Course Information

Literacy
Numeracy
Communications
Creativity
Practical
Group Work
Examination Assessment	100%
Non-Examination Assessment	0%
EBacc	No
Examination Board	OCR
Course	GCSE

General Information 

The course provides opportunities for you to develop your knowledge and understanding of how computers work. You will learn how to write code, design programs and understand the ethical and legal impact of digital technology. Cyber Security is also an important element of this course. This course is for those who wish to learn how to become producers of technology products rather than just consumers. You will study a range of topics providing a foundation for a career in programming, systems design, networking and a range of other areas.

What will I need to succeed?

• Be willing to think for yourself, work independently and meet deadlines.
• Enjoy solving logic puzzles.
• Be determined and willing to persevere.
• Be willing to adopt programming as a hobby spending at least 2 hours a week practicing and developing your programming skills at home.
• Have access to a computer with internet access at home or be able to stay after college to use the ICT facilities to complete homework and practice programming skills.

Expected Subject Content

The course will cover the following content:

• Systems architecture 
• Memory and storage 
• Wired and wireless networks 
• Network topologies, protocols and layers 
• System security 
• System software
• Ethical, legal, cultural and environmental concerns 
• Algorithms
• Programming techniques 
• Producing robust programs 
• Computational logic 
• Translators and facilities of languages 
• Data representation 

What careers it can lead to after leaving Swanmore College