Skip to main content

Empowering educators: the NCCE’s impact on computing education

Since 2018, the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) has been imperative in supporting educators to teach computing effectively and with confidence across the country.

In six years, the NCCE has impacted the lives of over 6.5 million young people and delivered over 12,650 CPD courses to educators – that’s over 99,000 individual engagements supporting teachers to develop their skills and expertise (see Note 1). At key stage 3 alone, over 5,600 Key Stage 3 and GCSE Computer Science subject knowledge certificates have been awarded to educators.

The network of Computing Hubs has been vital to this success, helping make computer science a more integral part of young people's education. Since 2018 there has been a 28% rise in students entering GCSE Computing and a 98% rise (see Note 2) in A level entries for Computer Science.

Growing teachers’ confidence with high-quality CPD offer

The NCCE and it’s delivering organisation STEM Learning, have prided themselves on offering quality-assured high-impact Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for teachers of all stages. Our CPD is rated as high quality by teachers with over 95% of participants recognising the positive impact on their own knowledge, skills and future practice.

Here is what some of the teachers had to say:

  • “Excellent plans, resources, so easy to access everything and the CPD support is outstanding and invaluable. Thank you so so much.”
  • “I have been doing CPD with the NCCE since May 2021 and it has helped my career and confidence in teaching programming.”
  • “I have been using the NCCE training courses since 2019 and they have been an essential part of my development as a computer science teacher without them I would not be as nearly as confident as I am in the classroom.”

Going forward, the NCCE will offer teachers a large library of online courses, giving educators an opportunity to engage in professional development at the time and place that suits them.

Teachers previously engaged with our online courses highly rate the materials with 99% saying the CPD has improved their knowledge and skills while 95% confidently state that the course will positively impact on their teaching practice in future.

Our CPD also has a broader impact, teachers tell us CPD won’t just impact on them, 94% recognise that their CPD will have positive impact on their students too, and 91% say they will share learning with colleagues in the school. Our CPD participants said:

  • “I really enjoyed the training and found it very useful. There are many things I have taken away and I am excited to share this good practice with staff in school.”
  • “Very useful CPD with lots of strategies to take back to school to develop assessment in computing and across other subjects. NCEE has changed the way computing is delivered in our school and children's knowledge has definitely increased.”

Changing students’ attitudes towards computer science

We aim to transform the way computing is taught in schools across the country – and enable more young people to benefit from studying this important subject. Through this, we believe that their skills and career opportunities will be enhanced.

Our I Belong programme, for example, focuses on encouraging more girls into computer science. From our own student attitude surveys results (see Note 3) we know that girls are significantly more likely to cite disinterest, perceived difficulty, and lack of career benefits as reasons for not choosing computer science as a GCSE subject, directly paralleling previous research in omnibus surveys (see Note 4) by the Department for Education.

The NCCE also delivers a popular online platform for computer science learning and revision – Isaac Computer Science (Isaac CS). This free platform has gone strides in supporting GCSE and A level student to achieve better grades but also improving young people’s attitudes towards the subject.

In 2024 (see Note 5), 80% of students who use Isaac CS agreed they enjoy learning computer science and an even greater 90% agreed learning computer science gives them skills which will be useful for work in the future.

Teachers agree on the positive impact the platform has on secondary students, saying: “Students have been able to dive deeper into topics by using Isaac CS, which has led to further interest and helped them understand what topics they may like to study post 16 and post 18.”

Looking forward, the NCCE will continue foster positive attitudes towards computing and computer science through interventions that:

  • Boost enjoyment: equipping teachers with skills and knowledge through CPD to make lesson more engaging and enjoyable
  • Dispel misconceptions: challenging gendered beliefs about difficulty and capability and fostering a culture of collaboration through the I Belong programme
  • Foster creativity: integrating hands-on, creative projects to make computer science more appealing by encouraging teachers to engage in enrichment activities and student events
  • Highlight relevance: showcase the diverse applications of computer science skills across industries by engaging with Computing Ambassadors

How will the NCCE continue to support teachers and students?

We want to take this opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to the Computing Hubs for their hard work and dedication to improving the way computing is taught across England.

The Government will continue to fund the NCCE to support the teaching of computing and increase participation in computer science qualifications. Teachers will still be able to access high quality CPD and teaching resources to support and enrich computing lessons, ensuring all young people across England receive high-quality computing education.

From 1 April 2025, the NCCE will continue to offer summer residential CPD, support through the Computing Quality Framework including the bespoke Subject Matter Expert (SME) support for schools most in need, the popular Teach Computing Curriculum, teacher certification programmes, the I Belong programme and the Isaac Computer Science online platform.

Notes:

  1. Data calculated as of December 2024
  2. % rise in entries for GCSE and A level calculated using JCQ data for all schools in England
  3. I Belong student attitude survey results
  4. Department for Education research in omnibus surveys
  5. Stats and quotes from the Isaac Computer Science Annual Survey 2024