Computer Science and ICT
Computers are widely used in all aspects of business, industry, government, education, leisure and the home.
We aim to give students the skills to facilitate their learning across the curriculum and develop a broad understanding of the fundamentals of computer science and the careers available.
“I have really enjoyed Computing. I have learnt so much about how computers work. Learning how to plan programs and write code was fun.”
Year 10 Computer Science student
KEY STAGE 3
During Years 7-9 the following topics are taught:
Year 7 |
Year 8 |
Year 9 |
---|---|---|
Computing
|
Computing
|
Computing
|
KEY STAGE 4
Two courses are offered at key stage 4: GCSE Computer Science and Cambridge Nationals in Creative iMedia (equivalent to one GCSE).
Students studying GCSE Computer Science follow the OCR specification. During the course, the following topics are covered:
Year 10 |
Year 11 |
---|---|
1. Programming (throughout the year) 2. Fundamentals of data representation 3. Computational logic 4. Algorithms 5. Computational thinking and problem solving 6. Ethical, legal and environmental impacts 7. Operating systems and software |
1. Non-exam assessment 2. Computer systems hardware and software 3. Computer networks 4. Cyber security |
For more detailed information about the course content and assessment requirements, please refer to the examination board website: OCR GCSE Computer Science J276 (for Year 11) or OCR GCSE Computer Science J277 (for Year 10 from 2020)
Students studying for Creative iMedia Certificate follow the OCR specification. During the course, the following topics are covered:
Year 10 |
Year 11 |
---|---|
Pre-production skills (R081 - assessed by examination): 1. Client requirements 2. Analysis 3. Legislation 4. Planning 5. Design Creating Digital Graphics (R082 - 6. Following a project brief 7. Analysis of the task 8. Design 9. Gaining skills in graphics software 10. Creating the graphics 11. Review and evaluation |
Creative Multi-page websites(R085 - 1. Following a project brief 2. Analysis of the task 3. Design 4. Gaining skills in web-authoring 5. Creating the website 6. Review and evaluation Creating Digital Animations (R086 - internally assessed and externally moderated): 6. Following a project brief 7. Analysis of the task 8. Design 9. Gaining skills in animation 10. Creating the animation 11. Review and evaluation |
For more detailed information about the course content and assessment requirements, please refer to the examination board website: https://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/cambridge-nationals/creative-imedia-level-1-2-award-certificate-j807-j817/
A LEVEL
Students studying the subject at A Level follow the OCR specification. During the course the following topics are covered.
Year 12 |
Year 13 |
---|---|
Computer Systems: 1. The characteristics of contemporary processors, input, output and storage devices 2. Software and software development 3. Data types and data structures 4. Legal, moral, cultural and ethical issues Algorithms and programming: 5. Introduction to programming 6. Assembly language programming 7. Standard algorithms Programming project: 8. Analysis 9. Design |
Computer Systems: 1. Exchanging data with networks, databases, web technologies, encryption and compression. 2. Efficiency of algorithms 3. Advanced data structures Algorithms and programming: 4. Elements of computational thinking 5. Problem solving and computational methods Programming project: 6. Development 7. Testing 8. Evaluation |
For more detailed information about the course content and assessment requirements, please refer to the examination board website: OCR A Level Computer Science