Computer Science

Pearson Edexcel A-Level Computer Science (9CP0) is assessed through two written papers and a substantial coursework project. Paper 1 covers principles of computer science, Paper 2 covers application of computational thinking and is sat with access to a computer for reference, and the project accounts for twenty per cent of the qualification.

Edexcel places noticeably more emphasis on computational thinking as a discipline in its own right — decomposition, abstraction, pattern recognition and algorithm design assessed independently of any particular language. Students who can code fluently but have not practised writing and tracing pseudocode under exam conditions consistently underperform relative to their practical ability.