A Level

Computer Science

Course type
Level 3
Awarding Body
AQA
Duration
2 years

Introduction to Computer Science

Ever wondered how the web works or how to develop a computer game? Computer Science is an exciting and challenging subject in which you will develop valuable skills in problem-solving as well as learning how computers work.

Entry requirements

Subject grades:
GCSE grade 6 in Mathematics and 4 in Computing or Computer Science, if studied.
Required Admissions Score
The indicative Higher Adjusted Admissions Score for Computer Science is 71.

Watch our Computer Science video

About the Course

You will learn how to design and develop new software to solve problems whilst also learning how complex computer systems work at the hardware level. You will learn how to analyse problems, design algorithms and write programmes.

Some students have no previous programming experience and we assume none, so we start from the beginning. We offer excellent support in the form of workshops and one-to-one help. We also provide strong challenges for the most able students, including Olympiads, competitions and extension challenges.

2024 Computer Science A level results

47% of our students achieved A* to A

75% of our students achieved A* to B

100% of our students achieved A* to E

Course information

First-year: topics include:

The fundamentals of procedural & object-oriented programming
Data structures: arrays, records and files
Finite state machines & regular expressions
Data representation: numbers, characters, sounds and graphics
Computer systems: languages, translators, Boolean algebra and logic gates
Computer organisation & architecture: the processor, assembly language
Communications & networking
Encryption
Consequences of the uses of computing
Database design and SQL

Second-year: topics include

A substantial coding project
Advanced programming techniques, including object-oriented programming
Recursion
Data structures: lists, stacks, queues, trees and hash tables
Fundamentals of functional programming
Advanced theory of computation: asymmetric encryption; algorithm complexity
Regular and context-free languages
Turing machines
The internet: protocols and security

Want to find out more about your core A level programme?

Future Ready Programme

Hear from our students

Studying Computer Science at Hills allows you to develop effective problem-solving skills and to become a more independent thinker. The course covers an enjoyable range of programming and theory topics; the teachers are very knowledgeable and friendly.
Jake, Year 12 student

I really enjoyed the non-examined assessment. The topics get more interesting and it’s definitely worth doing if you want to learn about modern devices.
Rafael, Year 12 Student