Guide to Maths - A Level Design and Technology - Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Design and Technology (Product Design) (9DT0)

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by Aria

Guide to Maths for A Level Design and Technology (Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Design and Technology, Product Design 9DT0) explains the mathematical skills required to support teaching, learning, and assessment in design and technology. It maps core skills—number with percentages and percentiles, ratios, surface areas and volumes, trigonometry, graphs and charts, coordinates and geometry, and statistics and probability—to potential applications such as materials quantities, scaling drawings, product design calculations, and using data to inform decisions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Maths skills for Level Design and Technology

Confident use of number, percentages and percentiles

Use of ratios

Calculation of surface areas and/or volumes

Use of trigonometry

Construction, use and/or analysis of graphs and charts

Use of coordinates and geometry

Use of statistics and probability as a measure of likelihood

Guide to Maths A Level Design and Technology Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Design and Technology (Product Design) (9DT0) Contents Introduction 3 Maths skills for Level Design and Technology 7 Confident use of number, percentages and percentiles 7 Use of ratios 10 Calculation of surface areas and/or volumes 10 Use of trigonometry 10 Construction, use and/or analysis of graphs and charts 11 Use of coordinates and geometry 14 Use of statistics and probability as a measure of likelihood 15 Introduction Mathematical skills are an essential part of the A Level Design and Technology. In order to be able to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding in design and technology, students need to have been taught, and to have acquired competence in, the appropriate areas of mathematics relevant to design and technology, as indicated in the tables that follow. The assessment of mathematical skills will include at least 15% level 2 or above for design and technology, in the context of the examinations. The following tables illustrate where these mathematical skills may be developed and could be assessed. | Reference | Mathematical skills requirement | Potential applications | | --- | --- | --- | | a | Confident use of number, percentagesand percentiles | ● Calculation of quantities of materials, costs and sizes | | b | Use of ratios | ● Scaling drawings | | c | Calculation of surface areas and/or volumes | ● Determining quantities of materials | | d | Use of trigonometry | ● Calculation of sides and angles as part of product design | | e | Construction, use and/or analysis of graphs and charts | ● Representation of data used to inform decisions and evaluation of outcomes
● Presentation of market data, user preferences, outcomes and market research | | f | Use of coordinates and geometry | ● Use of datum points and geometry when setting out design drawings | | g | Use of statistics and probability as a measure of likelihood | ● Interpretation of statistical analyses to determine user needs and preferences
● Use of data related to human scale and proportion to determine product scale and dimensions | | Reference | Mathematical skills requirement | Exemplification of mathematical skill in the context of A Level Design and Technology (assessment is not limited to the examples given below) | | --- | --- | --- | | a | Confident use of number, percentages and percentiles | | | | Recognise and make use of appropriate units in calculations | Candidates may be tested on their ability to:
● convert between units, [e.g. mm](e.g. mm3 to)[3](e.g. mm3 to)[ to](e.g. mm3 to)[ ](e.g. mm3 to)cm3 as part of volumetric | | | | calculations. | | --- | --- | --- | | | Recognise and use expressions in decimal and standard form | Candidates may be tested on their ability to:
● use an appropriate number of decimal places in calculations
● carry out calculations using numbers in standard and ordinary form. | | | Change the subject of an equation | Candidates may be tested on their ability to:
● use and manipulate equations, e.g.
density = mass / volume. | | | Calculate percentage changes | Candidates may be tested on their ability to:
● carry out calculations to work out profits or losses during manufacture
● work out the percentage of a quantity
● work out reverse percentages and compound interest. | | | Recognise and make use of percentiles | Candidates may be tested on their ability to:
● identify the percentile ranges on a graph, such as anthropometric data. | | Reference | Mathematical skills requirement | Exemplification of mathematical skill in the context of A Level Design and Technology (assessment is not limited to the examples given below) | | --- | --- | --- | | b | Use of ratios | | | | Use ratios | Candidates may be tested on their ability to:
● calculate quantities of materials when mixing resin and a catalyst for GRPs
● produce scaled production

FAQs

What mathematical skills are required for A Level Design and Technology?

The guide outlines skills including confident use of number, percentages and percentiles; ratios; surface areas and/or volumes; trigonometry; graphs and charts; coordinates and geometry; and statistics and probability.

How is the use of number, percentages and percentiles applied in design and technology?

It links to calculations for quantities of materials, costs and sizes, and interpreting percentile ranges on graphs using examples like anthropometric data.

What role do graphs and charts play in assessment and application?

Students construct and interpret frequency tables, bar charts and histograms, and apply these to represent and interpret data used to inform decisions, evaluation outcomes, and market research.

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by Aria