Computer Science

OCR A-Level Computer Science (H446) is assessed by two written papers and a programming project. Paper 1, Computer Systems, covers architecture, software, data exchange, data types and the legal and ethical context. Paper 2, Algorithms and Programming, tests computational thinking and problem solving. The project is worth twenty per cent and is written in a language of the student's choice.

OCR's Paper 2 is notably abstract: students are given a scenario and asked to design an algorithm for it, then trace, refine or evaluate it, with no credit for a working program that was never asked for. The project meanwhile is marked on the quality of the development process — iterative design with evidence of testing at each stage — rather than on the ambition of the finished product.