GCSE into A Level

What are the differences from GCSE?

Some of the main differences you will find when you study Cambridge International A Level compared to Cambridge IGCSE are listed in the table below.

Fewer subjects

Hopefully you will have chosen the subjects that you really enjoy, are really good at or those which you need to take you on to university and/or your chosen career.

Smaller classes

You will have an opportunity to contribute more to lessons and have more one-to-one interaction with your teacher.  You will have more lessons each week.

Detailed and specialist content

You will find increased challenge as you study in greater depth, work more independently and begin to develop your own ideas. You will be able to explore topics in much more depth than at GCSE, maybe finding answers to questions that were unanswered at that level and learning about certain topics which are completely new.

Independent study

Greater independence is a key part of A Level qualifications which helps prepare you for study at university. It is important that you use this independent study time well. You can use this time in a variety of constructive ways - for completion of homework tasks, assignments, research or for completing additional reading around the subject.

Revision & Reading  around your subject

Try to build in some time for revision throughout the course; consolidating and learning notes as  you go along makes it much easier to remember when it comes to examination time. Use a range of textbooks and internet sites, though you will probably find the Cambridge-endorsed textbooks the most helpful.

Take notes

When you take notes, try to summarise the main information that you need. Use headings and bullet points to reduce the content, and colours to highlight key pieces of information. If using the Internet, don’t just print pages of information; make notes from them or highlight text to show the key points. Always use your own words where possible.

Independent research

You might have completed some wider reading tasks at GCSE level but you can expect this to be a more regular feature of homework tasks. Ask your teacher for a recommended list of textbooks and websites that you can use so you have a good starting point. Save useful websites to your Favourites bar so you know where to find them again.

Folders

You will still be using folders to record your learning and it is important to be organised. Divide your folder into topic sections and keep your notes in date order. Keep copies of past questions, mark schemes and example answers alongside any completed assessed work.

Highlight examination advice in your notes and keep key documents about examinations in a separate section of your folder.

Command words

These are the words in an exam question that explain to you what you need to do such as: describe, explain, state, evaluate. You may well have underlined these when looking at example examination questions. At Cambridge International A Level, you may be introduced to some new command words. You could start your own glossary too.

Assessment

You need to know: what examinations you will sit; how long each examination is; whether you have a choice of questions or not; how many marks each question and paper carries and what the structure of the questions is like. It is a good idea to have an assessment overview and copies of past papers and mark schemes.

Key concepts

You will be introduced to key concepts that help you to develop a deeper understanding of the subject and make links between the different areas of the syllabus.

The key concepts for Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science are:

• • Computational thinking

• • Programming paradigms

• • Communication

• • Computer architecture and hardware

• • Data representation and structures

Skills, Topics and Assessment

What are the skills needed for the Cambridge International AS & A Level course?

For the examinations taken at Cambridge International AS & A Level, you will be assessed on assessment objectives (AOs) which detail the skills and knowledge you need to display in order to fulfil the requirements of the qualification. These skills are divided into three main groups:

AO1 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the principles and concepts of computer science, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation

AO2 Apply knowledge and understanding of the principles and concepts of computer science, including to analyse problems in computational terms

AO3 Design, program and evaluate computer systems to solve problems, making reasoned judgements about these.

How will I be assessed?

The Cambridge International AS & A Level examination consists of four papers. You need to answer all the questions on the papers – there is no element of choice. For the AS Level qualification you take one theory paper, which contains some questions with short answers and some with longer answers, and one problem- solving and programming paper, for which you write answers in pseudocode.

For the A Level, there are two more papers: one theory paper, with both short and long-answer questions and one practical paper. The practical paper is taken on a computer and you will need to program solutions to the questions without access to the internet or email.

What topics will be studied?

Cambridge IGCSE Computer Science 0478 serves as a foundation for Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 which prepares learners for the study of computer science at university. There are some areas of the Cambridge International AS & A Level syllabus which you will already have studied and some areas that will be new to you. The document below shows the main areas of progression between the Cambridge IGCSE and the Cambridge International AS & A Level syllabus.

• GCSE Vs A Level.pdf

Programming

For the new CAIE 9618 CS A Level, you are free to choose from VB.NET, Python or Java. Many resources have been written for VB.NET because that is often the language choice pupils make, as it's closest to CAIE's Pseudocode. VB is not the most useful language outside of the A Level (though it is still used by many companies) as it only runs under MS Windows (there is limited support for MAC with .NET CORE).  Jetbrains Rider is an alternative to MS Visual Studio (available via the link on the Google site. 

NOTE: The Google site refers to the old specification (9608) and will be updated, over time, to reflect the changes in the 9618 course.

However, the goal at Mill Hill is not to teach you to program in VB, Python, C or any other language. The overall aim is to get you to learn program by teaching you the fundamentals of problem solving so that you are free to learn any language in the future. No one language dominates and many are used in specialised situations. The key to being a good programmer is being able to break a problem down into component parts. Once the basic framework exists and the way in which it will work has been decided, the actual typing in of code is relatively straightforward.

What work should I complete?

As part of the preparation for A Level Computer Science, you are tasked with completing at least 7 questions on the Visual Basic worksheet.  While you are free to program, in the exam, in either VB or Python, I want all pupils to have a working understanding of Visual Basic as this can help with pseudocode understanding.

To begin, visit the Computer Science Google Site, which has full coverage of the course.  On there is a page with resources and links for getting you started.

Visit the Google Site Visual Basic page here or here.

This does not mean you will only be able to program in VB, but given the syntax is very similar to Pseudocode, it is a very quick language with which to familiarise yourself.  The AS year focusses on Pseudocode only, but you will still be programming in the AS to prepare for the programming work in A2 (Year 13).