Next week the exam board OCR will submit the draft for a computer science GCSE.
The new GCSE was announced by Prime Minister David Cameron in December 2014 and looks set to be introduced to classrooms across England in September 2016.
The new computing curriculum was launched to encourage students to progress from learning how to use computing applications, to actually building them. It was launched in September 2014 and is compulsory for schools in England.
60% of the GCSE focuses on the content of “computational thinking” which covers breaking down complex problems, establishing patterns, ignoring unnecessary information and designing a system through programming.
The GCSE also focuses heavily on cyber security, to enable students to learn about phishing, malware and firewalls.
Subject specialist for computer science and ICT at OCR Rob Leeman said: “We have consulted with companies such as Google, Microsoft and Cisco, as well as teachers and higher education academics and organisations such as Computing At School (CAS), to ensure the content is relevant.
“There is growing demand for digital skills worldwide. Whether students fancy themselves as the next cyber spook, Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates, our qualification will be the first exciting step towards any career that requires competence in computing.”
Technology company Codio has partnered with OCR to provide schools with a cloud-based programming platform, enabling students to learn coding and apply it to situations they might experience at work.
Philip Snalune, co-founder of Codio said: “Codio’s mission is to help the next generation to not only consume applications, but to understand the computational thinking and programming skills required to create them.
“Accessible anywhere, with software and content covering all the relevant computer programming languages, our unique combination of cloud platform and curriculum content offers teachers, IT technicians and schools the perfect environment to support OCR’s new GCSE specification.”