Cambridge IGCSE Design and Technology 0445 Past Papers 2026
Download free Cambridge IGCSE Design and Technology 0445 past papers, mark schemes, examiner reports & grade thresholds. 49 exam sessions from 2002–2026.
2025 Oct-Nov
Latest Session
49
Sessions
2002–2026
423
Question Papers
395
Mark Schemes
93% coverage
43
Examiner Reports
88% of sessions
39
Grade Thresholds
Components & time pressure
Marks per minute shows how fast you have to work — the higher the number, the tighter the time pressure in that paper.
| Paper | Component | Marks | Duration | Marks / min | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | Product Design (Written) | 50 | 1h 15m | 0.67 | Steady |
| Paper 2 | School-Based Assessment (Coursework) | 100 | Coursework portfolio | — | — |
| Paper 3 | Resistant Materials | 50 | 1h 15m | 0.67 | Steady |
| Paper 4 | Systems and Control | 50 | 1h 15m | 0.67 | Steady |
| Paper 5 | Graphic Products | 50 | 1h 15m | 0.67 | Steady |
Component structure extracted from 1 official Cambridge documents (2025). Timings and mark totals are taken from the papers themselves.
Yearly Exam Sessions
How is Cambridge IGCSE Design and Technology 0445 examined?
Cambridge IGCSE Design and Technology is examined through 5 paper components. Understanding each component helps you allocate revision time effectively.
Paper 1
50 marksProduct Design (Written)
Duration: 1h 15m
Paper 2
100 marksSchool-Based Assessment (Coursework)
Duration: Coursework portfolio
Paper 3
50 marksResistant Materials
Duration: 1h 15m
Paper 4
50 marksSystems and Control
Duration: 1h 15m
Paper 5
50 marksGraphic Products
Duration: 1h 15m
What Cambridge examiners say about Design and Technology
Verbatim quotes from 1 official Cambridge examiner reports (2025). Every quote is attributable to a specific paper and session — these are the things Cambridge markers flag year after year.
Generic material names and generic reasons not credited…
Candidates should be advised against giving generic names of materials such as wood, or generic reasons, such as easy to work with, as these are not awarded marks
Sketches without notes (or notes without sketches) on…
To score maximum marks, candidates must use both sketches and notes to show each method. A small number of candidates produced only sketches and were awarded a maximum of one mark for each method
Redrawing the part (c) idea in part (e) instead of…
Weaker responses often just redrew one of the designs from part (c) with no construction details or important dimensions included
Most Common Mistakes — Design and Technology (0445)
Based on analysis of 1 official Cambridge examiner reports (2025). Avoid these errors to maximise your marks.
Generic material names and generic reasons not credited (Paper 1 + Paper 3)
Paper 1, Paper 3 · Flagged across all three Paper 1 variants, June 2025
Sketches without notes (or notes without sketches) on (b) joining/method questions — capped at 1 mark per method
Paper 1, Paper 3 · Flagged in every Paper 1 variant, June 2025
Redrawing the part (c) idea in part (e) instead of adding construction details and dimensions
Paper 1 · Flagged across Paper 1 variants, June 2025
Wrong material category for the design context (resistant materials used for graphics task, or vice versa)
Paper 1 · Flagged in Paper 1 variants, June 2025
Tools named generically ('saw', 'cutter', 'sandpaper') instead of specific tools — Paper 3
Paper 3 · Flagged repeatedly in Paper 3 Section A and Section B, June 2025
Topics Students Struggle With Most
Specific tool identification (Paper 3 Section A)
'Very few candidates recognised the sash cramp.' 'Only a small minority recognised the centre square.' 'Very few candidates named the odd leg calipers.' 'Very few candidates were able to name the plastic used in the dip coating process: polythene.'
Paper 3
Hidden detail in orthographic and plan views (Paper 5 B4)
'Most candidates were able to use the given start points... Very few candidates completed the side or plan view correctly due to missing elements of hidden detail.' Hidden detail in plan views consistently lost marks.
Paper 5
Geometric construction with instruments — pentagons, hexagons, regular curves (Paper 5 A1)
'Many candidates drew the curves to the wrong radius and lost marks. Many candidates drew the curves freehand and did not achieve any marks on this question.' Set-square and compass technique frequently absent.
Paper 5
Smart materials and specialist plastics — polymorph, polythene, ABS, HIPS, PP
'Very few candidates could describe how polymorph granules could be used to produce the handle. Polymorph is a smart material with which candidates should be familiar.' 'Very few candidates were able to name the plastic used in the dip coating process: polythene.'
Paper 3
Knock-down (KD) fittings and barrel-nut/scan-fitting assemblies
'Generally, only a minority of candidates seemed familiar with the common knock-down, (KD) scan fitting.' Candidates could not describe the barrel-nut clamping process for fixing a drill rack to a pillar.
Paper 3
Rack-and-pinion / worm-and-wheel direction-of-rotation analysis (Paper 4 mechanisms)
'A few weaker responses had used the 720° to multiply by arriving at a very large figure for the movement.' Candidates struggled to determine direction of travel of a drill table given clockwise rotation of a worm wheel and a 30-tooth pinion.
Paper 4
Capacitor behaviour — polarised capacitors and series/parallel value combinations
'Most candidates did not answer this part well. Capacitor connection works in reverse to the way of resistor connection. With resistors in series the values are added, with capacitors in parallel the values are added.'
Paper 4
Adhesive selection by material — PVA on water/Styrofoam, Tensol/dichloromethane on acrylic
'Many candidates gave hot glue or PVA glue which are not suitable for acrylic. Many candidates gave suitable solvent based adhesives such as Tensol cement or dichloromethane.' On the swim float, many candidates wrongly said PVA would melt Styrofoam rather than recognising it is water-based.
Paper 5
Design and Technology (0445) — Cambridge IGCSE Full Archive 2002–2026
This page contains all 1082 available papers for Cambridge IGCSE Design and Technology (0445) — 49 exam sessions from 2002 to 2026. Each session includes question papers, mark schemes, and where available, examiner reports and grade threshold documents. All files are free to download as PDF — no account required.
Cambridge IGCSE Design and Technology (0445) is examined through multiple paper components. Question papers are available in two or three variants per session (v1, v2, v3) — each variant is sat in a different time zone but covers the same syllabus content and is equivalent in difficulty. The paper number in the filename indicates which component: for example, 0445_qp_12 is Paper 1, Variant 2.
Mark schemes for 0445 show the exact marking points accepted by Cambridge examiners. Many questions have multiple acceptable phrasings — look for 'accept', 'allow', and 'credit' in the mark scheme to understand the full range of valid responses. Examiner reports (where available) reveal the most common errors made by the cohort and what top-band answers looked like, making them essential reading before the actual exam.
The most effective way to use this archive is to attempt past papers under timed exam conditions, then analyse your mark scheme results by component. Track which paper components and question types you score lowest on — this tells you exactly where to focus revision. Grade threshold documents show the minimum mark needed for each grade in that specific session, which helps calibrate how your practice scores translate to actual grades.
Design and Technology 0445 at other levels
Questions, answered.
You can download all Cambridge Design and Technology 0445 past papers right here on PapersDaddy. We have 49 exam sessions from 2002–2026 — including question papers, mark schemes, examiner reports, and grade thresholds for 0445. Click any session below to view and download PDFs.
Yes! Every Cambridge IGCSE Design and Technology (0445) exam session includes the corresponding mark scheme alongside the question paper. Mark schemes show exactly how marks are allocated, helping you understand what examiners look for in top-scoring answers.
Start with recent 0445 papers (2025–2023) to understand current trends. Practice under timed conditions, then mark yourself using the mark scheme. Read examiner reports to learn common mistakes. For targeted revision, use Design and Technology 0445 topical past papers to focus on specific topics.
We have Cambridge IGCSE Design and Technology (0445) papers from May/June, October/November, and March sessions (where applicable), covering 2002–2026. That's 49 exam sessions in total.