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KS4 - Computer Science

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Board 

OCR (J277) 

Outline of the Course 

  • A simple and intuitive assessment model, consisting of two papers, one focusing on computer systems and one with a focus on programming, computational thinking, and algorithms. Both papers have identical weighting and mark allocations 

  • Introduces students to the central processing unit (CPU), computer memory and storage, data representation, wired and wireless networks, network topologies, system security and system software. It also looks at ethical, legal, cultural and environmental concerns associated with computer science 

  • Students apply knowledge and understanding gained in Component 01 through Components 02. They develop skills and understanding in computational thinking: algorithms, programming techniques, producing robust programs, computational logic and translators 

  • Students are given the opportunity to undertake a programming task(s) during their course of study, which allows them to develop their skills to design, write, test and refine programs using a high-level programming language. Students will be assessed on these skills during the written examinations, in particular Component 02 (Section B), learning programming languages such as Java, JavaScript and Python 

  • This specification/qualification will enable students to develop: 

  • Valuable thinking and programming skills that are extremely attractive in the modern workplace 

  • A deep understanding of computational thinking and how to apply it through a chosen programming language 

Assessment 

 
Type of Assessment 
Duration 
Weighting 
1 
Component 01 – Computer systems 
1 hour 30 minutes 
50% 
2 
Component 02 – Computational Thinking, algorithms and programming 
1 hour 30 minutes 
50% 
3 
Practical programming throughout the two years 
Non-exam  
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GCSE-Programme-of-Courses-Booklet.pdfGCSE-Resources-Booklet.pdf

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