AQA A-Level Computer Science (7517) is unusual among A-Levels in that Paper 1 is sat at a computer: students are given a preliminary material booklet in advance and then solve programming problems live in the exam, with their code marked. Paper 2 is a written paper on theory, and a substantial non-examined assessment project accounts for twenty per cent of the grade.

The specification is more theoretical than most students expect from GCSE, covering Boolean algebra, finite state machines, Big-O complexity, functional programming and the mathematics of computation alongside practical development. The NEA is where grades are won or lost — projects that solve a genuine problem for a real user, with proper analysis and testing evidence, score well above those that are technically competent but arbitrary.

Curriculum Breakdown

Important Topics

Programming Fundamentals — Data types, structures, subroutines, recursion and object-oriented design.
Data Structures & Algorithms — Lists, stacks, queues, trees, graphs, searching, sorting and Big-O.
Theory of Computation — Finite state machines, regular expressions, Turing machines and computability.
Computer Systems — Boolean algebra, logic gates, hardware, assembly language and architecture.
Networks & Databases — Protocols, security, relational databases, SQL and normalisation.
Consequences of Computing — Legal, ethical, moral and cultural issues in the use of technology.
NEA Project — Analysis, design, iterative development, testing and evaluation.

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