Back to the drawing board?

This paper reports on the results of a survey conducted within the Department of Design and Technology, Loughborough University, UK, in response to increasing concern over the quality and effective use of 2D modelling by design undergraduates at all levels. A survey, in the form of a questionnaire supported by ongoing tutorials, was conducted in an attempt to establish the underlying reasons why there was a perceived drop in manual drawing standards. Focusing on the use of manual draughting skills and formal engineering drawing, the survey includes a summary of academic backgrounds, experiences of 2D modelling in secondary education, student perceptions of the use of CAD and the importance of manual drawing skills, and the aspirations of students when embarking on tertiary education. The majority of the student entry for the Industrial Design and Technology programmes for the academic year 2001-2002 took part in the survey, numbering 120 students.