bit of ad-hoc research, was that here I had a student who clearly loves D&T, clearly wants her parents to support her future (they will be paying after all), who had quite clearly told her that the Russell Group Universities were the ones to go for. And after a whole night of reading and searching, I had managed to come up with 8 courses. 8 courses. The student would be pretty limited if they wanted choice. With most of them simply suggesting D&T was desirable, she might be realising that choosing subjects you enjoy or subjects you need are not the same. And as painful as it was to admit, she might well have been better off studying something else.
The next morning, as I set up my display, bolstered in number by non Russell Group Universities alongside my sad set of 8, I was slightly buoyed to recognise that what I actually had on my hands was a student who loved D&T, has the choice to drop it this year (with the advent of Universities only recognising 3 A-Levels), and was clear she would continue on to A2, and wanted to make it work for her and her parents. In another situation I could have been fighting for her to stay in the face of more robust A-Level options. She enjoyed the subject, she was staying, and now all she had to do was make that work for parents and her course choice.
The process of identifying this information has really focused my energy at school. I want students to choose D&T as an A-Level yes of course. If we are offering a great course that challenges, stretches, enables, and develops inspiring minds, and the grades are good, then the course is doing a lot of students a favour. It provides them a course that they can enjoy, it caters for their creative and technical needs, it gives them a portfolio, and best of all a grade they achieved by doing something they enjoy. It won’t hold students back choosing D&T if the resulting final grade is there, and if they apply to a course where D&T is stated, they might be rare, but these students can be role models for those in the younger years unsure of their future. I do wish Russell Groups recognised D&T in a higher status, its’ challenge, the learning and knowledge it develops, and if I could change one thing, it would be to raise the subjects status alongside the Sciences, but in the short term, at least it works for some students.
So has this changed anything? Well yes. When it comes to parents evenings or recruitment events, my message is clear, here on my display are some great degrees you could study, some are Russell Group, some are not. All are fantastic. If you come to me asking if D&T is right for degree X or degree Y, I will tell you the honest truth. It is an A-Level, like all others in the school, and if you enjoy it and work hard, you will get a deserved grade. If you can use the grade to make up the 3 grade course requirement for a degree, then brilliant. If you are set on courses that state three specific subjects, and D&T isn’t one, don’t do it. Not even for an AS Level. If you are unsure what to choose for A-Level, and have no idea about a degree yet, choose D&T as a subject you enjoy, will offer you a great grade (if you work hard), and might offer you more once you know what you want to do. It won’t close any doors, and will in fact open them. If you can choose the EPQ, and if it might open doors, study D&T as an EPQ area, make something, or write about the fast pace of technology in an area you are interested in. D&T teachers as a cohort could even take ownership of the EPQ in their schools, or at least the practical “artefact” route of the course. If funding and time were afforded, it could be a really free and positive opportunity for departments to embrace.
If working in so many different schools has taught me one thing, it is that each school has its own expectations, its own customer base, and its own management personalities. If any one of these is interpreted wrong, then D&T departments will suffer and be under threat. A department that steps back, acknowledges its place and what it offers to the whole school, and champions that position, will be important to the school, and much harder to cut. And if we as teachers focus on the student, the message can never be wrong.
Phil Holton 