OxfordAQA International GCSE Computer Science Tutors Online

OxfordAQA International GCSE Computer Science is specification 9210. This page works from the current specification, version 3.4, which covers International GCSE exams from May/June 2019 onwards.

This qualification has two papers, and they are not two versions of the same exam. One is on screen and one is on paper, and what they measure barely overlaps.

Paper 1 is Programming. It is an on-screen programming exam based on a pre-released skeleton program. It lasts 2 hours, carries 80 marks, and is 50 per cent of the qualification.

Paper 2 is Concepts and principles of computer science. It is a written exam lasting 2 hours, carrying 80 marks, and worth 50 per cent of the qualification.

Every scaling factor is 1, so raw marks and scaled marks are the same, and the total scaled mark is 160.

The most important practical fact about Paper 1 is the skeleton program. It is released to centres in advance, and the release dates are specified. For the May/June examination it is made available on 1 March of the year of the examination. For the November examination it is made available on 1 August.

That means Paper 1 is not an unseen test of programming in the abstract. It is a test of how well a student can read, understand, correct and extend a specific program they have had in front of them for weeks.

A student who has not worked through the skeleton program in detail before the exam is at a serious disadvantage, whatever their general programming ability happens to be.

Paper 1 can be sat in one of three languages. The assessment will be available in C sharp, Python 3, and Visual Basic. The choice is a centre decision, and it determines the language of the skeleton program and the paper.

Paper 1 has three sections, and they move from reading to building.

Section A contains questions about programming that test programming concepts and some non-programming aspects of the skeleton program.

Section B contains short programming questions which require students to make small modifications to the skeleton program, such as correcting errors or writing up to several lines of program code.

Section C contains longer programming questions which require major modifications to the skeleton program. The specification says these will typically require more analysis than Section B questions, and gives the examples of writing new subroutines and adding significant new functionality to the skeleton program.

Responses to Paper 1 are recorded in a word-processed document, which the specification calls the electronic answer document. So the student is programming but submitting written evidence in a document rather than only a saved program file.

The specification states that Paper 1 assesses writing and testing computer programs, understanding programming concepts, and being able to analyse problems in computational terms.

Paper 2 is a written exam with a mixture of question types including multiple choice, short and longer answer questions. It assesses knowledge and understanding of the key concepts and principles of computer science.

There are three assessment objectives, and the per paper weightings are the most striking feature of this whole specification.

AO1 is demonstrating knowledge and understanding of the key concepts and principles of computer science.

AO2 is applying knowledge and understanding of key concepts and principles of computer science.

AO3 is analysing problems in computational terms in order to develop and test programmed solutions, and demonstrating an understanding of programming concepts.

On Paper 1, AO1 is weighted at zero and AO2 is weighted at between 0 per cent and 5 per cent. AO3 is weighted at between 45 per cent and 50 per cent.

On Paper 2, AO1 is weighted at between 20 per cent and 25 per cent, AO2 at between 20 per cent and 25 per cent, and AO3 at between 0 per cent and 5 per cent.

Overall the weightings are AO1 at between 20 per cent and 25 per cent, AO2 at between 20 per cent and 30 per cent, and AO3 at between 45 per cent and 55 per cent.

Read together, those columns say something very specific. Paper 1 measures almost nothing except computational problem solving. Paper 2 measures almost nothing except knowledge and application.

So a student cannot carry strength in one paper into the other. Being fluent at theory does not help with a skeleton program, and being a strong programmer does not help with multiple choice questions about data representation.

The subject content is organised into eight sections, and both papers draw on them in different ways.

The first is Algorithms. The second is Programming. Those two are the sections Paper 1 lives in.

The third is Data representation, the fourth is Computer systems, the fifth is Computer networks, and the sixth is Cyber security. Those are the sections the written paper leans on most heavily.

The seventh is Relational databases and structured query language, and the eighth is Web page design. Both of those connect to the programming paper as well as the written one, because they are things a student is asked to build as well as describe.

That gives eight named areas to cover: algorithms, programming, data representation, computer systems, networks, cyber security, relational databases and SQL, and web page design.

The grading scale is the nine point one. The qualification is graded 1 to 9, where 9 is the best grade, and a student who does not reach the minimum standard for grade 1 is recorded as U and does not receive a certificate.

The entries section of the specification states that exams will be available in May/June. The skeleton program release arrangements also refer to a November examination, with an August release date, so a family should confirm the series with the centre rather than assume a single window.

Resits are whole qualification only. The specification describes itself as a traditional linear specification and states that individual components cannot be re-sat, though a candidate can re-take the whole qualification as many times as they wish.

The specification overlaps with AQA UK GCSE Computer Science 8520.

For planning, the skeleton program is the calendar anchor of the whole course. Its March release for a summer exam means the final months of Year 11 have a fixed shape, and the teaching of Programming and Algorithms needs to be finished before it arrives so that the release date is spent working on the actual program rather than learning to code.