Put practical application of skills at the heart of your Computer Science classroom.
This International GCSE Computer Science specification is a motivating, hands-on course designed to enable you to teach computing as a real science, one in which practical application of skills is at the heart of your classroom.
- Programming skills make up 50% of the course marks and are assessed via an on-screen programming task that requires students to make improvements to a skeleton program.
- Covers the knowledge and skills which are in high demand by employers, such as programming, cyber security and web page design.
- Our course tests students solely on their ability in the subject – not their language skills or cultural knowledge of the UK – making it ideally suited to international schools. Find out more on our approach to Fair Assessment.
- Offers flexibility in the choice of programming language: students can learn to design, write and test computer programs using a choice of Python, Visual Basic or C#.
International GCSE Computer Science (9210)
View the switching guide to see the differences between your old International GCSE Computer Science specification and the OxfordAQA specification (version updated November 2022).
OxfordAQA International GCSE Computer Science covers the following topics:
- Algorithms
- Programming
- Data representation
- Computer systems
- Computer networks
- Cyber security
- Relational databases and structured query language (SQL)
- Web page design
OxfordAQA provides all the resources and advice you need to teach the International GCSE Computer Science specification effectively.
- Download the specification
- Read our switching guide
- View our training courses to help you deliver OxfordAQA International GCSE Computer Science
- Approved textbooks and resources published by Oxford University Press
We have too many resources to list here, so please visit our resources for teachers area to see them all, including:
- Schemes of work to allow you to plan how to deliver the specification in a way that will best suit you and your students
- Teaching guidance to outline clearly the scope of teaching and learning
- Topic tests and mock exam analysers to allow you to track your students’ progress throughout the teaching year
Paper 1 – Programming:
- On-screen programming exam based on a pre-released skeleton program
- Assessment available in C#, Python 3 and Visual Basic
- 2 hours
- 80 marks
- 50% of GCSE
Paper 2 – Concepts and Principles of Computer Science:
- Written exam
- 2 hours
- 80 marks
- 50% of GCSE
Re-sits
- Linear specification; individual components may not be re-sat.
- Candidates can re-take the whole qualification as many times as they wish.
Take a look at:
- The OxfordAQA International GCSE Computer Science switching guide
- Example specimen exam paper and mark scheme
You must be an approved OxfordAQA centre to enter students for our exams. Make sure you become an OxfordAQA centre before you start teaching a course.
