Computer Studies / Computing

Course summary

WHY STUDY COMPUTING? Students will gain knowledge and an understanding of fundamental principles in computational thinking concepts in order to use algorithms to solve complex and challenging problems in a variety of business, scientific and social contexts. There is a strong emphasis on practical work, including analysis and evaluation, and a significant amount of programming is done throughout the course. CONTENT OF COURSE: This A Level course comprises two examinable units (Computing systems and Algorithms and programming) and a final programming component. Computing systems will introduce students to the internal workings of the Central Processing Unit (CPU), the exchange of data and will also look at software development, data types and legal and ethical issues. It is expected that students will draw on this underpinning content when studying computational thinking and developing programming techniques.