CCEA A2 Technology and Design comes down to one two-hour paper in your chosen specialism. This page shows the timing, the A3 pro forma habits that cost marks, and the pneumatic, gear and circuit calculations examiners keep marking down.
読了時間 3 分更新日: 2026年9月3日
試験の概要
試験数
1
満点
80
制限時間
2時間
出題形式
12
試験
時間
配点
問題数
配点比率
出題形式
A2 1: Systems and control or product design
2時間
80
2
30%
—
評価段階
A*ABCDEU
電卓の規定
A calculator is needed for the gear, pneumatic and electronic calculations in this paper, and CCEA's general rule applies: no calculator with a computer algebra system, no borrowing a calculator from another candidate, and nothing stored in memory that could be retrieved during the exam, including formulae, notes or text. If your calculator has an exam mode, switch it on. It clears stored data far more reliably than the reset button, which only resets display settings and leaves stored programs or text in memory.
AO1: AO1: demonstrate specific knowledge and understanding; apply that knowledge and understanding in combination with appropriate skills in designing; communicate ideas and outcomes and demonstrate strategies for evaluation (50%)
AO2: AO2: demonstrate and apply skills, knowledge and understanding of relevant materials, processes and techniques; use equipment and materials to produce suitable and appropriate outcomes; communicate ideas and outcomes and demonstrate strategies for evaluation (50%)
目的: Keeps each stage of a compound gear or pulley train exact so the ratio direction is not lost when combining several stages.
使う場面: Any compound gear, pulley or velocity ratio question with more than one stage in the train.
手順
Calculate the first stage's ratio, then press ANS and multiply directly by the next stage's ratio rather than writing down and retyping a rounded figure. Repeat for each further stage in the train.
試験での注意: This is a live, in-exam technique only. CCEA and JCQ ban anything stored in a calculator's memory before the exam, including formulae or old working, so clear your calculator and switch on exam mode if it has one before you sit down.
Combine instroke and outstroke air volumes in one calculation
Casio fx-83/85 series (scientific)
目的: Reduces the chance of forgetting one of the two strokes when calculating total compressed air consumption for a double-acting cylinder.
使う場面: Any double-acting pneumatic cylinder question asking for total air consumption over a full cycle.
手順
Calculate the outstroke volume using the full piston area and store it with the memory-store key (M+). Calculate the instroke volume using the piston area minus the rod area, add it to memory with M+ again, then press memory-recall (MR) to read the combined total.
試験での注意: Use this only for figures calculated live in the exam. No stored programme or formula list is permitted in the calculator you bring in.
Convert gauge pressure to absolute pressure before substituting
Casio fx-83/85 series (scientific)
目的: Stops a gauge-versus-absolute pressure mix-up from carrying through an entire force or volume calculation.
使う場面: Any pneumatic calculation where the question gives a gauge pressure reading but the formula needs absolute pressure, or the reverse.
手順
Before using a pressure value in a calculation, add or subtract standard atmospheric pressure (roughly 1.0 to 1.25 bar, as given in the question) as its own calculator step, and write the converted figure on your answer line before continuing.
試験での注意: This is a technique for the exam itself, not something to prepare in advance. Your calculator must be cleared of any stored data or formulae before the exam starts.
よくあるミス
1high影響する配点: 3Design and communication
Leaving A3 pro forma design and circuit answers without clear annotations or component identification, so mechanisms or circuit blocks stay ambiguous.
回避方法: Label every moving part, connection, pivot or bearing on a pro forma sketch before moving on. An unlabelled component cannot be credited even when the drawing itself is correct.
2high影響する配点: 3Mechanical and Pneumatic Control Systems
Calculating compressed air consumption for a double-acting pneumatic cylinder using only the instroke or only the outstroke volume, not both.
回避方法: Write the instroke volume and the outstroke volume as two separate lines of working and add them together, every time, even when the question seems to ask for one direction only.
3high影響する配点: 3Mechanical and Pneumatic Control Systems
Writing a 9-mark QWC answer, for example on clutches or strain gauges, as a set of disconnected bullet points instead of a discussion that compares operation, advantages and disadvantages.
回避方法: Plan the answer as a short discussion with a beginning, middle and end before writing, and reference one specific real product or application throughout rather than describing the theory alone.
4medium影響する配点: 2Mechanical and Pneumatic Control Systems
Inverting the driver and driven gear ratio expressions in a compound gear train, which reciprocates the final velocity ratio.
回避方法: Write driven teeth over driver teeth at every stage of a compound train, and check the direction of the ratio makes physical sense (a smaller output gear should spin faster) before combining stages.
5medium影響する配点: 2Mechanical and Pneumatic Control Systems
Assuming gauge pressure and absolute pressure are the same value, and forgetting to add roughly 1.0 to 1.25 bar of atmospheric pressure in pneumatic calculations.
回避方法: State which pressure the question has given you before calculating, and add atmospheric pressure explicitly as its own step whenever an absolute value is needed.
6medium影響する配点: 2Electronic and Microelectronic Control Systems
Omitting flyback diodes across inductive relay coils, or Schmitt-trigger debouncing on mechanical switches, in microcontroller interface circuit designs.
回避方法: Treat protection components as part of the circuit, not an optional extra. Add a flyback diode across every relay coil and debouncing on every mechanical switch input by default.
7medium影響する配点: 2Mechanical and Pneumatic Control Systems
Plotting a cam profile's displacement radii out of angular sequence, so the constructed profile does not match the intended motion.
回避方法: Work through the angular positions in one consistent clockwise or anticlockwise order and mark each radius on the pro forma before joining any of the points.