GCSE Computer Science
Numeracy is heavy and specific: learners convert between denary, binary and hexadecimal, add in binary, work with base 2 storage units, calculate image, sound and compressed file sizes and routing costs, and reason with truth tables and DIV and MOD. Literacy centres on close reading of the Unit 2 scenario and requirements, precise technical vocabulary, short and extended judgement answers in Unit 1, and code annotation and test commentaries. The single biggest thing Key Stage 3 should build is fluent place value in base 2 and base 16, so that storage and file size calculations become routine.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Level 1 and Level 2
- First taught
- September 2025
- Amount of literacy work
- Medium
- Amount of numeracy work
- High
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Understanding Computer Science: Digital examination 1 hour 30 minutes, 50%, 80 marks
- Unit 2: Computer Programming: On-screen examination based on a pre-released brief, 2 hours, 50%, 80 marks, set and marked by WJEC
Skills that use Understanding, response and analysis
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Reading a scenario, its requirements and given code
Learners analyse a set of requirements from the pre-released scenario and read, evaluate and extend given Python code. They sit the examination with a clean copy of the brief and no notes, so close reading and recall of the scenario matter.
Literacy: Reading strategies, Understanding, response and analysis
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils highlight the must-have features in a short written brief for a class quiz program and turn them into a numbered checklist before they start coding.
- Year 8
- Pupils read a one-page scenario for a school canteen ordering app, underline each requirement and write three questions a programmer would need to ask the client.
- Year 9
- Pupils read a short given Python program alongside its brief, annotate which lines meet each requirement and note one requirement the code does not yet meet.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, Section 2.1.1 Investigation, page 23
“analyse a set of requirements”
Progression step 3
I can use a range of strategies for finding information, e.g. skimming for gist, scanning for detail.
I can read closely, identifying and noting features of texts, e.g. introduction, sequence, illustrations, formality, key vocabulary.
I can show understanding of and use the main ideas and significant details in different texts on the same topic.
Progression step 4
I can read, with concentration, printed and digital texts that are new to me and update, broaden and deepen my understanding of information, ideas and issues.
I can use a range of strategies, e.g. speed reading, close reading, annotation, prediction, to skim texts for gist, key ideas and themes, and scan for detailed information.
I can read closely, follow up and use additional material in texts to extend my understanding.
Progression step 5
I can read and analyse a range of unseen, printed and digital texts with concentration and independence.
I can use a range of strategies, e.g. speed reading, close reading, annotation, prediction, to skim texts for gist, key ideas and themes, and scan for detailed information, extracting and commenting maturely on key ideas and themes.
I can read closely, analysing the content, language and impact of texts to deepen my understanding.
Good to know
- No marks are set aside for spelling, punctuation and grammar. The assessment objectives on page 28 cover only knowledge (AO1), application (AO2) and analysis (AO3), so accuracy of language is not separately credited.
- Both units are answered on screen, page 5: Unit 1 is a "Digital examination: 1 hour 30 minutes" and Unit 2 is an "On-screen examination based on a pre-released brief: 2 hours". Pupils need to type extended answers and calculations.
- The specification does not say whether a calculator is allowed in either unit, so centres should check the WJEC instructions for each series. Pupils should be able to do binary, hexadecimal and storage calculations by hand.
- No notes are allowed into the Unit 2 examination, page 28: "learners are not permitted to take any prompts or notes into the examination." A clean copy of the pre-release is provided.
- Unit 1 mixes question types, page 5: "Questions requiring objective responses, short and extended answers."
- Storage units use 1,024, not 1,000, page 13: "kilobyte (i.e. 1,024 bytes)". Pupils who learn 1,000 in Science or Mathematics need the difference made explicit.
- Appendix B, pages 34 to 36, fixes the operators and pseudocode conventions used in questions: "Logical operators AND OR NOT XOR will be in upper case." DIV and MOD are defined with worked examples such as "11 MOD 2 = 1".
- Appendix A, page 32, marks the numeracy strands for geometry and measurement and for statistics and probability as N/A for both units, so there is no graphing or statistics demand.
Links with other qualifications
Place value, powers, ratio and percentage reduction are taught in Mathematics, so agreeing shared language (for example 'column value' and 'simplest form') with the Mathematics department in Years 7 to 9 will help pupils transfer these skills to binary and file size work.
Source: WJEC GCSE Computer Science specification, teaching from 2025, for award from 2027, Version 3, September 2025.