Hartismere School

Est. 1451. An outstanding coeducational secondary school & sixth form college and England's first academy

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A Level Computer Science

What is it all about?

A level Computer Science builds upon the knowledge and skills developed at GCSE by going into greater depth, particularly with the workings of the CPU, operating systems, web technologies and programming. We have had many successful students who have studied this without taking GCSE computer science, but it would be a steep learning curve.

What do we study?

The course is split into two units at AS (year 12) and three in year 13 for the full A level: 

1. Computer systems: What we learn about includes the workings of the CPU, how software is created and the different types of software, how data is stored and represented in computers, how data is transferred between computers and the impacts of technology.

2. Algorithms and programming: This is all about understanding computational thinking and programming. We do quite a bit of programming using C# to develop experience coding.

3. Programming project: In year 13, students have the opportunity to develop a piece of software of their choice for an end user. They will use an Agile methodology to design, implement and test the program. This is a substantial bit of work but allows students to massively develop their programming ability.

Why would it be useful?

Students have expressed how the problem solving they have developed in computer science has complimented work in other subjects. Even if not actively pursuing a career in the industry, knowledge of how computers operate can only help in the modern world. Every year we have students go on to study computer related subjects at university, degree apprenticeships or straight into employment. The range of careers in the computing industry is massive. There are industries within industries! You have software development, hardware development, database management, web development, cyber security, network management, and many more.

 

We follow the OCR specification

Taking A Level Computer Science

A Level CS: Algorithm Assembly Instructions

Toyota Virtual Plant Tour

How robots are taking over warehouse work

Coding Challenges for GCSE and A Level Computer Science

In this section...

C# Cook Books

CPU Fetch-Decode-Execute Animation

Programming software

Essential programming skills to learn

Sorting Visualiser

Online Little Man Computer - CPU simulator

C# Yellow Book

GCSE Computer Science

See also...

Labour Market Information (LMI)

Languages

Year 12 revision

Revision for computer science

Infrastructure

Week beginning 12 Feb 2024: 'Life Lessons'

Year 10

Science & Innovation

Creative iMedia

Sixth Form

Explore...

Service & Leadership

Code.Org - Express computer science course

Year 9 One Lesson Task :: No Mouse [Windows]

Avatar Maker

Vertigo video essay - cinematic influence

Homework - Digital Video #2

Artificial intelligence and assessments

On your exam day

A levels: pre-reading and research materials

Bronze DofE Enrolment Letter 2024-2025

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Admissions and Application Forms :: Main School and Sixth Form

Teacher of Health & Social Care

Parents Evening :: Year 8

BACK TO THE FUTURE, the musical. Thursday 5th June 2025. Years 7 to 10.

Impact Evaluation of LAMDA Exams in Schools

School Policies

Teacher of Sociology

Learnit Physics Unit 7: Magnets

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ICT Computer Science A Level CS Student Information A Levels A Level A Level Computing Options C# Practice Rules Vertigo Acting Forms iMedia Safeguarding CIEAG Theatre Recipes A2 Biology ABU Ethics Parent

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