5 essential tips for teaching A level Computer Science
I was delighted to see the number of students sitting the Computer Science A level exams jump another 11.4% in 2024, topping 20,000 candidates for the first time. This spike has gone on to create a rise in demand for A level Computer Science teachers. If you have recently been asked to deliver the subject, or are considering it, here are five tips to get you started.
1) Know why you are teaching it
Simon Sinek, in his bestselling leadership book 'Start With Why' suggests we should define our "why" before the "what" and "how." If you know your "why", you can inspire others (and yourself) when the going gets tough! Here are some good reasons to teach A level Computer Science:
- It opens up exciting computing-related degree courses such as Software Engineering, Cybersecurity, Data Science and AI.
- It gives access to interesting and lucrative careers in diverse professions with a high computing content such as civil engineering, climatology, medical device development and forensic science.
- It's fun! Computer Science A level offers a unique combination of academic study, practical programming and creative expression, particularly in the project or non-examined assessment (NEA). When marking the NEAs I've seen arcade-quality games, chess computers, and a sudoku solver in my time!
For more inspiration, or to find your "why", check out I'm a Computer Scientist, Get me Out of Here! where you can read about a diverse range of careers in computer science.
2) Selling the subject
You may already have high demand for the subject, which is great, but students who are taking the course with eyes open are much more likely to succeed.
Computer Science A level is very much about the principles of computer science and their practical expression through programming. Fundamentally, it is an academic A level with a lot of content to learn, so make sure your taster lessons include some new concepts and a bit of decently challenging programming - not just games!
Meanwhile, ensure you make your A level offer attractive to girls, not least because 26.5% achieved an A or A* in 2024 compared to just 23.4% of males.
To do this, you can design your GCSE and A level options booklets, open days, and taster lessons so that they do not use overtly masculine language, and ensure that you highlight the broad range of careers that Computer Science graduates can access. These actions will help you highlight that the subject is not all "boys' stuff" - often associated with games development and hacking!
3) Choose an exam board
The A level syllabus and assessment style varies slightly between exam boards. For example, AQA and Eduqas both run an on-screen programming exam while OCR and CIE stick to paper. OCR's questions have more preamble and are often scenario-based, while AQA's get straight to the computer science.
The project (NEA) makes up 20% of the marks in all specs, but permitted programming languages and assessment objectives for this component vary. Look at the sample materials for all the exam boards and consider your learners:
- do they have the prior knowledge for this course?
- are the exam questions in a style they can access?
You may wish to offer the same board as the GCSE (if you already teach it) because the core content and style of questions will be familiar.
4) Design a curriculum and source some resources
Read the specification back to back and take advantage of your chosen exam board's supporting materials and training. They all offer supporting materials such as schemes of work, teaching guides, suggested teaching resources, past papers and training webinars.
I recommend a decent textbook such as the Heathcote book from PG Online. For some teaching resources that suit your style, there are many commercial offers but also some free options which you can find on the exam board websites here:
- OCR
- AQA
- CIE
- Eduqas
- Computing at School
Isaac Computer Science is also a fantastic resource to use, containing a comprehensive student course for all GCSE and A level Computer Science specifications. Many hundreds of practice questions can be organised into “gameboards”, making revision easier and more enjoyable for your students.
You can create a gameboard every week on the topic you are studying, and use the results to re-teach the parts on which your students performed worst. Isaac Computer Science also comes with regular student booster events aligned to the A level content. If you aren't confident in a particular topic, book your students (and yourself) onto a booster event run by the National Centre for Computing Education's knowledgeable and experienced Professional Development Leaders.
5) Develop your A level knowledge
The National Centre for Computing Education now offers an A level Computer Science subject knowledge certificate, awarded after successful completion of an online test, in addition to the Subject Knowledge and Teach Secondary certificates. The A level test consists of 40 multiple-choice questions which you can take whenever you wish, and then choose some CPD to develop your weaker topics.
Our two-day 'Introduction to A level Computer Science' runs several times each year at our York-based National STEM Learning Centre, and is hugely popular. We also run many one-day and shorter remote courses such as 'Maths for A level Computer Science', 'Programming for A level Computer Science', 'Boolean Logic in A level Computer Science'.
One last thing, if teaching A level for the first time, you'll find the pedagogy that works is somewhat different from key stage 3 and 4. A level students are expected to be mature enough for independent study. Point them to study resources such as Isaac Computer Science, and be ready to take a more hands-off, motivation and monitoring approach to their work. But most importantly, remember your "why" and go out and inspire!
About the author
Alan Harrison is a National Specialist for A level and GCSE Computer Science at the National Centre for Computing Education.