Design in education Recent research has also found that the greatest improvement in perceptions of the value of design occurred in schools and higher education, as well as large service businesses Source: Design Council report by OLR: Design Awareness and Behaviour Study, 1998   Source: FCO/DTI, Innovative Britain at Expo'98 1998 saw an extraordinary rise of 63% in the number of GCSE pupils sitting Design and Technology - a rise which far outstripped any other subject and which in any case happened during a year in which most subject numbers fell. This was mainly because Design and Technology has been made a compulsory part of Key Stage 4 in the curriculum, but this in itself sends out a message about the importance with which design is now regarded in schools and colleges. Source: Joint Council for the GCSE