IB Design Technology HL Notes

Aimnova offers free IB Design Technology Higher Level revision notes for the 2027 syllabus, first assessed in May 2027. HL covers the whole SL course plus eleven higher-level topics — structural, mechanical and electronic systems and the calculations that go with them, manufacturing techniques, production systems, beyond usability, life-cycle analysis and design for manufacture. Every micro-topic includes purpose-drawn diagrams, worked exam-style questions and spaced-repetition flashcards.

HL is where Design Technology becomes quantitative. You calculate stress, strain and Young’s modulus; resolve forces and reactions and apply a safety factor; work mechanical advantage, velocity ratio and efficiency through multi-stage gear and belt drives; and use V = IR and P = VI on series and parallel circuits. Each of those sits on a theory topic in theme A and an applied topic in theme B, and the notes teach them as one pair rather than twice.

These notes follow the guide’s own A1–C4 structure across twelve study units, so you can revise systematically and be certain no HL-only statement has been missed before Paper 1 (multiple choice on SL and HL material, 25%) and Paper 2 (short answer and extended response built on the analysis of a product, 45%). There is no Paper 3 in the 2027 guide.