GCSE Computer Science (Edexcel)

The Pearson Edexcel Level 1/Level 2 GCSE (9–1) in Computer Science consists of two externally-examined papers.

Paper 1 is a written examination and Paper 2 is a practical onscreen assessment.

Paper 1 content (50%)

This paper will assess Topics 1 to 5.

● Topic 1: Computational thinking – understanding of what algorithms are, what they are used for and how they work; ability to follow, amend and write algorithms; ability to construct truth tables.

● Topic 2: Data – understanding of binary, data representation, data storage and compression.

● Topic 3: Computers – understanding of hardware and software components of computer systems and characteristics of programming languages.

● Topic 4: Networks – understanding of computer networks and network security.

● Topic 5: Issues and impact – awareness of emerging trends in computing technologies, and the impact of computing on individuals, society and the environment, including ethical, legal and ownership issues

 

Paper 1 Assessment overview

This paper consists of five compulsory questions, each one focused on one of the topic areas. The questions consist of multiple-choice, short-, medium- and extended-open response, tabular and diagrammatic items

 

Paper 2 content (50%)

This paper will assess Topic 6: Problem solving with programming. The main focus of this paper is

● understanding what algorithms are, what they are used for and how they work in relation to creating programs

● understanding how to decompose and analyse problems

● ability to read, write, refine and evaluate programs.

 

Paper 2 Assessment overview

This practical paper requires students to design, write, test and refine programs in order to solve problems. Students will complete this assessment onscreen using their Integrated Development Environment (IDE) of choice.

They will be provided with:

● coding files ● a hard copy of the question paper

● Programming Language Subset (PLS) – as an insert in the question paper and in electronic format.

Students should then answer the questions onscreen using Python 3. This assessment consists of six compulsory questions