Is this subject right for me?

If you enjoyed Computer Science in Year 7 and 8, have an interest in computing and enjoy playing around with coding, whether it be in Scratch, Python or another programming language, then this may be the course for you.

Computer Science has an impact on almost every aspect of our modern lives. Every device you use and every app you open started as someone’s idea. Understanding how computers work, and how they can be used, is a vital skill for today and for the future.

If you want to learn more about how computers influence our everyday lives, and how you could be one of the people who designs new computer systems, services and applications, then a Computer Science GCSE is a great place to start.

What do I need to know or be able to do before taking this course?

There is no expectation that you are going to start out as an accomplished coder, but you should have an interest in learning about how programs are designed, written and tested as well as finding out more about how computers work.

What will I learn?

One of the main areas that you will develop, is your problem-solving skills. You will learn how to create solutions to problems and write computer programs to implement these solutions in an effective way. These valuable problem-solving and programming skills are also useful in other subjects as well as in future studies and employment.

The course offers a firm grounding in computing theory and an appreciation of the impact that technology can have on society. You will explore how networks allow us to stay connected across the world and the role that cloud computing now plays in many areas of our day-to-day lives.

Where could it lead?

Computer Science skills are in high demand across a very wide range of fields, from banking and finance to computer game design, from cyber security to web site design, and from aerospace and military applications to healthcare and education. In fact, there are very few areas of life that computing does not affect in some way.

A Computer Science GCSE can be used as a stepping stone to any Computing Level 3 qualification or, if you are unsure what you want to do in the future, it can support developing your problem-solving and creative skills whether you choose the Arts or Sciences Post-16.

Assessment Summary

• There are two exam papers at the end of the course, Paper 1 focuses on Computer Systems and Paper 2 on Computational Thinking, Algorithms and Programming. Each paper lasts 1 hour 30 minutes.

Exam Board

•  OCR