Computer Science
OCR GCSE Computer Science: computer systems, networks and security, algorithms, and programming in Python and OCR Exam Reference Language.
Exam Reference Language: every construct, with Python
Algorithms: the searches and sorts, step by step
Exam guide: the papers, marks, timings and levels
Topics
Systems architecture
Paper 1, section 1.1: what the CPU does in the fetch–execute cycle, the parts inside it, what makes one CPU faster than another, and the embedded systems hidden in everyday devices.
CS2Memory and storage
Paper 1, section 1.2: RAM, ROM and secondary storage, and how numbers, text, images and sound are stored in binary, with the file-size calculations and compression that go with them.
CS3Networks, connections and protocols
Paper 1, section 1.3: how LANs, WANs and the internet are built, the hardware and topologies that link computers, and the protocols and layers that let them talk.
CS4Network security
Paper 1, section 1.4: the ways computer systems are attacked, from malware to phishing, and the methods that keep them safe.
CS5Systems software
Paper 1, section 1.5: what an operating system does behind the scenes, and the utility software that keeps a computer running well.
CS6Impacts of digital technology
Paper 1, section 1.6: the ethical, legal, cultural, environmental and privacy issues technology raises, the laws that apply to computing, and software licences.
CS7Algorithms
Paper 2, section 2.1: thinking like a computer scientist, designing algorithms with flowcharts and pseudocode, tracing them, and the standard searches and sorts.
CS8Programming fundamentals
Paper 2, section 2.2: the building blocks of every program, from variables, loops and data types to strings, arrays, files, SQL and sub programs.
CS9Producing robust programs
Paper 2, section 2.3: writing programs that cope with bad input and are easy to maintain, and testing them with the right test data.
CS10Boolean logic
Paper 2, section 2.4: the AND, OR and NOT gates, how they combine into logic circuits, and completing their truth tables.
CS11Languages and IDEs
Paper 2, section 2.5: high- and low-level languages, the translators that turn code into something a computer can run, and the tools an IDE gives a programmer.
CS12Exam and programming skills
Both papers, across the whole specification: reading and writing OCR Exam Reference Language, practising on small programming projects, and the skills each paper rewards.