Practical / Project Work and Portfolio Assessment
What the domain covers
This domain assesses practical work and portfolio evidence: project planning, sampling, construction quality, documentation, originality, costing, presentation, and reflection. The exam looks for process, not only a finished object.
Core rules and concepts
- A project brief states customer, purpose, materials, constraints, and success criteria.
- A portfolio should show inspiration, design development, technical flat, pattern or draft, sample trials, final product, cost sheet, photographs, and evaluation.
- Documentation must be dated and annotated; samples should be labelled with fabric, stitch, and purpose.
- Originality means your own design decisions and evidence of iteration, not copied commercial work.
- Safety and neatness count: sharp tools, machine guards, secured embellishments, and clean finishing.
Worked example
A learner makes an embellished cushion for a living room. Reasoning: the portfolio should include the brief, mood board, two motif options, a technical flat with dimensions, a seam and closure sample, the final cushion, a cost sheet, and a wash test of the embellishment. Photograph the front, back, closure, and any fault. Evaluate whether the motif placement suited the cushion size and whether the cost stayed within budget.
Traps that cost marks
- Showing only final photographs with no design or sampling process.
- Copying a published design without transformation.
- Omitting the cost sheet or evaluation.
- Presenting unsafe or poorly finished samples.
Exam focus
Tell the story of the project through evidence: brief, trials, decisions, final product, and reflection.