AS Computer Science

AS COMPUTER SCIENCE CIE 9618

Course Aims 

The aims are to enable students to develop universally useful computational thinking skills and the ability to solve problems using computer programming. We also aim to explore questions like:

• How does your Al assistant really work?
• How can all the pictures on your phone really be just Os and 1s?
• How can you keep a message so secret that even a supercomputer cannot crack it?
• How can you organize and process data for the fastest possible results?

Course Content and Assessment

Students study the following topics: Theory fundamentals, which includes information representation, communication, hardware, processor fundamentals, system software, security and privacy, ethics and ownership, and databases; and fundamental problem-solving and programming skills which includes algorithm design and problem-solving, data types and structures, programming, and software development. At the end of the course, students take two external assessments for the CAlE AS Level 9618 computer science qualification: Paper 1 Theory fundamentals; and Paper 2, Fundamental problem-solving and programming skills.

The Dulwich Advantage

Students learn CS skills for top universities through participation in EiM hackathons (e.g., Planet Hack, Game Jam, and HakD), training for external competitions (e.g., UW CCC and AMT CAT), access to state-of-the-art technology (e.g., API access for popular generative Al tools), guest lectures from alumni and Dulwich network members, external mock interviews with well-known international tech companies, and field trips to regional technology and manufacturing companies.