Computer Science, A Level

Students should ensure that they meet the entry requirements for the courses they are applying for (available on subject pages) as well as the overall entry requirements (5 grades at level 4 or above but must include English and Maths).

Students need to choose a minimum of three subjects to study. Please note that all of our BTEC courses are single BTEC's and equivalent to 1 A Level, you will need to choose two further subjects if choosing a BTEC course.

Please ensure you have put contact details for yourself and a parent should we need to contact you.

A Level Computer Science qualification splits learning into three sections: Computer Systems, Algorithms and Programming and a Programming Project. It provides the perfect springboard for students looking at specialising in a computing-based career. Within the course, students study a range of theory topics, which include the principles and understanding linked to programming. Component 1 will introduce learners to the internal workings of the Central Processing Unit (CPU), the exchange of data and will also look at software development, data types and legal and ethical issues. It is expected that learners will draw on this underpinning content when studying computational thinking, developing programming techniques and devising their own programming approach in the Programming project component. Component 2 will incorporate and build on the knowledge and understanding gained in the Computer systems component 1. Learners should: understand what is meant by computational Thinking, understand the benefits of applying computational thinking to solving a wide variety of problems, understand the principles of solving problems by computational methods, be able to use algorithms to describe problems, be able to analyse a problem by identifying its component parts. Within component 3, learners will be expected to analyse, design, develop, test, evaluate and document a program written in a suitable programming language. The underlying approach to the project is to apply the principles of computational thinking to a practical coding problem.

• The characteristics of contemporary processors, input, output and storage devices
• Software and software development: Introduction to programming
• Exchanging data: Databases, networks and web technologies
• Data types, representation, structures and algorithms: Using Boolean algebra
• Legal, moral, ethical and cultural issues: Computing-related laws

• Elements of computational thinking: Understanding computational thinking
• Problem solving and programming: Programming techniques, Software development methodologies
• Algorithms to solve problems and standard algorithms

• Analysis of the problem
• Design of the solution
• Implementation of the coded solution
• Test and evaluation

Component 1: Computer Systems written paper, 2 hours and 30 minutes, 140 marks and 40% overall weighting.

Component 2: Algorithms and programming written paper, 2 hours and 30 minutes, 140 marks and 40% overall weighting.

Component 3: programming project NEA, 70 marks and 20% overall weighting.

• Grade 5 or above in GCSE Computer Science and
• Grade 5 or above in Maths

• Grade 5 or above in another Level 2 Computing course (ECDL is NOT sufficient)
• Merit or above in BTEC Computing
• Grade 6 or above in Maths

Following successful completion of this course, there are many routes which can be utilised. University, employment and level 4 Higher Apprenticeships are the main options but each one has a wide range of potential options. Typical career paths can include:

• Application analyst
• Applications developer
• Cyber security analyst
• Data analyst
• Database administrator
• Forensic computer analyst
• Game designer
• Games developer
• Information systems manager
• IT consultant
• Software engineer
• Systems analyst
• UX designer
• Web designer
• Web developer

This course will give you a deeper understanding and allow you to gain valuable knowledge explore potential career choices.