Explore Materials Design and Technology as a distinct Preliminary course. Explore design before making, using prepared components and supported tools, then communicate and reflect on ideas.
Confirm your cohort: The source register has separate Year 11 and Year 12 editions. Confirm the syllabus for the actual year you take each course; unavailable revised detail is marked UNVERIFIED. School course availability and eligibility are separate.
What will I learn?
Unit 1
Preliminary unitsExplore design before making, using prepared components and supported tools, then communicate and reflect on ideas.
Unit 2
Preliminary unitsFollow a planned production process with prompts and support, identifying products, tools and basic design decisions.
How will I be assessed?
Needs verification: UNVERIFIED Year 11 assessment mix in this profile. Open the advertised syllabus and your school's outline.
Published course / existing guide: Preliminary units can be recorded on the WASSA; they do not contribute to the WACE. They have no WACE credit offer in this planner. Discuss the appropriate programme with your school.
Progression and companion subjects
No complete companion or exclusion review is attached to this profile. Check the official course-entry conditions, language eligibility and your school’s sequence before enrolling. Links between resource hubs show related learning; they do not establish a compulsory prerequisite.
Will I find it hard?
Difficulty depends on your experience, interests, teaching and assessment. These are our reflection prompts, not an official difficulty rating.
- Do you enjoy designing, testing and improving a solution over several attempts?
- Look at the tools and techniques in the course outline. Ask your school which equipment and projects it uses.
Does it scale up or down?
Preliminary is not an ATAR course. An ATAR scaling direction is not applicable to this profile.
Scaling is not a measure of difficulty or a guaranteed bonus. Prioritise content you can engage with and required subjects for courses you are considering.
Explore the resources
These official subjects are included whether or not we sell resources for them.
Core subject information and planning are free. Full study resources are optional.
Sources, versions and verification dates
Profile source metadata last checked: 2026-11-13. A source check is not an endorsement by the authority or confirmation that a future course version is unchanged.
- Materials Design and Technology Preliminary: Year 11 syllabus — SCSA; 2026-11-13. Primary PDF course identity and available effective date checked against the observed source link. PDF Preliminary Syllabus Year 11 and Year 12 - For teaching from 2024 (436.1 KB) opens in new window. Learning summaries are our paraphrases; assessment type names do not establish a school's task schedule or weighting. © School Curriculum and Standards Authority, CC BY 4.0; see the document notice.
- Materials Design and Technology Preliminary: Year 11 syllabus, page 14 — SCSA; 2026-11-13. Primary PDF course identity and available effective date checked against the observed source link. PDF Preliminary Syllabus Year 11 and Year 12 - For teaching from 2024 (436.1 KB) opens in new window. Learning summaries are our paraphrases; assessment type names do not establish a school's task schedule or weighting. © School Curriculum and Standards Authority, CC BY 4.0; see the document notice.
- Materials Design and Technology Preliminary: Year 11 syllabus, page 18 — SCSA; 2026-11-13. Primary PDF course identity and available effective date checked against the observed source link. PDF Preliminary Syllabus Year 11 and Year 12 - For teaching from 2024 (436.1 KB) opens in new window. Learning summaries are our paraphrases; assessment type names do not establish a school's task schedule or weighting. © School Curriculum and Standards Authority, CC BY 4.0; see the document notice.