New Computing GCSE Will Focus On Practical Skills

The UK exam board AQA has unveiled a new GCSE in computer science, that will focus on developing practical skills needed to enter the industry.

Rather than teaching kids how to use already existing software, the course will include lessons on problem-solving and writing mobile applications, in hopes to inspire the new Alan Turing or Tim Berners-Lee.

Last year, education watchdog Ofsted warned that ICT teaching in UK schools was failing pupils. This echoed a wider concern in the industry about the shortage of qualified professionals, and lack of interest in IT careers.

Teaching something useful

The new GCSE has been in development since 2010. It was built using feedback on the existing programme, collected from teachers, the British Computer Society (BCS) and the public organisation Computing at School. The exam board also sought advice from Microsoft, a practice which was criticised at the recent Westminster Education Forum event.

The course will focus on serious programming, and involve creation of web applications and games. One of the sample assignments in the curriculum gives students 25 hours to write a mobile app that allows bus passengers to pay for their tickets.

“[The old GCSE in ICT] wasn’t keeping pace with what’s out there in society and wasn’t setting up students with suitable skills,” told the Telegraph Stuart Gilbertson, subject manager at AQA. “We wanted to make it more engaging and relevant to students.”

Sixty percent of the marks for the new qualification will be awarded in the Practical Programming module. In line with government plans for the “open-source curriculum”, pupils and their teachers are free to approach the problems in any way they see fit, and to use the programming language of their choice, as long as the end result meets the criteria.

A recent government consultation found the existing ICT curriculum unfit for purpose. Over half of respondents were in favour of “disapplying” the programmes of study and around half were in favour of disapplying the attainment targets and statutory assessment arrangements. Based on these findings, the Department of Education has decided to abandon the existing model of teaching.

A new National Curriculum, including ICT studies, will be introduced from September 2014.

The new GCSE in Computer Studies will be available this September.

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