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How hard is Computing AS?
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#2
I did the WJEC exam board in 2012 and came out with a C at AS. My other grades were A in Politics and A in economics so I'm capable of that level of work. I don't think computing is difficult what I think is difficult is the way the exams are marked, which is very harshly. At my college there were two classes of 15 who did computing at AS but only 2 took it to A2. When I went to see nt lecturer about not doing the subject at A2 she told me I had one of the highest grades in the class this year. Noe considering I had one UMS into a C, I wouldn't say that was a particularly high grade.I can't really speak for other exam boards but that's my experience.
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(Original post by AyGe)
I did the WJEC exam board in 2012 and came out with a C at AS. My other grades were A in Politics and A in economics so I'm capable of that level of work. I don't think computing is difficult what I think is difficult is the way the exams are marked, which is very harshly. At my college there were two classes of 15 who did computing at AS but only 2 took it to A2. When I went to see nt lecturer about not doing the subject at A2 she told me I had one of the highest grades in the class this year. Noe considering I had one UMS into a C, I wouldn't say that was a particularly high grade.I can't really speak for other exam boards but that's my experience.
I did the WJEC exam board in 2012 and came out with a C at AS. My other grades were A in Politics and A in economics so I'm capable of that level of work. I don't think computing is difficult what I think is difficult is the way the exams are marked, which is very harshly. At my college there were two classes of 15 who did computing at AS but only 2 took it to A2. When I went to see nt lecturer about not doing the subject at A2 she told me I had one of the highest grades in the class this year. Noe considering I had one UMS into a C, I wouldn't say that was a particularly high grade.I can't really speak for other exam boards but that's my experience.
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#4
(Original post by Waka Flocka)
You're worrying me now... from looking at the contents it doesn't look too hard.. hmm I dont know if I can pull it off, if you're a A grade student who walked out with a C then I have next to no hope lol.
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You're worrying me now... from looking at the contents it doesn't look too hard.. hmm I dont know if I can pull it off, if you're a A grade student who walked out with a C then I have next to no hope lol.
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#5
I agree with AyGe, the exams and coursework are marked very very harshly, all your answers in the exams have to be the same I emphasis THE EXACT SAME WORDS as the mark scheme to get marks. In my AS group one person got an A the rest Ds or below (10 people ish including me ). At A2 I retook all my computing modules and studies mad for the exams, hopefully I'll get a B if I'm lucky(I will have to wait until next week to know though )
I don't want to put you off, but make sure you look at a few exam papers and mark schemes first to see how they're marked. Also different boards might have different methods of marking them.
TBH I really enjoyed doing A-level computing, I learned a lot of stuff that I'm sure will come in handy at Uni AND You have to learn programming which will benefit you for the rest of your life.
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#6
I wouldn't say it's hard, but I'd say the curriculum is outdated, unexciting and the teachers can't (usually) teach. As with the above poster, programming is useful and can be interesting but the exams/coursework are/is marked very harshly. I found that I basically had to memorise the AQA textbook in order to get a decent UMS. I came out with an A and reluctantly continued to A2 with it; hopefully I get an A at A2 as well, seeing as I need it to meet my uni offer.
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The exam board is OCR.. If it really is marked that harshly I think thats ridiculous. And apparently OCR are meant to be even worse than AQA which tbh is of little surprise.
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#8
(Original post by Waka Flocka)
The exam board is OCR.. If it really is marked that harshly I think thats ridiculous. And apparently OCR are meant to be even worse than AQA which tbh is of little surprise.
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The exam board is OCR.. If it really is marked that harshly I think thats ridiculous. And apparently OCR are meant to be even worse than AQA which tbh is of little surprise.
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#9
(Original post by Damask-)
Plenty of subjects are marked in similarly harsh ways, Computing in particular because you really do have to be precise with your definitions. Don't worry about the harshness, as long as you revise well you'll be okay. Count your blessings that you're not doing WJEC.
Plenty of subjects are marked in similarly harsh ways, Computing in particular because you really do have to be precise with your definitions. Don't worry about the harshness, as long as you revise well you'll be okay. Count your blessings that you're not doing WJEC.
F454 is coursework and is by far the most enjoyable part of the course.
There is a lot course content for the written papers, I'm currently awaiting my results, but good preparation and a **** load of past papers (which is hard because the course hasn't existed for very long) should get you a good grade, F453 and F451 are memory/accuracy tests IMO, which isn't my strong point, whereas the majority of the marks for F452 come from algorithms (8-12 markers). Finally F454 is perfect if you enjoy programming; however, you also have to be thorough in the paper work that goes with program as its worth 80%; which, is also good if you aren't good at programming as there is still a huge amount of marks to be gained even if you don't have a functioning program!
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(Original post by willk96)
With OCR you've to be just as precise, there is no leniency in the mark schemes with F451, F452 and F453.
F454 is coursework and is by far the most enjoyable part of the course.
There is a lot course content for the written papers, I'm currently awaiting my results, but good preparation and a **** load of past papers (which is hard because the course hasn't existed for very long) should get you a good grade, F453 and F451 are memory/accuracy tests IMO, which isn't my strong point, whereas the majority of the marks for F452 come from algorithms (8-12 markers). Finally F454 is perfect if you enjoy programming; however, you also have to be thorough in the paper work that goes with program as its worth 80%; which, is also good if you aren't good at programming as there is still a huge amount of marks to be gained even if you don't have a functioning program!
With OCR you've to be just as precise, there is no leniency in the mark schemes with F451, F452 and F453.
F454 is coursework and is by far the most enjoyable part of the course.
There is a lot course content for the written papers, I'm currently awaiting my results, but good preparation and a **** load of past papers (which is hard because the course hasn't existed for very long) should get you a good grade, F453 and F451 are memory/accuracy tests IMO, which isn't my strong point, whereas the majority of the marks for F452 come from algorithms (8-12 markers). Finally F454 is perfect if you enjoy programming; however, you also have to be thorough in the paper work that goes with program as its worth 80%; which, is also good if you aren't good at programming as there is still a huge amount of marks to be gained even if you don't have a functioning program!
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#11
(Original post by Waka Flocka)
what sources of study would you recommend keeping in mind I'm taking it via distance learning, they've given me a coursebook called OCR AS Computing.. which I believe is the official course book.. but I dont think it will be sufficient enough.
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what sources of study would you recommend keeping in mind I'm taking it via distance learning, they've given me a coursebook called OCR AS Computing.. which I believe is the official course book.. but I dont think it will be sufficient enough.
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For F451, 2 and 3:
http://www.teach-ict.com/
http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications...ing-h047-h447/
http://a2computing.as93.net/notes.pdf (F453 only)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...U3eNbOUtxFjTsZ (F453 only)
http://www.ocrcomputing.org.uk/overview.html
For F454 (if you're new to programming):
https://www.youtube.com/user/thenewboston
He has a load of tutorials, I would recommend learning Python as the syntax is very friendly for beginners and will give you the opportunity to grasp the logic involved in computing. Start programming at AS even though you don't need it, it will help a huge amount with your algorithms in the F452 exam. If you want to challenge yourself learn Java or C++ and that will prepare you for first year of Uni should you choose to do Computing or Comp Sci as well.
I didn't really use that much for AS, but then again I was lazy and didn't do as well as I would like to have done, considering I'm doing it at Uni (hopefully) but there are other sources out there too, the book should have everything you need to know, but it may not explain it in the best way, I would recommend searching for something on YouTube if you don't understand it. Hope this helps.
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#12
Go for it! Just avoid the WJEC board, unless you like rote learning of ICT things
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#13
It is a *****. It is a very good subject to have even though it gets boring sometimes. Be ready to study on your own. I got my result last Thursday and it came out with an A at AS. I worked really hard. What people said above is true, they mark really harshly. However the grade boundaries are lenient. For OCR it was 65/100 for an A. The F451 module is simple theory which you will learn easily. I got 94 UMS in that paper and then 70 UMS in F452 which allowed me to achieve a low A. The F452 is not incredibly difficult but requires a lot of practice and even having practiced, under exam conditions it is not easy. I might re-take F452 although it would not affect my chances of getting an A*. Cheers.
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#14
At our school we're doing AQA Computing, and I didn't find the AS too difficult (got an A at AS). That said, I am one of the best of the class and most others have gotten C's or D's, with a couple of B's (out of a class of about 15). A2 on the other hand looks pretty difficult, we looked through a couple past papers and the syllabus at the end of Year 12 to give us an impression on A2 so we could decide whether we wanted to carry on. The coursework looks like a huge effort and the exam looks a huge step up from AS.That said, if you just want to do AS, and you think you'll enjoy computing, do it! Certainly my easiest subject (out of maths, physics, and history).
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#15
(Original post by TheMan100)
I wouldn't say it's hard, but I'd say the curriculum is outdated, unexciting and the teachers can't (usually) teach. As with the above poster, programming is useful and can be interesting but the exams/coursework are/is marked very harshly. I found that I basically had to memorise the AQA textbook in order to get a decent UMS. I came out with an A and reluctantly continued to A2 with it; hopefully I get an A at A2 as well, seeing as I need it to meet my uni offer.
I wouldn't say it's hard, but I'd say the curriculum is outdated, unexciting and the teachers can't (usually) teach. As with the above poster, programming is useful and can be interesting but the exams/coursework are/is marked very harshly. I found that I basically had to memorise the AQA textbook in order to get a decent UMS. I came out with an A and reluctantly continued to A2 with it; hopefully I get an A at A2 as well, seeing as I need it to meet my uni offer.
Im starting a PGCE myself soon to teach Computer Science as someone who just graduated with the degree. In time the teachers will get better as they'll have the qualifications from university level required.
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#16
(Original post by kabutsu)
At our school we're doing AQA Computing, and I didn't find the AS too difficult (got an A at AS). That said, I am one of the best of the class and most others have gotten C's or D's, with a couple of B's (out of a class of about 15). A2 on the other hand looks pretty difficult, we looked through a couple past papers and the syllabus at the end of Year 12 to give us an impression on A2 so we could decide whether we wanted to carry on. The coursework looks like a huge effort and the exam looks a huge step up from AS.That said, if you just want to do AS, and you think you'll enjoy computing, do it! Certainly my easiest subject (out of maths, physics, and history).
At our school we're doing AQA Computing, and I didn't find the AS too difficult (got an A at AS). That said, I am one of the best of the class and most others have gotten C's or D's, with a couple of B's (out of a class of about 15). A2 on the other hand looks pretty difficult, we looked through a couple past papers and the syllabus at the end of Year 12 to give us an impression on A2 so we could decide whether we wanted to carry on. The coursework looks like a huge effort and the exam looks a huge step up from AS.That said, if you just want to do AS, and you think you'll enjoy computing, do it! Certainly my easiest subject (out of maths, physics, and history).
The coursework is horrendously boring. Good luck with it though, if you can actually stay focused and be continually productive in class (provided your teacher allocates enough time to the project) then I don't think it's that hard to churn out the >150 pages of decent quality work that you need to get top marks - although I definitely did not stay productive the entire time!
One of my friends put in the effort and was (one of?) the first to finish and he got 100%.
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#17
(Original post by dynostatic)
I did AQA computing , OCR Maths and OCR Further Maths and honestly the amount of work and revision I did for computing is greater than the other 2 combined.
I agree with AyGe, the exams and coursework are marked very very harshly, all your answers in the exams have to be the same I emphasis THE EXACT SAME WORDS as the mark scheme to get marks. In my AS group one person got an A the rest Ds or below (10 people ish including me ). At A2 I retook all my computing modules and studies mad for the exams, hopefully I'll get a B if I'm lucky(I will have to wait until next week to know though )
I don't want to put you off, but make sure you look at a few exam papers and mark schemes first to see how they're marked. Also different boards might have different methods of marking them.
TBH I really enjoyed doing A-level computing, I learned a lot of stuff that I'm sure will come in handy at Uni AND You have to learn programming which will benefit you for the rest of your life.
I did AQA computing , OCR Maths and OCR Further Maths and honestly the amount of work and revision I did for computing is greater than the other 2 combined.
I agree with AyGe, the exams and coursework are marked very very harshly, all your answers in the exams have to be the same I emphasis THE EXACT SAME WORDS as the mark scheme to get marks. In my AS group one person got an A the rest Ds or below (10 people ish including me ). At A2 I retook all my computing modules and studies mad for the exams, hopefully I'll get a B if I'm lucky(I will have to wait until next week to know though )
I don't want to put you off, but make sure you look at a few exam papers and mark schemes first to see how they're marked. Also different boards might have different methods of marking them.
TBH I really enjoyed doing A-level computing, I learned a lot of stuff that I'm sure will come in handy at Uni AND You have to learn programming which will benefit you for the rest of your life.
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#18
(Original post by Iridann)
Ahah I did EdExcel A2 and AS combined and have done AQA Computing at AS. I found the exact opposite of the what you mentioned - probably 'cause I'm a gnerd for computers.
Ahah I did EdExcel A2 and AS combined and have done AQA Computing at AS. I found the exact opposite of the what you mentioned - probably 'cause I'm a gnerd for computers.
I found it to be a bi**h, I did however manage to get 71/72 in my project and a B overall(5 marks off an A). But TBFH I'm just glad that it's over now.
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#20
(Original post by dynostatic)
well lucky you (truly ), What did you manage to get ?
I found it to be a bi**h, I did however manage to get 71/72 in my project and a B overall(5 marks off an A). But TBFH I'm just glad that it's over now.
well lucky you (truly ), What did you manage to get ?
I found it to be a bi**h, I did however manage to get 71/72 in my project and a B overall(5 marks off an A). But TBFH I'm just glad that it's over now.
The maths though I got an A overall and 90 UMS in C3 So pretty pleased
Gonna resit C4 next year and try for an A*
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