This course is for students with an interest in how computers and computer systems work, how they are constructed and programmed. You'll need to have studied ICT or computing at GCSE to move on to onto it. You might be choosing computer science because you're headed for a computing career, though thinking computationally (logically, using reasoning, breaking complicated things down and being able to express instructions precisely) is a skill that can be used in a wide range of other careers too. To study Computer Science A level, you'll need a keen interest in computers and good technical, mathematical and problem solving skills. Computer Science particularly complements subjects such as Science and Maths. Year 12: How computers represent different types of data as binary numbers and the core programming concepts of selection, iteration and subroutines; Handling text and binary files and encryption techniques; The internal hardware components of a computer system and the fundamentals of digital electronics – logic gates and Boolean algebra; This theory will be underpinned throughout the course through practical programming tasks (using the C# programming language); You will also learn low-level programming (assembly coding) based on the ARM-processor instruction set. Year 13: Students will extend their knowledge of programming to consider object-orientation principles including, inheritance and polymorphism, still using the C# language. You will also learn functional programming using Haskell. SQL scripting skills will be learnt alongside the theory of database modelling techniques. Advanced computational theory will be learnt, including recursive algorithms, abstract data types such as queues and graphs along with traversal techniques and the theory and notation used to compare the efficiency of algorithms. Additionally, you will learn about the limitations of computer systems for storing numbers in binary form and the trade-offs between different methods of representation. Knowledge of digital electronics will be consolidated through the study of the construction of adder circuits and the use of bi-stable circuits to create units of computer memory. Students will follow an extensive programming-based sequence of learning - theoretical aspects of the course are taught through practical programming tasks. You will undertake a substantial project throughout the entire second year which will involve the development of a bespoke application for a real-world context, possible examples include a business application, an original educational computer game or a simulation of a scientific principle. Students will devise their own project too.