In 1984, the UK Department of Education & Science announced design & technology as a new field of enquiry to be tackled by its research branch, the Assessment of Performance Unit (APU). Established in 1975, the APU’s prime task was surveying and monitoring levels of achievement in schools. By the time the design & technology contract was issued, it had conducted extensive surveys in mathematics, English, science and modern languages, typically at ages 8, 11 and 15.