Syllabus aims

The aims of a course based on Cambridge International AS and A Level Computer Science, whether leading to an AS or A Level qualification are:

• to develop computational thinking
• to develop an understanding of the main principles of solving problems using computers
• to develop an understanding that every computer system is made up of subsystems, which in turn consist of further subsystems
• to develop an understanding of the component parts of computer systems and how they interrelate, including software, data, hardware, communications and people
• to acquire the skills necessary to apply this understanding to develop computer-based solutions to problems.

Computer science is the study of the foundational principles and practices of computation and computational thinking and their application in the design and development of computer systems.

This syllabus aims to encourage the development of computational thinking, that is thinking about what can be computed and how by the use of abstraction and decomposition. It includes consideration of the data required. Learning computational thinking involves learning to program, by writing computer code, because this is the means by which computational thinking is expressed.