Teach-ICT Computer Science

THE education site for computer science and ICT

SITE HOME

Edexcel 9-1 GCSE COMPUTING

Full List of Topics

Edexcel GCSE Computer Science

The material on this site is not endorsed by Edexcel. We do not guarantee that it covers all of the relevant theory that is required for the examination. Please refer to the Edexcel syllabus to ensure that you are covering the material to the standard required.

GCSE 9-1 Edexcel Computer Science
Section	Topic	Syllabus points	Material
1: Algorithms	Computational thinking	1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.2.3, 1.2.4	Decomposition Abstraction Pattern recognition
	Representing algorithms: Flowcharts	1.1.1, 1.1.2	Standard Shapes Algorithms
	Representing algorithms: Pseudocode	1.1.1, 1.1.2	Syllabus pseudocode
	Using algorithms	1.1.3, 1.1.4, 1.1.5
	Standard algorithms: Sorting	1.1.8	Linear search Binary Search
	Standard algorithms: Searching	1.1.9	Bubble Sort Merge Sort
2: Programming	Data types	2.3.1	Character String Integer Real Boolean
	Sequence, Selection, Iteration	2.2.1, 2.2.2	IF WHILE REPEAT FOR Nesting
	Variables and constants	2.3.4, 2.3.5	Naming Assigning Uses
	Operators	2.5.1, 2.5.2, 2.5.3	Arithmetic Boolean Relational
	Data structures	2.2.1, 2.3.2	One-dimensional arrays Two-dimensional arrays Records
	Strings	2.3.3	Indexing Length Traversal Concatenation Slicing Casting and Coercion
	Subprograms	2.3.5, 2.6.1, 2.6.2, 2.6.3	Coding Functions Scope Uses
	Inputs and outputs	2.4.1, 2.4.2, 2.4.3	Presence checks Length checks Range checks Lookup checks Reading files Writing files
	Maintainability	2.1.2	Comments Headers Whitespace Indentation
	Types of Errors	2.1.3, 2.1.5	Logic errors Arithmetic order Syntax errors Run-Time errors
	Testing and Evaluating	2.1.4, 2.1.6, 2.1.7	Test plans Test data Trace tables IDEs Evaluating programs
3: Data	Binary	3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.3, 3.1.4	Base systems Binary values Converting denary to binary Converting binary to denary Adding binary numbers Signed integers Shifts
	Hexadecimal	3.1.5	Uses Denary to Hex Hex to Denary Hex to Binary Binary to Hex
	Units	3.3.1, 3.3.4	Bit, Byte, Nibble Kilobyte to Petabyte
	Representing characters	3.2.1	ASCII Extended ASCII Character codes Unicode
	Representing images	3.2.2	Pixels Grayscale Colour Depth Files size
	Representing sounds	3.2.3	Sampling Sampling frequency Bit Depth, Bit Rate Channels Metadata
	Compression	3.2.4, 3.3.2	Lossy compression Lossless compression Dictionary compression Images,Video,Music
	Run-length encoding	3.3.3	RLE data format RLE & Images RLE & Text
	Encryption and ciphers	3.4.1, 3.4.2	Purpose Symmetric encryption Asymmetric encryption Caesar Cipher
	Databases: Structure	3.5.1, 3.5.2	Purpose Parts Flat-file Relational Keys
	Databases: Relationships	3.5.2	Entities Attributes E-R diagrams
4: Computers	Input-Process-Output	4.1.1	Input Process Software Output Storage
	The CPU	4.2.3	Architecture ALU Control Unit Memory Buses
	Fetch-Decode-Execute	4.2.3	Hardware used The FDE cycle
	Main memory	4.2.2	RAM Random Access DRAM and SRAM ROM Read Only Cache
	Secondary storage	4.2.4, 4.2.5	Magnetic Optical Solid State Cloud
	Embedded systems	4.2.6	Definition Sensors Analog-Digital converter Actuators
	Boolean logic	4.3.1, 4.3.2	AND, OR, NOT Logic Circuits Truth Tables
	Operating systems	4.4.1	Purpose Kernel User Interface Device Drivers Multitasking
	Utility software	4.4.2	Encryption utilities Defragmentation utilities Compression Backup Information & diagnostics
	Software modelling	4.4.3
	Translators and languages	4.5.1, 4.5.2	Machine code Low Level High level Translators, Assemblers Compiler, Interpreters
5: Networks	Introduction to networks	5.1.1, 5.1.2,	What is a network? Home networks Business networks LANs/WANs Client-Server/P2P
	Network shape	5.1.3, 5.1.4, 5.1.7	Wired networks Wireless networks Topologies
	Network protocols	5.1.5	TCP/IP and UDP HTTP and HTTPs FTP, Ethernet, Wi-Fi Email Protocols
	TCP/IP layers	5.1.6	Application Layer Transport Layer Network Layer Data Link Layer
	Introduction to Network Security	5.2.1	Importance of security Authentication methods Encryption Firewalls MAC filtering
	Cyberattacks	5.2.2, 5.2.3	Phishing Pharming Fraud Identity theft
	Preventing vulnerabilities	5.2.4, 5.2.5	Software design Software testing Network testing Tools Policy
	The Internet	5.2.2, 5.3.1, 5.3.2	ISP URL/IP address DNS Websites Hosting The Cloud HTML HTTP/S
6: The Bigger Picture	Environment	6.1.1	E-waste Recycling Energy use Carbon footprints
	Ethics	6.1.2	Professionalism Privacy Inclusion
	Legislation	6.1.3	Data Protection Act Computer Misuse Act Copyright, Designs & Patents Act Communication Acts Health and Safety
	Open/Closed Source	6.1.3	Open Source Closed Source Creative Commons

Edexcel GCSE Computer Science

Section

Topic

Syllabus points

Material

1: Algorithms

2: Programming

3: Data

4: Computers

5: Networks

6: The Bigger Picture