Overview
Information and communication Technology is about the application of skills, knowledge and understanding. The subject is delivered in a practical way enabling students to recognize the purpose of knowledge and to be able to draw on it in practical terms. It should appeal to students who enjoy using software applications and would like to develop their skills to
an advanced level. It is suitable for study with any other subject.
Entry Requirements
A minimum of 5 GCSEs grade C (or equivalent BTEC) will be needed to be accepted onto the course (subject to a class size of 30.) Students do not need to have studied GCSE ICT.
A2 ICT- Students can progress to A2 ICT in year 13 only if they have achieved at least an E grade at AS Level.
Course Overview
AS ICT (usually undertaken in year 12) consists of two separate units.
Unit 1 Is examined by a two and a quarter hour exam paper which is split into two sections.
For Section A, students will study the use of Information Systems including an appreciation of the types and quality of information, validation, verification, capabilities and limitations of ICT, uses of ICT in a number of real-life context, the study of ICT applications used in the areas of business, education, health and the home, networks, human computer
interface, social issues and database.
Section B (worth 25% of the exam) will test students’ understanding of spreadsheets. Students will create a spreadsheet prior to the exam (during lessons), take a printout of it into the exam and answer questions about it. A majority of the lessons for Unit 1 will be practical-based.
Unit 2 is assessed through coursework and is concerned with developing students’ practical skill in DTP, word processing (MS Word) and presentation (PowerPoint/Dreamweaver) software applications. Students are required to produce three documents such as a leaflet, mail merge letter/labels and a PowerPoint presentation or web pages. It is worth 40% of the
AS qualification.
The majority of ICT lessons are practical-based with students developing their ICT skills and producing their coursework.
Progression
Students completing AS ICT can progress to A2 ICT in year 13. A2 ICT also consists of two units and involves the further study of ICT theory and the completion of a coursework project using MS Access.