Computer Science – Options – Prestatyn High School – Denbighshire North Wales

Course Content:

Students will learn how computers work and how to create and troubleshoot computer programs. Computer Science develops valuable programming and computational training skills, which are increasingly important in a variety of jobs. Recent educational reports have highlighted the concerns to industry and universities regarding the need for qualified computer scientists. This course is more technical and scientific than the ICT GCSE.

How you will learn:

explore how computers work and how computers communicate;
develop your own programs;
expand and enhance your skills for design and creativity;
learn how to debug (fix) programs.

How you will be assessed:

Examinations: Unit 1 - a written exam which investigates topics including hardware, logical operations, data types, operating systems and software engineering; it is worth 50% of the qualification. Unit 2 – an on-screen computational thinking and programming worth 30% of the qualification.

Coursework: Unit 3 - a non-exam assessment (NEA) requiring learners to produce a programmed solution to a problem worth 20% of the qualification

Additional information:

This is the course for you if you want a career or further education course in computing. To be successful requires a genuine interest in computers and their workings. You will need to be good at problem solving and logic so this is well suited to students with a liking for science and/or maths. Because of this students need a minimum target grade of B in Maths. *

Job ideas:

Software or games developer, network administrator, development engineer, technical consultant and systems analyst. Did you know that Computer Science graduates now get more offers of employment than any other degree?

For further information see: Miss R Haydock