Computer Science is the study of how computers and computer systems work and how they are constructed and programmed. The course has been designed as follows: • Focus on programming and emphasis on the importance of computational thinking • Have an expanded maths focus, much of which will be embedded within the course • Put computational thinking at its core, helping students to develop the skills to solve problems, design systems and understand human and machine intelligence • Allow students to apply the academic principles learned in the classroom to real-world systems in an exciting and engaging manner • Give students a clear progression into higher education; the course was designed after consultation with members of BCS, CAS and top universities. Computer Science has an immense impact on modern life. The job prospects are excellent and the field is rigorous, intellectually vibrant, and multi-faceted. Yet Computer Science is in danger of disappearing from schools, with a critical skills shortage developing. A recent study by the UK Council of Professors and Heads of Computer Science illustrates the problem: it predicts that demand for IT professionals will increase by up to 15% in the next 8 years, while the number of students aiming for jobs in the industry has fallen by 50% since 2001. Year 12 You will follow the full A level Syllabus (A level Computer Science-OCR H446 from 2015) studying the following: Programming (major emphasis), processors, input, output and storage devices. Software development, exchanging data, data types and data structures. Legal, moral, ethical and cultural issues. Computational thinking, problem solving and algorithms. Year 13 You will complete the full-level Syllabus, which is a more in-depth treatment of the topics listed above for Year 12. In addition, you will undertake a practical Computing project (worth 20% overall) of your choice. This will cover analysis of a problem, design of the solution, development of the solution and evaluation of the solution.