Computer Science A Level
You will be expected to take this subject alongside another two A Levels. Computer Science goes well with subjects such as maths, physics and business. You will also be expected to complete a work placement as part of your programme of study. Study skills and employability skills will be developed with the help of your personal tutor.
Year 1 AS Specification:
Key Areas AS Specification (Year 1)
• Programming – imperative procedural-oriented, OOP, recursive techniques
• Data structures – arrays, lists, dictionaries, hash tables, queue, graph, tree, stack, vector, fields, records, files (text & binary).
• Systematic approach to problem solving – skills needed for Paper 1 and NEA (Year 2 Project)
• Theory of computation – abstraction, automation, FSM with and without output, language hierarchy, complexity, Turing machines
• Data representation – number systems/bases, information coding systems, encryption
• Computer systems – logic gates, Boolean algebra, program translator types, classification of programming languages, system software
• Computer organisation and architecture – machine code/assembly language, CPU, internal components of computer, external hardware devices (limited range)
• Consequences of uses of computing – software and their algorithms embed moral & cultural values, issue of scale brings potential for great good but also ability to cause great harm, challenges facing legislators
• Communication and networking – communication methods/basics, network topology, wireless, the Internet, TCP/IP, CRUD applications and REST, JSON, JavaScript
Year 2 A Level Specification:
• Programming – imperative procedural-oriented, OOP, recursive techniques
• Data structures – arrays, lists, dictionaries, hash tables, queue, graph, tree, stack, vector, fields, records, files (text & binary)
• Algorithms – traversal, search, sort, optimisation
• Theory of computation – abstraction, automation, FSM with and without output, language hierarchy, complexity, Turing machines
• Data representation – number systems/bases, information coding systems, encryption
• Computer systems – logic gates, Boolean algebra, program translator types, classification of programming languages, system software
• Computer organisation and architecture – machine code/assembly language, CPU, internal compo
You will need 5 GCSEs in curriculum subjects at grades 4 or above, to include maths at grade 5 or above.
On successful completion of your AS in Computer Science, you can progress onto A2 Computer Science which qualifies for UCAS points. This means on successful completion you could move onto a degree or BTEC Higher National Diploma in related subjects such as ICT, Computer Science, Information Systems, Software Engineering, Computer Networking, e-Business and Information Management. You could also go onto work-based training such as IT User/Practitioner NVQs or vendor-specific qualifications.
This course is part of the government funded Lifelong Learning Guarantee and is available free of charge to adult learners aged 19+ without a first full level 3 qualification.
See the West Midlands Combined Authority website for full eligibility criteria here.
Please contact our admissions team for the cost if you do not meet the criteria and we will confirm the fee.
