Home > Grade 11/12 Academic Learning Programme > Academic Subject Choices > Group 4 > Computer Science

course overview 

Please note that the IBO are currently reviewing the Computer Science syllabus. Further details will be made available soon after the changes become available to schools. 

The current specification is outlined below, this content reflects the core requirements of the new course.

 The DP computer science course requires an understanding of the fundamental concepts of computing systems and the ability to apply the computational thinking process to solve problems in the real world. The course also requires students to develop skills in algorithmic thinking and computer programming. 

DP computer science is engaging, accessible, inspiring and rigorous, and has the following characteristics. The course: 

• draws on a wide spectrum of knowledge of computer systems 

• develops skills in algorithmic thinking and computer programming 

• is underpinned by the computational thinking process 

• enables and empowers innovation, exploration and the acquisition of further knowledge 

• includes the study of machine learning 

• raises ethical issues. 

Computational thinking involves the ability to: 

• specify problems in terms of their computational context and determine success criteria 

• decompose complex real-world problems into more manageable problems 

• abstract problems and generalize them to enable algorithmic thinking and to develop solutions 

• test and evaluate solutions for improvements.

During the course, students will develop a computational solution. This will develop their ability to identify a problem or unanswered question, and design, develop and evaluate a proposed solution. 

course description