Computer Science

GCSE Options Guide

Choose Smartly, Choose Computer Science

The Course At a Glance

MISSION: Equip students with logical and critical thinking skills necessary to succeed at A-level, the workplace or beyond.

You will:

  • study computing devices and systems, and develop understanding on how they work.
  • learn how to approach problems, devise algorithms, and use appropriate data types and data structures to model problems.
  • follow industrial standards to tackle practical problems, develop software solutions, test and evaluate the effectiveness of solutions

In Details

What the Course Offers


Theory

    Theoretical knowledge from the following subject content:
    1. Fundamentals of data representation
    2. Fundamentals of computer networks
    3. Computer systems
    4. Fundamentals of cyber security
    5. Ethical, legal and environmental impacts of digital technology on wider society, including issues of privacy

    Assessment:

    This is assessed by a written exam set in practically based scenarios that are a mix of multiple choice, short, longer answer and extended response questions assessing your theoretical knowledge.
    The paper is 1 hour 45 minutes and is marked out of 90 marks, which forms 50% of your GCSE

Computational Thinking, Problem Solving & Programming

    Computational thinking, problem solving, paper based programming (Python), code tracing and applied computing as well as theoretical knowledge of Computer Science from the following subjects:
    1. Fundamentals of algorithms
    2. Programming
    3. Fundamentals of data representation
    4. Relational databases and SQL
    5. Computer systems

    Assessment:

    This is assessed by a written exam set in practically based scenarios that are multiple choice, short answer and longer answer questions assessing your practical problem solving, computational thinking and programming skills.
    The paper is 2 hours and is marked out of 90 marks, which forms 50% of your GCSE.

What our students say

"Computer Science is by far the best subject I have chosen for GCSE. All in all computing is a challenge but this does not mean that it isn’t enjoyable”"
Alex

"Computing is a truly exquisite subject, it is a useful and challenging subject but is most certainly rewarding once you get to grips with it.”"
Lewis

"GCSE Computer Science prepared me so well for the A level course I wanted to take!!"
Will

"Computing GCSE is both challenging and fun. Computing is suitable to both academic and creative students as there are plenty of chances to express those skills throughout the course. The Hackathon trips we go on give us the opportunity to learn much faster than we would in a classroom environment and network with other coders and developers. I have made many new friends both inside and outside of School thanks to Computer Science"
Kelly

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The Specifications

pdf from AQA

Exam Papers

AQA Sample Papers

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