Head of Department

Mr J Evason

This course is aimed at students who are logical, like problem solving and have enjoyed using Python at KS3.

This course is assessed over 3 Components: J276/01, J276/02 and J276/03.

J276/01— Computer Systems — 40%

Assessed by written external exam in Year 11.

In this component you will learn about what a computer system and how they function, including:

Central Processing Unit (CPU), computer memory and storage, wired and wireless networks, network topologies, system security and system software.

Along with developing an understanding of the impact of Computer Science in a global context.

J276/02 — Computational thinking, algorithms and programming — 40%

Assessed by written external exam in Year 11.

This component incorporates and builds on the knowledge and understanding gained in J276/01, encouraging students to apply this knowledge and understanding using computational thinking. Students will be introduced to algorithms and programming, learning about programming techniques, how to produce robust programs, computational logic, translators and facilities of computing languages and data representation. Students will become familiar with computing related mathematics.

J276/03 — (NEA) Programming Project — 20%

Non-exam assessment completed during Year 11.

The task will provide opportunities for the students to demonstrate their practical ability in the skills covered in J276/02.

Students will need to create suitable algorithms which will provide a solution to the problems identified in the task. They will then code their solutions in a suitable programming language (Python 3). This is undertaken as an independent project over a 20 hour time period.

For more information please see Mr Evason

Governor Link - Mr David Heffernan