Electronics

Course summary

Electronics is the dominant technology of our century. Your phone, tablet device, car, PC, washing machine, TV etc all depend on electronics and the UK is a leader in design of electronics hardware and software. There are exciting new things happening all the time, and always a shortage of good Electronic Engineering graduates! The Electronics A Level course is a brilliant combination of theory and practical. It is challenging and fun. The course encourages students to develop a sound understanding of the most important concepts in digital, analogue and programmable device electronics, and does this through a varied and challenging practical experience. As at GCSE, the practical work allows students a huge degree of independence, and the ability to frame and solve their own problems. The practical work is assessed in Year 12 through a single small project and in Year 13 by a significant individual piece of work which takes about 30 hours of lab time to complete. Electronics at Challoner’s is a science course and you will learn to approach problems in a logical manner, and to apply theoretical concepts to solve real problems. The range of problems we address is huge, but the number of basic concepts which we need to solve them is surprisingly few. The course will continue to develop ideas met at GCSE such as boolean logic, amplifiers, sequential logic, counters etc, but will also introduce you to the whole wonderful world of programming microprocessors and the varied and subtle world of communications technology. Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of the course is the atmosphere and style of working in the lab, which GCSE students will immediately recognise. An atmosphere where collaboration is implicit and students have real autonomy in their work. You will often be working on your own circuits, but always with other students around you with whom you can collaborate. This is not a subject where learning doesn’t start until the teacher arrives! Learning at A Level we believe should be challenging, rewarding and fun! Results at A Level have been outstanding over the past 5 years. Most recently, the % of A*-A grades in Electronics at A-level was 82%, among the highest across all subjects, whilst all students achieved at least a B grade. It is possible to study Electronics at A Level without having done GCSE, and there are each year a few who manage this successfully, but anyone considering this would be advised to talk to one of the staff who teach Electronics before opting for it. The course is WJEC Eduqas Electronics, in which the practical assessment is weighted at 20%. The subject fits very well with Maths and Physics, but neither is a formal requirement to study Electronics at A Level.