IB Design Technology Revision Guide
Everything you need to revise for IB Design Technology at SL and HL on the 2027 syllabus — all three themes, the 15 command terms, the HL calculations, product-analysis technique, and a ten-week plan.
The three command terms that decide your grade
Design Technology uses only fifteen command terms, and words students expect — compare, calculate, define, suggest, discuss — are not among them. Three of the fifteen carry most of the marks, and each wants a different depth. Answering the term you assumed rather than the one you were given is the commonest way a student who knows the content still loses marks.
Outline / Describe / State
The low-tariff terms. State wants a specific answer and nothing else; outline wants a brief account, the shape of an idea; describe wants a detailed account — what happens, in order — but still no reasons. If you find yourself writing "because" on an outline, you are spending words you will need later.
Explain
A detailed account INCLUDING reasons or causes. The word "because" should appear. A three-mark explain is usually one mark for the claim and two for the mechanism and its consequence, so a bare claim scores a third of the question.
Justify / Evaluate / Analyse
The high-tariff terms, and the ones that separate a 6 from a 7. Justify wants valid reasons for a choice — including what the rejected alternative would have done. Evaluate wants strengths AND limitations and a conclusion you commit to. Analyse wants the parts broken out and their relationship named, not a list.
What do you need for a 7 in Design Technology?
Weightings differ by level, and the design project is the same 50 hours at both — so it is worth 40% of an SL grade and 30% of an HL one. Work out where your marks actually come from before deciding what to revise.
Know the papers
The biggest revision mistake is studying content but ignoring format. Know exactly what each paper asks for before you start practising.
Entirely multiple choice at both levels — 30 marks at SL, 40 at HL. SL is examined on SL material only; HL is examined on SL and HL material together. Every item is worth one mark, there is no choice of question, and no marks are deducted for a wrong answer.
- Never leave a blank — there is no negative marking, so an eliminated guess is free marks.
- Two of the four options are usually eliminable on a definition alone; work the remaining pair on the detail.
- Watch for options that are true but do not answer the question asked.
- At HL, do the arithmetic items last: they cost the most time per mark.
Short-answer and extended-response questions built on the analysis of a product — 50 marks at SL and 80 at HL, with HL examined on SL and HL material together. Items are set in the context of something real, so the theory has to be applied to the object in front of you. At HL the structural, mechanical and electronic calculations live here.
- Name the product in your answer — an examiner cannot award analysis marks for general theory.
- Budget roughly a minute and a half per mark, and write to the tariff rather than to the space.
- At HL, convert mm² to m² and mA to A before you substitute anything.
- On any "justify" part, say what the rejected alternative would have done — that is usually the last mark.
An individual project marked out of 33, taken from an identified problem through research, ideation, development and prototyping to testing and evaluation. The same task and the same hours at both levels — it simply counts for less of an HL grade, because HL sits four hours of exams rather than two and a half.
- Every claim in criterion D needs a test you actually ran, photographed, with the result written beside it.
- A specification point that cannot be measured cannot be evaluated later — write them as numbers.
- Record the ideas you rejected and why; the marks are in the reasoning, not the winning idea.
- State the intended production volume before you name a process, or the process choice is unjustified.
10-week revision timeline
Built around the two things this subject rewards above all others: justified choices, and — at HL — calculations with the units converted before anything is divided.
- Ergonomics, anthropometric data and percentiles until reach-versus-clearance is automatic
- User-centred research methods, personas and scenarios, and the prototyping fidelity spectrum
- Learn the 15 command terms and cross out the five that are not on the list
- Classify materials by property and by source, and learn what each property actually predicts
- At HL, structures and mechanisms: stress, strain, modulus, MA, VR and efficiency
- At HL, electronics: the systems model, V = IR, P = VI, series and parallel
- The design process end to end, from problem statement to presenting a solution
- Material selection with a justification that names the rejected alternative
- At HL, production systems and the volume that decides between them
- Designer responsibility, product safety, obsolescence, inclusive design and its limits
- Sustainability, the triple bottom line and the circular economy
- At HL, the four pleasures, life-cycle analysis and design for manufacture
- Full Paper 1 under timing, then mark it and group your errors by topic rather than by question
- Paper 2 on a real product, checking that every answer names the product
- Rework every calculation you got wrong, starting from the unit conversion
Revise by unit
The guide is a matrix: four organising ideas — people, process, product, production — against three themes. Units 1–4 are theme A, 5–8 theme B, 9–12 theme C. Units 4, 8 and 12 are HL-only, as are topics 3.2–3.4, 7.2–7.4, 9.3 and 11.2.
A1 People in theory — ergonomics
Exam weight: Paper 1 and Paper 2
A2 Process in theory — research and prototyping
Exam weight: Paper 1 and Paper 2
A3 Product in theory — materials and systems
Exam weight: Heaviest unit at HL
A4 Production in theory — manufacturing techniques
Exam weight: HL only
B1 People in practice — user-centred design
Exam weight: Paper 2 and the design project
B2 Process in practice — the design process
Exam weight: Paper 2 and the design project
B3 Product in practice — selection and calculation
Exam weight: Where the HL calculations are set
B4 Production in practice — production systems
Exam weight: HL only
C1 People in context — responsibility and inclusion
Exam weight: Paper 1 and Paper 2
C2 Process in context — sustainability
Exam weight: Frequently examined
C3 Product in context — analysis and LCA
Exam weight: Central to Paper 2
C4 Production in context — design for manufacture
Exam weight: HL only
IB Design Technology Revision FAQ
Is there a Paper 3 in Design Technology?
No. The 2027 guide has two written papers and the design project at both levels. The outgoing course did have an HL Paper 3, and the past-paper corpus is full of them, so it is an easy thing to revise for by accident — but that component is abolished. HL material is examined inside Paper 1 and Paper 2 instead.
What's the difference between Design Technology SL and HL?
HL adds eleven whole topics, most of them quantitative: structural, mechanical and electronic systems in theme A, their applied versions plus manufacturing techniques and production systems in theme B, and beyond usability, life-cycle analysis and design for manufacture in theme C. HL Paper 1 is examined on SL and HL material together and runs to 40 marks rather than 30; HL Paper 2 is 80 marks rather than 50. The design project is identical, so it is worth 30% of an HL grade against 40% at SL.
Why does Aimnova not publish predicted topics for Design Technology?
Because every past paper on file was written for the outgoing guide, which the 2027 course replaces. Their topic frequencies describe a syllabus that no longer runs — one of its components does not even exist any more — so presenting them as predictions would be inventing confidence we do not have. We will publish predictions once papers written for the 2027 guide exist.
How do I stop losing marks on Paper 2 when I know the content?
Two moves, in this order. Name the product in your answer, because Paper 2 is built on the analysis of a product and general theory cannot be awarded analysis marks. Then check you answered the command term you were given rather than the one you assumed — there are only fifteen, and compare, calculate, define, suggest and discuss are not among them. At HL, add a third check: convert every unit before substituting, and sense-check the result, because an efficiency above 100% always means a figure is wrong.
Start revising IB Design Technology
Notes on every topic of the 2027 guide, purpose-drawn diagrams, flashcards and exam-style practice marked against the IB command terms — at SL and HL.
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