Is AQA A-Level ICT a good course?

Computer Science and ICT discussion, revision, exam and homework help.

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  1. Hazwaz7's Avatar
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    Is AQA A-Level ICT a good course?
    I'm torn between taking AQA ICT and AQA Computing at college. Can someone share their experiences with AQA ICT? I've heard Computing gets very difficult and boring in A2 but I've heard nothing about ICT.
  2. sagederby's Avatar
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    Re: Is AQA A-Level ICT a good course?
    (Original post by Hazwaz7)
    I'm torn between taking AQA ICT and AQA Computing at college. Can someone share their experiences with AQA ICT? I've heard Computing gets very difficult and boring in A2 but I've heard nothing about ICT.
    People like different things and have different abilities. You need to look closely at the syllabuses.

    I know quite a few of people who do/have done both ICT and Computing. More of them have preferred Computing.

    What other subjects are you planning on doing? If you doing Maths, Physics, etc. then Computing is probably a better option as it is more like those subjects.
    ICT goes better with Business Studies and essay writing subjects.
  3. Hazwaz7's Avatar
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    Re: Is AQA A-Level ICT a good course?
    (Original post by sagederby)
    People like different things and have different abilities. You need to look closely at the syllabuses.

    I know quite a few of people who do/have done both ICT and Computing. More of them have preferred Computing.

    What other subjects are you planning on doing? If you doing Maths, Physics, etc. then Computing is probably a better option as it is more like those subjects.
    ICT goes better with Business Studies and essay writing subjects.
    I'm not entirely sure but my plan is to do Spanish, Biology, ICT or Computing, and maybe Business BTEC.

    Biology and Business BTEC may change but never to Physics or Maths. But I'm also trying to (but failing to) avoid essays!
  4. Jam''s Avatar
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    Re: Is AQA A-Level ICT a good course?
    Computing is preferred by unis. Though neither are look at as strong subjects.
  5. Jam''s Avatar
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    Re: Is AQA A-Level ICT a good course?
    Also, if you want to go down a computer-based career path you may want to consider Maths.

    Many employers of IT professionals suggest that lots of the candidates to positions in IT either had the computing skills but lacked the Maths skills and vice versa.

    Computers are all about numbers. It'd be foolish of you to do computing without Maths if you ask me.

    Oh and for AQA Computing, the second yr has a 40%-coursework project based element. You have to build a computer system and do an implementation of 100-200 pages long. So if you're trying to avoid writing this is one of the worst subjects lol
  6. Hazwaz7's Avatar
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    Re: Is AQA A-Level ICT a good course?
    (Original post by Jam')
    Also, if you want to go down a computer-based career path you may want to consider Maths.

    Many employers of IT professionals suggest that lots of the candidates to positions in IT either had the computing skills but lacked the Maths skills and vice versa.

    Computers are all about numbers. It'd be foolish of you to do computing without Maths if you ask me.

    Oh and for AQA Computing, the second yr has a 40%-coursework project based element. You have to build a computer system and do an implementation of 100-200 pages long. So if you're trying to avoid writing this is one of the worst subjects lol
    Well I'm not particularly looking for a career in IT — I'm not exactly sure what I want to do yet. I enjoyed doing Computing at GCSE so I thought it'd be nice to take it a bit further.

    So it seems like both ICT and Computing have a lot of writing in... Aah well! But if you think that I'd really need to do Maths if I were to do Computing then I suppose I should do ICT instead. I was beginning to lean towards ICT anyway because the write up for it on my local college's website makes it sound so much more interesting lol
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