Design and Technology in the United Kingdom

“Handicraft” was a recognized subject in the national education system of the United Kingdom (UK) almost a century ago. But it is only in the past sixty years that the curriculum area we in the UK now call “Design and Technology” has progressed from single material, craft-skill based courses for the less able to a thinking, feeling, doing activity drawing on and linking with a wide range of subject bases for all pupils of compulsory school age. In comparison to many subjects in the current school curriculum, Design and Technology is still in its infancy.