Computer Science

Course Specification 

What will you study?

Computer science is the study of the design of algorithms, its linguistic and mechanical realisation.  In A level computer science algorithms form the central nucleus of the course.  We study their properties, that is what makes one algorithm better than the other, we analyse the resources needed by an algorithm in terms of time and space, and finally implement them in a programming language. We explore various data structures, and programming paradigms such as procedural, object oriented and functional.

On the theory side of the course we study the theory of computation, how data is represented, the use of big data and the consequences of the use of Computing.

What skills will you develop?

Computer Science places emphasis on problem solving skills as it is a requirement for developing computer programs.  You will also learn to communicate effectively through developing documentation for your programming solution as well as collaboration skills when you work on programming projects. 

It is an intensely creative subject that combines invention and excitement, and can look at the natural world through a digital prism. You will learn the following specific skills:

• Write computer programs in Java, Haskell
• Create and interrogate databases using SQL
• Develop algorithm for A-Level type problems

How will you be assessed?

Four Internal Assessments:

Assessment 1

• Questions from Fundamentals of Programming, Theory of Computation and Data representation 

Assessment 2

• Paper 1 : Fundamentals of Programming/Theory of Computation/Data structures 
• Paper 2: Data Representation and Consequences of using computers

Assessment 3

• Paper 1 : Fundamentals of Programming/Theory of Computation/Data structures/ Fundamentals of Algorithms 
• Paper 2: Data Representation/Consequences of using computers/Computer Systems/Fundamentals of Computer organization and Architecture 

Assessment 4

• Paper 1 : Fundamentals of Programming/Theory of Computation/Data structures/ Fundamentals of Algorithms 
• Paper 2: Data Representation/Consequences of using computers/Computer Systems/Fundamentals of Computer organization and Architecture 

Three External Assessments (End of Year 13)

• Paper 1: (40% of total) 
• Paper 2: (40% of total) 
• Non examination Component : (20% of total) 

Topics Include:

Paper 1  

• Fundamentals of Programming  
• Fundamentals of Data Structure  
• Fundamentals of Algorithms  
• Theory of Computation 

Paper 2  

• Fundamentals of Data Representation  
• Fundamentals of Computer Systems  
• Fundamentals of Computer Organisation and Architecture  
• Consequences of the use of Computing 
• Fundamentals of Communication and Networking  
• Fundamentals of Databases  
• Big Data  
• Fundamentals of Functional Programming 

Non-Examination Assessment  

Systematic approach to problem solving