The role of Design and Technology in schools in England is changing. These changes were heralded by the Government Green Paper "14-19: Extending Opportunities, Raising Standards" (Department for Education and Skills [DfES], 2002), which proposed that education and training of 14-19-year-olds should be delivered by a more flexible curriculum with a broad range of options. Beginning in September 2002, Design and Technology (D&T) is no longer a compulsory school subject from age 14: the age which marks the end of Key Stage 3 in the broadly-based National Curriculum in England. Students will have a statutory entitlement to opt to study D&T subjects, but also more freedom within what was recognized as a very crowded curriculum to select other subjects of their choice. It is anticipated that these changes will impact considerably on D&T provision in schools. But what exactly is D&T? How has it been taught in elementary and secondary schools to date and what impact has it had on pupils? These are some of the questions that researchers from the Scottish Council for Research in Education (SCRE Centre) addressed in a literature review commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in England. This article is based upon that review (Harris & Wilson, 2003). Herein, the authors present the research evidence mainly from the UK regarding the origins of the concept of D&T, its unique educational components, and the impact it has has on the curriculum in England. They discovered the following key findings during the course of their review: (1) many published papers referring to the teaching of D&T in schools in England; (2) a consensus about the concept and aims of D&T; (3) few well-designed evaluations of the effects or impact of teaching D&T; and (4) gaps in the research evidence regarding the most effective ways of teaching and learning D&T in schools, in particular the use of ICT, methods of assessment, individual and collaborative learning, and ways of strengthening designing.