A level
The whole A level computer science course, matched to the OCR, AQA and Eduqas specifications. Pick this if you are working towards an A level.
Start in the simulatorA1. Programming techniques and object-oriented programming
A level programming from GCSE upward: data types, operations and exceptions, subroutines passed by value and by reference, scope and…
10 lessons
A2. Recursion and computational thinking
Stack frames and recursion, then the computational thinking behind every large program: abstraction of every kind, decomposition and…
10 lessons
A3. Data structures
Arrays, records and tuples, then the abstract data types: stacks, queues, linked lists, hash tables and dictionaries, vectors, and how…
9 lessons
A4. Trees and graphs
Graphs and how to store them, depth-first and breadth-first traversal, trees and binary search trees, the three tree traversals, and a…
8 lessons
A5. Algorithms and complexity
Comparing algorithms by time and space, the maths behind Big O, then searching and sorting analysed in depth, Dijkstra's shortest path and…
9 lessons
A6. Theory of computation
Finite state machines and Mealy machines, sets, regular expressions, BNF, Reverse Polish notation, then the limits of computation:…
10 lessons
A7. Data representation
Number sets and bases, signed and floating point binary, errors and precision, bitwise operations, characters, error checking, images,…
10 lessons
A8. Boolean algebra and logic circuits
All six gates and the exam notations, circuits from problems and truth tables, the laws of Boolean algebra and De Morgan, simplifying by…
9 lessons
A9. Computer architecture
Inside the processor at A level: buses, the stored program, von Neumann and Harvard, registers and flags, the fetch-decode-execute cycle…
10 lessons
A10. Operating systems, software and translators
Classifying software, what the operating system does and how: memory management, interrupts, scheduling, types of operating system and…
9 lessons
A11. Databases and big data
Model data, normalise it, define and query it in SQL, keep it consistent under transactions and many users, exchange it, and handle data…
10 lessons
A12. Networks and the web
How data moves: serial links and protocols, topologies and Wi-Fi, packets, TCP/IP, addressing, DHCP and NAT, security, REST and the web,…
10 lessons
A13. Functional programming
The functional paradigm from the ground up: pure functions, immutability and statelessness, function types, first-class and higher-order…
8 lessons
A14. Software development, law and ethics
How real software gets built: the lifecycle and feasibility, waterfall, spiral, agile, extreme programming and RAD, analysis, design,…
9 lessons
A15. Exam preparation
How OCR, AQA and Eduqas assess the A level, command words and levels of response, tracing, pseudocode and writing code under exam…
8 lessons