Computer Studies / Computing

Course summary

The content of this A Level in Computer Science is divided into three components. Component 01 – Computer Systems This component introduces learners to the characteristics of systems architecture, the exchange of data, software development, data types, data structures, legal issues, and ethical issues. Learners will draw on this underpinning content when studying component 02 and working on their programming project in component 03. Component 02 – Algorithms and Programming This component introduces learners to computational thinking, problem solving, programming, and algorithms. The topics explored in this component are those used to build solutions for real-world problems. This provides a roadmap for the learner to complete their programming project in component 03 Component 03 – Programming Project Learners will choose a problem that they would like to solve. They will then analyse, design, develop, and evaluate their solution to the problem. This will include programming in a suitable text-based language. The underlying approach of the project is to apply the principles learnt in components 01 and 02 to a practical coding problem.