Why consider doing A level Computing? - The answer is very straight forward! Look at your everyday life – everything that you do now, without you realising it, is either controlled by a computer, supervised by a computer, stored by a computer or processed and used by a computer. From how you play, to how you work, how your house is designed and built, to how you travel, to how your food is grown and delivered to the store, to how you are educated, to how you live your everyday life – there is a computer involved somewhere down the line. Those who understand how a computer works, how a computer can be used in research, be it in medicine, in exploration, in the entertainment world, in food and product manufacture, in control, in organisation, in space exploration and even in learning and understanding our past and how to solve problems by programming, are constantly in high demand. There is no need for any previous knowledge of computing or programming necessary. If you already have knowledge of computing, your teachers will introduce you to concepts which will allow you to develop your talent further!
The majority of our students go on to higher education to study Computing or a related subject to degree level. The employment prospects of students who have a degree in Computing are excellent in all fields. Even the few who decide to pursue other avenues after A level Computing find that the skills picked up while on this course help them with study and organisational skills, problem solving skills, presentation and report writing skills.
This course teaches you computing theory together with practical knowledge. The practical component of the course accounts for 35% of the overall marks. The theory topics covered include - Computer Architecture, Data Representation and Data Structures, How a computer executes instructions, Computer Logic and Arithmetic, Operating Systems, Hardware Specification, Network Communications, Program Development, Software Engineering, Computer Languages, Artificial Intelligence, Software Tools, Packages and Utilities, Data files and Databases, Social and Legal Implications. You will use a networked PC system with industry-standard software. In practical lessons, you are taught to program in Visual Basic, as well as Network, Windows and package use.
AS & A2
General college entry requirements. (See page 10 for details.) There is no need for a student to have followed any Computing or IT course at GCSE. All we want is your enthusiasm for the subject and your wish to learn..
A-level Mathematics,
needed for entry to some universities to do a
degree in Computing. Otherwise, any other
combination of subjects at A-level is possible
with Computing.