Computer Science

Computer Science is essential to understanding the world in which our students live. This curriculum has been created to prepare students for the ever expanding world of technology and how it is integral into our day to day lives. Students will be able to explore the vast avenues of the computing industry, from network infrastructure to software development. Students will use industry standard software to develop their practical programming skills as well as delve into knowledge that will help them become competent problem solvers that not only will help them in Computer Science but in every aspect of their educational lives and further beyond.

Computer Science GCSE

Computer Science GCSE is an optional subject which some students study in Year 10 and 11.

Aims of the Course

This course gives students the opportunity to discover how computer technology works and to take a look at what goes on ‘behind the scenes’. Through the introduction of programming, it helps students expand their problem-solving skills. For many, it will be a challenging and interesting way to develop these transferable skills, which can be applied to further learning and everyday life. The course aims to develop students’ understanding of the fundamental hardware of a computer system, common types of software and simple logic. Students acquire the skills to write simple computer programs and to look at the development of computer technology and the effects it has had. 

Course Content 

This provides a good insight into how computers function, from how and why computers are structured and how computers have stayed the same, structurally, for the past 40 years, to the involvement and importance of memory and storage. Students will also develop an understanding of network topologies and the properties of wired and wireless networks. There will also be an insight into system software and security and how it is linked with the ethical, legal and environmental implications when designing hardware and software. 
 

Computational Thinking 

Students are expected to understand what algorithms are and how they can be implemented into computer programs and from this, investigating programming techniques to produce robust programs. This will in turn help the development of computational logic, looking at logic gates, which will lead to students being able to translate between program languages, pseudocode and structured English. Finally students will look at how data is represented in a computer; this will develop an understanding of binary numbers and how they can represent characters, images and sound. 

Programming

Students will use programming techniques learnt in the lessons and implement them into planning, developing, testing and evaluating a range of simple and complex programs. 

Assessment 

Computer Systems and Architecture 
90 minute written paper, with a mixture of short and long answer 
questions, worth 50% of the GCSE (80 marks). 

Computational Thinking, Algorithms and Programming 
90 minute written paper, with a mixture of short and long answer  
questions, worth 50% of the GCSE (80 marks). 

Beyond GCSE

The course offers an ideal platform to further study at A Level and beyond. Computer Science is a popular course at degree level and an A Level in Computing is an ideal background. There are also many job opportunities and apprenticeships for students of Computing, in Web and Software Development, Computer Technician, IT Support, Electronics Engineering, Computer Programming, Systems and Networking, Database Development and more. 

Further Detials

The awarding body for GCSE Computer Science is OCR. Further details about this qualification can be found at the OCR website here: OCR GCSE Computer Science.