How the course is assessed: 100% final examination 

Exam board: OCR (J277)

Course overview: Computer Science is a very practical subject – students will be able to use their knowledge and skills they learn in the classroom on real-world problems. This qualification helps students to think creatively, innovatively and logically. Computer Science helps to develop valuable thinking and programming skills that are extremely attractive in the modern workplace. Topics covered include:

• Computer Hardware 

• Networking 

• Moral, Social and Legal Concerns 

• Programming Languages 

• Computational Logic 

• Data Representation

 You can expect to: 

• learn to program in the Python programming language; 

• understand what the different parts of a computer are and how to compare and build a custom PC; 

• learn how networks work; 

• solve problems using computational thinking; 

• learn how to design, code and test a complete software solution. 

Where does it lead? To Computer Science A-Level or college courses such as Game Development and Software Engineering as well as apprenticeships in web development or software engineering. Potential careers in computing include: Software Engineering, Data Scientist, Web Designer, App/Game Developer, as well as Academic Research. 

Assessment and other information: Students will be given the opportunity to complete programming projects throughout the course to showcase their ability to be able to design, code and test a solution to given problem. 

Students will take two exams in: 

Computer systems (50%) 

Computational thinking, algorithms and programming (50%)