Geometry and construction — IGCSE Design & Technology (0445) questions by topic
Geometry and construction questions are almost entirely drawing tasks: completing a plan view of a headphone package to scale, adding missing stops to a distance diagram, or constructing a regular hexagon or ellipse accurately. Complete, sketch, state and give are the command words, and complete specifically means finishing a drawing to the stated scale and proportions.
With marks from 3 to 17 across 21 real questions spanning 2023 to 2025 papers, precision matters more than length of answer. Submit your constructions for instant marking so that sizing, angle and point-plotting errors, the exact faults examiners report losing marks, are caught while you can still correct the habit.
What examiners look for
- Examiners repeatedly find the outer square drawn too big or with angled sides, and hexagons constructed irregularly, wrong-sized, or drawn as a half octagon instead.
- A further common mistake is plotting too few points when constructing an ellipse, resulting in an uneven curve.
- Strong answers drew the outer square to the correct size and position with a correct regular half hexagon.
- Reports praise candidates who constructed the camera body and lens to the correct sizes from the given corner lines, and who accurately overlaid the equilateral triangle, square, ellipse and regular hexagon.
May–June 2025, Paper 51
A1 A logo for a sailing club is shown. It is built from a regular pentagon (250 length of side) containing a sailing boat made up of a right-angled triangle (172 x 100), an…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 52
A1 A design for a swimming badge is shown. Complete the full-size drawing of the swimming badge by adding: (a) the circle.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 53
A logo for a sailing club is shown (a sailing boat on waves inside a regular pentagon; the given drawing labels a regular pentagon of 250 length of side, a right-angled triangle…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 33
Fig. 6.1 shows a wooden box (10 mm thick) with a 'lift-off' lid (10 mm thick). Use sketches and notes to show a modification to the lid so that it could be fitted to either the…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 51
A1 A package for headphones is shown. (a) Complete the plan view of the headphone package to a scale of 1:2 by adding: (i) the hexagonal outline.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 52
A1 A gym membership card is shown. Complete the drawing of the gym membership card to a scale of 2:1 by adding: (a) the card outline.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 53
A1 Items of school equipment are shown. (a) Complete the full-size drawing of the set square by adding the inner and outer isosceles triangles.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 31
Fig. 9.1 shows two lengths of softwood (40 x 40) glued together to form a tee. Add sketches and notes to Fig. 9.1 to show how the joint could be strengthened. State how any…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 33
Fig. 9.1 shows two lengths of softwood (40 x 40) glued together to form a tee. Add sketches and notes to Fig. 9.1 to show how the joint could be strengthened. State how any…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 51
A1 A sign for a cycle lane is shown. Complete the full-size drawing of the cycle lane sign by adding: (a) the frame.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 52
A1 A sign for a cycle lane is shown. Complete the full-size drawing of the cycle lane sign by adding: (a) the frame.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 53
A1 A logo for an internet cafe is shown. Complete the full-size drawing of the internet cafe logo by adding: (a) the cup and saucer.
Answer this question and get it marked →A2 A coffee cup from the internet cafe is shown. Complete the coffee cup by adding the top ellipse. Major axis 150. Minor axis 78.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 33
Fig. 5.1 shows two different types of leg construction, A and B, for a small table made of hardwood (legs 40 x 40, height 400). (a) State the method of construction for leg type B.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 51
A1 The front and back of a card from a board game are shown. (a) Complete the drawing of the back of the card to a scale of 2:1 by adding: (i) the circle.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 52
A1 A cartoon image of a school bus is shown. (a) Complete the full-size drawing of the school bus by adding: (i) the bumper.
Answer this question and get it marked →A3 A diagram is used to show the distance between each stop along the bus journey. Add the missing stops (Stops 2, 3 and 4) to the diagram using the information in the table (Bus…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 53
A1 Two types of key are shown. (a) Complete the drawing of key A to a scale of 4:1 by adding: (i) the head and shaft.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 51
A1 A CCTV warning sign is shown on the insert. Complete the full-size drawing of the warning sign in the space provided by adding: (a) the outer square.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 52
A1 A CCTV warning sign is shown on the insert. Complete the full-size drawing of the warning sign in the space provided by adding: (a) the outer square.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 53
A1 Four wooden blocks (equilateral triangle, square, ellipse and regular hexagon) are shown on the insert. Complete the full-size drawing of the wooden blocks by adding: (a) the…
Answer this question and get it marked →