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1 AS AND A-LEVELCOMPUTERSCIENCEAS (7516) A-level (7517)SpecificationsFor teaching from September 2015 onwardsFor AS exams in May/June 2016 onwardsFor A-level exams in May/June 2017 onwardsVersion 21 January 2019 Copyright 2016 AQA and its licensors. All rights retains the copyright on all its publications, including the specifications. However, schools and colleges registered with AQA are permitted to copy material from these specifications for their own internal Education (AQA) is a registered charity (number 1073334) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (company number 3644723). Our registered address is AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 help and supportVisit our website for information, guidance, support and resources at can talk directly to the Computer Science subject teamE: 0161 957 3980 Contents1 Why choose AQA for AS and A-level support and resources to help you teach62 Specification at a A-level93 Subject content Fundamentals of Fundamentals of data Systematic approach to problem Theory of Fundamentals of data Fundamentals of computer Fundamentals of computer organisation Consequences of uses of Fundamentals of communication and networking384 Subject content Fundamentals of Fundamentals of data Fundamentals of Theory of Fundamentals of data Fundamentals of computer Fundamentals of computer organisation Consequences of uses of Fundamentals of communication and Fundamentals of Big Fundamentals of functional Systematic approach to problem Non-exam assessment - the computing practicalproject965 Scheme of Assessment objectives112 AQA AS and A-level Computer Science.

2 AS and A-level exams June 2016 onwards. Version 21 January 2019 Visit for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration Assessment weightings1126 Non-exam assessment administration Supervising and Avoiding Teacher Internal Submitting Factors affecting individual Keeping students' After moderation1187 General Entries and Overlaps with other Awarding grades and reporting Re-sits and shelf Previous learning and Access to assessment: diversity and Working with AQA for the first Private candidates121 Are you using the latest version of this specification? You will always find the most up-to-date version of this specification on our website at We will write to you if there are significant changes to the Visit for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration1 Why choose AQA for AS and A-level ComputerScienceRelevant to the classroom and the real worldAdvances in computing are transforming the way we work and our new Computer Sciencespecifications are changing with the times.

3 We ve worked closely with teachers to develop ourpopular qualifications, refreshing the content where needed but retaining the most popular andeffective aspects of the previous evolutionary approach has built on strong foundations to deliver flexible, accessible andrigorous qualifications, backed by top quality support , resources and professional the need for huge changes we re delighted to present up-to-date specifications that focuson the knowledge, understanding and skills students need to progress to higher education or thrivein the qualification for all abilities at AS and A-levelYou ll find these specifications suitable and appropriate for mixed ability classes and we vehelped to minimise the impact on classroom delivery, resourcing and timetabling by ensuring thatyou can teach AS and A-level together. This will help to make the transition to the newspecifications smoother and our schemes of work will show you how the two levels can be you can trustLike you, we are committed to ensuring that students obtain the results they deserve and arecapable of.

4 The new specifications have very clear, well-structured assessment criteria. Our exams include a variety of assessment styles so that students feel more confident andable to engage with the questions. Assessment of non-exam assessment (NEA) (A-level only) is more straightforward anddesigned to encourage students to do an investigative project on a topic of particular interestto resources and support to help teaching and learningOur free resources, events and support , along with professional development opportunities, willhelp you to inspire and help your students to fulfil their potential. We re also collaborating closelywith publishers to ensure that you have textbooks to support you and your students with the newspecifications. With us, your students will get the right results from an exam board you can find out about all our Computer Science qualifications at AS and A-level Computer Science.

5 AS and A-level exams June 2016 onwards. Version 21 January 2019 Visit for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration support and resources to help you teachWe know that support and resources are vital for your teaching and that you have limited time tofind or develop good quality materials. So we ve worked with experienced teachers to provide youwith a range of resources that will help you confidently plan, teach and prepare for resourcesWe have too many Computer Science resources to list here so visit to see themall. They include: exemplar materials available on eAQA that highlight the standard required specimen and past papers and mark schemes that can be used to exemplify the requiredstandard sample schemes of work and lesson plans to help you plan your course with confidence textbooks training courses to help you deliver AQA Computer Science qualifications dedicated subject advisers to offer expertise and guidance on the technical parts of thequalification and a dedicated Computer Science subject team available by phone and emailto support with the delivery of the qualification subject expertise courses for all teachers, from newly-qualified teachers who are just gettingstarted to experienced teachers looking for fresh for examsVisit for everything you need to prepare for our exams, including.

6 Past papers, mark schemes and examiners reports specimen papers and mark schemes for new courses Exampro: a searchable bank of past AQA exam questions exemplar student answers with examiner your students' results with Enhanced Results Analysis (ERA)Find out which questions were the most challenging, how the results compare to previous yearsand where your students need to improve. ERA, our free online results analysis tool, will help yousee where to focus your teaching. Register at information about results, including maintaining standards over time, grade boundaries and ourpost-results services, visit your skills up to date with professional developmentWherever you are in your career, there s always something new to learn. As well as subject-specific training, we offer a range of courses to help boost your skills: improve your teaching skills in areas including differentiation, teaching literacy and meetingOfsted requirements help you prepare for a new role with our leadership and management can attend a course at venues around the country, in your school or online whatever suitsyour needs and availability.

7 Find out more at Visit for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administrationGet help and supportVisit our website for information, guidance, support and resources at can talk directly to the Computer Science subject team:E: 0161 957 3980 AQA AS and A-level Computer Science . AS and A-level exams June 2016 onwards. Version 21 January 2019 Visit for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 72 Specification at a ASSubject content1 Fundamentals of programming (page 11)2 Fundamentals of data structures (page 16)3 Systematic approach to problem solving (page 16)4 Theory of computation (page 18)5 Fundamentals of data representation (page 21)6 Fundamentals of computer systems (page 29)7 Fundamentals of computer organisation and architecture (page 32)8 Consequences of uses of computing (page 37)9 Fundamentals of communication and networking (page 38)AssessmentsPaper 1 What's assessed:this paper tests a student's ability to program, as well as their theoretical knowledge of computerscience from subject content 1-4 On-screen exam.

8 1 hour 45 minutes 50% of ASQuestionsStudents answer a series of short questions and write/adapt/extend programs in an ElectronicAnswer Document provided by will issue preliminary material, a skeleton program (available in each of the programminglanguages) and, where appropriate, test data, for use in the Visit for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administrationPaper 2 What's assessed:this paper tests a student's ability to answer questions from subject content 5-9 Written exam: 1 hour 30 minutes 50% of ASQuestionsA series of short-answer and extended-answer A-levelSubject content10 Fundamentals of programming (page 41)11 Fundamentals of data structures (page 47)12 Fundamentals of algorithms (page 52)13 Theory of computation (page 54)14 Fundamentals of data representation (page 63)15 Fundamentals of computer systems (page 72)16 Fundamentals of computer organisation and architecture (page 76)17 Consequences of uses of computing (page 81)18 Fundamentals of communication and networking (page 82)19 Fundamentals of databases (page 88)20 Big Data (page 90)21 Fundamentals of functional programming (page 91)22 Systematic approach to problem solving (page 95)23 Non-exam assessment - the computing practical project (page 96)AQA AS and A-level Computer Science.

9 AS and A-level exams June 2016 onwards. Version 21 January 2019 Visit for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 9 AssessmentsPaper 1 What's assessed: this paper tests a student's ability to program, as well as their theoreticalknowledge of Computer Science from subject content 10-13 above and the skills required fromsection 22 On-screen exam: 2 hours 30 minutes 40% of A-levelQuestionsStudents answer a series of short questions and write/adapt/extend programs in an ElectronicAnswer Document provided by will issue Preliminary Material, a Skeleton Program (available in each of the ProgrammingLanguages) and, where appropriate, test data, for use in the 2 What's assessed: this paper tests a student's ability to answer questions from subject content14-21 Written exam: 2 hours 30 minutes 40% of A-levelQuestionsCompulsory short-answer and extended-answer assessmentWhat's assessed: the non-exam assessment assesses student's ability to use the knowledgeand skills gained through the course to solve or investigate a practical problem.

10 Students will beexpected to follow a systematic approach to problem solving, as shown in section 22 75 marks 20% of A-level10 Visit for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration3 Subject content ASWe will support the following programming languages: C# Java Pascal/Delphi Python and colleges will be asked to indicate their programming language preference at the startof the study of the Fundamentals of Data typesContentAdditional informationUnderstand the concept of a data and use the following appropriately: integer real/float Boolean character string date/time records (or equivalent) arrays (or equivalent).Define and use user-defined data types basedon language-defined (built-in) data AS and A-level Computer Science . AS and A-level exams June 2016 onwards. Version 21 January 2019 Visit for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration Programming conceptsContentAdditional informationUse, understand and know how the followingstatement types can be combined in programs: variable declaration constant declaration assignment iteration selection subroutine (procedure/function).