2.2 NEA Guide (Core & In-depth Skills)
A step-by-step guide to completing the Non-Exam Assessment (NEA) — the sustained design and make project
Section A: Identifying Design Possibilities (10 marks)
Section B: Design Brief & Specification (10 marks)
Section C: Generating & Developing Ideas (30 marks)
Section D: Making a Prototype (30 marks)
Section E: Evaluating Fitness for Purpose (20 marks)
Legacy specification only. This guide is for the current WJEC GCSE Design and Technology NEA. If you are on the new specification (teaching from 2026), the Design Project is different. See the D&T 2026 assessment overview.
How the NEA works
- 50% of your GCSE — the Non-Exam Assessment (NEA) is a design and make task, worth 100 marks
- About 35 hours of work, starting from a contextual challenge set by WJEC
- WJEC sets three contexts each year. They are only starting points: they are open to interpretation, and your design journey is personal to you
- Marked by your teacher and then checked by an external moderator from WJEC
- Informal work (research, sketching, modelling) can be done in school or at home
- Your final prototype must be made under supervised conditions in school
Sketchbook and folio
There is no set format for the NEA — how you present it is up to you. The recommended approach is to split your work into three parts:
| Part | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Informal sketchbook | Exploring the contexts, research, initial ideas, sketches, photos of cardboard models, development, testing and ongoing evaluation. It can be rough, and it should show your thinking |
| Formal presentation folio | Final design brief and specification; pictorial and technical drawings of the final prototype; production details and sequence of production; evaluation; modifications and further developments; photographs of the final prototype |
| Practical outcomes | Your final prototype, plus any supporting pieces: models, jigs, formers, patterns, test pieces, trials and iterations. Keep them, or photograph them |
The page numbers used in this guide (Page 1, Page 2, …) are a suggested order, not a requirement. Each section says where its evidence usually goes.
Design is iterative
The NEA is not a linear process. You should keep going round a cycle: design → model → test → reflect, then improve the design and repeat.
- Start sketching and modelling from the very beginning. Early ideas help you work out what else you need to research
- Have several starting points and avoid fixating on one idea
- Many ideas will be rejected. That is normal, and it is evidence of good designing
- Record what you learn from every model and test in your sketchbook
WJEC describes this as the interaction of mind and hand. Thinking inside your head (imagining, speculating) only goes so far. Sketching, modelling and testing outside your head confront your ideas with reality, and that is what moves a design forward.
How the marks are awarded
| Section | Assessment criteria | AO | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Identifying design possibilities | AO1 | 10 |
| B | Developing a design brief and specification | AO1 | 10 |
| C | Generating and developing design ideas | AO2 | 30 |
| D | Making a prototype | AO2 | 30 |
| E | Evaluating a prototype’s fitness for purpose | AO2 | 20 |
Each section is marked using four bands:
- Your teacher decides which band best fits your work as a whole
- A mark at the top of a band is only given when all of that band’s descriptors are met
- If some evidence is missing, you get a lower mark within the band
This is why every section of this guide ends with a Band 4 checklist. Tick off every item and you give yourself the best chance of reaching the top of the band.