ICT

AS and A Level

This subject is ideal for students who wish to progress to higher educa­tion or to the world of work, where under­stand­ing how ICT can be used in soci­ety and organ­isa­tions, and the implic­a­tions of its use, will be a valu­able asset.

At AS:
At AS, the two units are comple­ment­ary and are concerned with apply­ing ICT to solve prob­lems and the study of the oppor­tun­it­ies for and affects of using ICT in the world today. Candid­ates will have the oppor­tun­ity to put into prac­tice a wide range of soft­ware and hard­ware to create solu­tions to solve problems.

Unit 1: Prac­tical Prob­lem Solv­ing in the Digital World
Topic list
Prac­tical use of ICT, identi­fy­ing, design­ing, produ­cing, test­ing, docu­ment­ing and eval­u­at­ing solu­tions
Data entry, stor­age, output of inform­a­tion, use of soft­ware, current health and safety legislation.

Assess­ment
1½ hour writ­ten paper - 25% of total A Level marks
Section A: short answer ques­tions; Section B: 3 or more struc­tured ques­tions requir­ing discurs­ive answers. All ques­tions are compulsory.

Unit 2: Living in the Digital World
Topic list
ICT systems, their compon­ents, uses, users, safety and secur­ity
Data and inform­a­tion, data trans­fer, backup and recov­ery.
Assess­ment
1½ hour writ­ten paper - 25% of total A Level marks
Section A: short answer ques­tions; answers are based on an exem­plar piece of work which is produced during the Spring Term. Section B: 3 or more struc­tured ques­tions requir­ing discurs­ive answers. All ques­tions are compulsory.

At A2:
At A2, students will study the concepts asso­ci­ated with the use of ICT in the 21^st century. They will also have oppor­tun­it­ies for acquir­ing skills needed in the IT profes­sion such as co-operative work­ing and project manage­ment. These prac­tical skills can be developed in areas of ICT that are of interest to them. Students can also use these newly acquired skills as a spring­board into other qual­i­fic­a­tions and work­ing environments.

Unit 3: The Use of ICT in the Digital World
Topic list
Devel­op­ments in tech­no­logy, inform­a­tion needs of organ­isa­tions, ICT systems, manage­ment of ICT.
Devel­op­ing ICT systems, intro­du­cing large ICT systems into organ­isa­tions.
Train­ing and support­ing users of ICT systems.
Assess­ment
2 hour writ­ten paper - 30% of total A Level marks
Candid­ates will be provided with pre-release mater­ial which will be avail­able on the AQA Website on 1 Novem­ber for the Janu­ary exam­in­a­tion, and 1 April for the June exam­in­a­tion. The pre-release will be re-issued for use in the exam­in­a­tion. Section A: struc­tured ques­tions based on pre-release mater­ial; Section B: ques­tions requir­ing exten­ded prose answers. All ques­tions are compuls­ory.

Unit 4: Course­work: Prac­tical Issues Involved in the Use of ICT in the Digital World
Topic list
Prac­tical issues involved in managing the use of ICT in organ­isa­tions
Invest­ig­at­ing, analys­ing, defin­ing require­ments
Select­ing and using appro­pri­ate tech­no­lo­gies, design­ing solu­tions, meth­ods for test­ing and install­a­tion, docu­ment­ing and eval­u­at­ing.
Course­work - 20% of total A Level marks
Candid­ates must produce a report based upon their prac­tical work/investigation. The report will be intern­ally marked and extern­ally moder­ated.
Sugges­ted topics for study are:
A train­ing system
A system for eval­u­at­ing software.

Specific­a­tion: AQA ICT AS 1521 A2521
Click here to down­load the current specific­a­tion for this A level course.