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Help with revision for OCR GCSE comp sci

So basically my comp sci class is full of people who clearly couldn't care less about this class so we barely get anything done in class. I'm in Y10 and we've done all of the computer systems topic and we've started onto the computational thinking, algorithms and programming topic but it feels like we've barely spent any time in lesson actually learning stuff so I want to know about any useful revision/self study websites/books to help me know what I should know.
Reply 1
been in the exact same situation, also going to be so honest with you there are NO good comp sci text books i took it for GCSEs and now A levels never seen a good textbook, never met a good teacher in my life, my advise would be gather the relevant resources for your exam board (i did OCR too) i used PG Online textbook (very good at simplifying over complicated concepts but doesn’t tell you the full thing), CGPs textbooks (a lot of in detail information but not necessarily relevant) PMT notes (sticks to the spec always tells you relevant information sometimes sections are missing though), quizlet (loads of good sets!) and ofc and ALWAYS the specification, it will tell you exactly what you need to know this is how u know if you are learning the right thing or you don’t need to know that, all my notes for every subject are based on the specification! i got a grade 9 in computing in the end 🙂 i hope that helps!!! Craig and Dave videos are also very good but kinda boring , i found their videos very content heavy to take in at once! but thats just my opinion !!!!!!
(edited 5 months ago)
Reply 2
Original post by eenie_49
been in the exact same situation, also going to be so honest with you there are NO good comp sci text books i took it for GCSEs and now A levels never seen a good textbook, never met a good teacher in my life, my advise would be gather the relevant resources for your exam board (i did OCR too) i used PG Online textbook (very good at simplifying over complicated concepts but doesn’t tell you the full thing), CGPs textbooks (a lot of in detail information but not necessarily relevant) PMT notes (sticks to the spec always tells you relevant information sometimes sections are missing though), quizlet (loads of good sets!) and ofc and ALWAYS the specification, it will tell you exactly what you need to know this is how u know if you are learning the right thing or you don’t need to know that, all my notes for every subject are based on the specification! i got a grade 9 in computing in the end 🙂 i hope that helps!!! Craig and Dave videos are also very good but kinda boring , i found their videos very content heavy to take in at once! but thats just my opinion !!!!!!

Thanks for the reply! I'll definitely check out the stuff you've mentioned. I've got CGP books at home and we use craig and dave videos as hw (but like you said they do kind of throw everything in there in a quite boring way). When it comes to near exams what do you think are the best methods of revising and also how can I improve at python because Im not great at it
Reply 3
Original post by RandomPancake
Thanks for the reply! I'll definitely check out the stuff you've mentioned. I've got CGP books at home and we use craig and dave videos as hw (but like you said they do kind of throw everything in there in a quite boring way). When it comes to near exams what do you think are the best methods of revising and also how can I improve at python because Im not great at it

np! to revise you should do past papers, and PMT questions, and mark yourself against the mark scheme, this really helps bc then you'll know exactly what the mark scheme wants you to say when a particular question is asked, like for the fetch-decode-execute cycle, i looked at past papers and saw what points they gave credit for, so when they ask me to describe that cycle in an exam, i would know exactly what to say!
i always annotate my notes with things the mark scheme says that i havent made notes about! and for improving python, start with w3schools, to learn it, and them you can look up simple python challenges, online and try do it, there is no single course that will tell you everything that you need to know for python, this all comes with practise and research when applying your skills! for example, it will only be when your trying to search for an item in a list, you will find out that its done by iteration etc.
if you want to do a course, its always a good place to start! i dont really reccommend buying courses some of them are can be bad they're style might not work for you! if u do make sure you an return it or even do research and look at its rating and length (are you realistically going to complete a 20hr course) before you buy it! if u have any other questions, i'm open to help! :smile:

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