St Davids College

Computer Science

Computer Science - A Level

Exam Body

OCR

Head of Department

Andrew Goodwin

Computer Science is a practical subject where students can apply the academic principles learned in the classroom to real-world systems. It’s an intensely creative subject that combines invention and excitement, and can look at the natural world through a digital prism. The aims of this qualification are to enable learners to develop:

  • An understanding and ability to apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including: abstraction, decomposition, logic, algorithms and data representation
  • The ability to analyse problems in computational terms through practical experience of solving such problems, including writing programs to do so
  • The capacity to think creatively, innovatively, analytically, logically and critically
  • The capacity to see relationships between different aspects of computer science
  • Mathematical skills

Course Content

Computer systems (01)

140

2 hours 30 mins

40%

The internal workings of the (CPU), data exchange, software development, data types and legal and ethical issues.

Algorithms and programming (02)

140

2 hours 30 mins

40%

Using computational thinking to solve problems.

Programming project (03)

70

-

20%

Non-exam assessment.
Students will be expected to analyse a problem (10 marks), and design (15 marks), develop and test (25 marks), and evaluate and document (20 marks) a program. The program must be to solve it written in a suitable programming language.

Nick Cogger

Nick Cogger

Head of Computer Science