AQA GCSE 8525 Computer Science specification: every spec point and its video lesson
7of 40 spec points have a lesson out now
40have a lesson planned
Spec text is our short form of the board's statement. Always check the board's own specification.
| Spec | Statement | Lesson | YT search phrase |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1.1AQA 8525 | Representing algorithms | What an algorithm is | ScholaFly CS10-01 |
| Decomposition and abstraction | ScholaFly CS10-02 | ||
| Inputs, processing and outputs | ScholaFly CS10-03 | ||
| Flowcharts | ScholaFly CS10-04 | ||
| Pseudocode | ScholaFly CS10-05 | ||
| 3.1.2AQA 8525 | Explain that more than one algorithm can solve the same problem and compare the time efficiency of two algorithms. | Which algorithm is more efficient? | ScholaFly CS10-08 |
| 3.1.3AQA 8525 | Searching algorithms | Linear search | ScholaFly CS11-01 |
| Binary search | ScholaFly CS11-02 | ||
| Linear or binary: which and why | ScholaFly CS11-03 | ||
| 3.1.4AQA 8525 | Sorting algorithms | Bubble sort | ScholaFly CS11-04 |
| Merge sort | ScholaFly CS11-05 | ||
| Bubble or merge: which and why | ScholaFly CS11-07 | ||
| 3.2.1AQA 8525 | Explain the concept of a data type and use integer, real, Boolean, character and string appropriately. | Data types | ScholaFly CS12-02 |
| 3.2.2AQA 8525 | Programming concepts | Variables, constants and assignment | ScholaFly CS12-01 |
| Loops: count-controlled and condition-controlled | ScholaFly CS12-07 | ||
| Putting the statement types together | ScholaFly CS12-08 | ||
| Code other people can read | ScholaFly CS14-04 | ||
| 3.2.3AQA 8525 | Use addition, subtraction, multiplication, real division and integer division including remainders. | Arithmetic operators, DIV and MOD | ScholaFly CS12-04 |
| 3.2.4AQA 8525 | Use the relational operators equal to, not equal to, less than, greater than, less than or equal to and greater than or equal to. | Relational operators | ScholaFly CS12-05 |
| 3.2.5AQA 8525 | Use NOT, AND and OR, and combinations of them, within conditions for iterative and selection structures. | AND, OR and NOT in a condition | ScholaFly CS12-06 |
| 3.2.6AQA 8525 | Data structures | Arrays, one and two dimensional | ScholaFly CS13-01 |
| Records | ScholaFly CS13-02 | ||
| 3.2.7AQA 8525 | Obtain user input from the keyboard and output data to the computer display. | Input and output | ScholaFly CS12-09 |
| 3.2.8AQA 8525 | Use length, position, substring, concatenation, character-to-code and code-to-character conversion, and string conversion operations. | Working with strings | ScholaFly CS13-03 |
| 3.2.9AQA 8525 | Use random number generation within a program. | Random numbers | ScholaFly CS13-05 |
| 3.2.10AQA 8525 | Structured programming and subroutines | Why subprograms exist | ScholaFly CS13-06 |
| Functions and procedures | ScholaFly CS13-07 | ||
| Local and global variables | ScholaFly CS13-09 | ||
| The structured approach | ScholaFly CS13-10 | ||
| 3.2.11AQA 8525 | Robust and secure programming | Input validation | ScholaFly CS14-05 |
| Authentication | ScholaFly CS14-06 | ||
| Syntax, logic and runtime errors | ScholaFly CS14-07 | ||
| Why we test, and when | ScholaFly CS14-08 | ||
| Choosing test data | ScholaFly CS14-09 | ||
| 3.3.1AQA 8525 | Number bases | Why computers use binary | ScholaFly CS01-01 |
| Why hexadecimal exists | ScholaFly CS01-03 | ||
| 3.3.2AQA 8525 | Converting between number bases | Denary to binary and back | ScholaFly CS01-02 |
| Denary and hexadecimal | ScholaFly CS01-04 | ||
| Binary and hexadecimal | ScholaFly CS01-05 | ||
| 3.3.3AQA 8525 | State that a bit is the fundamental unit of information and a byte is 8 bits, use the decimal prefixes kilo, mega, giga and tera, and compare quantities of bytes. | Bits, bytes and the units of storage | ScholaFly CS02-01 |
| Working out the size of a text file | ScholaFly CS02-05 | ||
| 3.3.4AQA 8525 | Binary arithmetic | Binary addition | ScholaFly CS01-06 |
| Binary shifts | ScholaFly CS01-08 | ||
| 3.3.5AQA 8525 | Character encoding | Character sets and ASCII | ScholaFly CS02-02 |
| Character codes run in order | ScholaFly CS02-03 | ||
| Unicode | ScholaFly CS02-04 | ||
| 3.3.6AQA 8525 | Representing images | How an image is stored | ScholaFly CS03-01 |
| From binary to bitmap and back | ScholaFly CS03-02 | ||
| Working out image and sound file sizes | ScholaFly CS03-04 | ||
| 3.3.7AQA 8525 | Representing sound | How sound is stored | ScholaFly CS03-03 |
| Working out image and sound file sizes | ScholaFly CS03-04 | ||
| 3.3.8AQA 8525 | Data compression | Why we compress data | ScholaFly CS03-05 |
| Huffman coding | ScholaFly CS03-06 | ||
| Run length encoding | ScholaFly CS03-07 | ||
| 3.4.1AQA 8525 | Define hardware and software and explain the relationship between them. | Hardware and software | ScholaFly CS04-01 |
| 3.4.2AQA 8525 | Boolean logic | AND, OR and NOT as logic gates | ScholaFly CS15-01 |
| XOR and combining gates | ScholaFly CS15-02 | ||
| Logic circuit diagrams | ScholaFly CS15-03 | ||
| Boolean expressions | ScholaFly CS15-04 | ||
| 3.4.3AQA 8525 | Software classification | System software and application software | ScholaFly CS06-01 |
| What an operating system does | ScholaFly CS06-02 | ||
| Utility software | ScholaFly CS06-03 | ||
| 3.4.4AQA 8525 | Classification of programming languages and translators | High-level and low-level languages | ScholaFly CS06-05 |
| Machine code and assembly language | ScholaFly CS06-06 | ||
| Compilers, interpreters and assemblers | ScholaFly CS06-07 | ||
| 3.4.5AQA 8525 | Systems architecture | The CPU and the von Neumann model | ScholaFly CS04-02 |
| The fetch-execute cycle | ScholaFly CS04-04 | ||
| What makes a CPU fast | ScholaFly CS04-05 | ||
| Embedded systems | ScholaFly CS04-06 | ||
| RAM, ROM and types of memory | ScholaFly CS05-01 | ||
| Secondary storage: magnetic, solid state and optical | ScholaFly CS05-04 | ||
| Cloud storage | ScholaFly CS05-06 | ||
| 3.5AQA 8525 | Computer networks | What a network is, and why bother | ScholaFly CS07-01 |
| LAN, WAN and PAN | ScholaFly CS07-02 | ||
| Wired and wireless | ScholaFly CS07-03 | ||
| Network topologies | ScholaFly CS07-05 | ||
| What a protocol is | ScholaFly CS08-01 | ||
| The four-layer TCP/IP model | ScholaFly CS08-02 | ||
| Protecting systems, networks and data | ScholaFly CS09-07 | ||
| 3.6.1AQA 8525 | Define cyber security and describe its main purposes. | What cyber security is | ScholaFly CS09-01 |
| 3.6.2AQA 8525 | Cyber security threats | Pharming, weak passwords and removable media | ScholaFly CS09-05 |
| Penetration testing | ScholaFly CS09-06 | ||
| 3.6.2.1AQA 8525 | Define social engineering, explain blagging, phishing and shouldering, and describe how social engineering can be protected against. | Social engineering | ScholaFly CS09-03 |
| 3.6.2.2AQA 8525 | Define malware, describe computer viruses, trojans and spyware, and explain how malware can be protected against. | Malware | ScholaFly CS09-02 |
| 3.6.3AQA 8525 | Explain biometric measures, password systems, CAPTCHA, email confirmations and automatic software updates as security measures. | Biometrics, CAPTCHA and automatic updates | ScholaFly CS09-08 |
| 3.7.1AQA 8525 | Explain the concept of a database and a relational database, and the terms table, record, field, data type, primary key and foreign key, including how relational databases eliminate data inconsistency and redundancy. | Databases and relational databases | ScholaFly CS16-01 |
| 3.7.2AQA 8525 | Structured query language (SQL) | SELECT, FROM and WHERE | ScholaFly CS16-02 |
| Changing data: INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE | ScholaFly CS16-03 | ||
| 3.8AQA 8525 | Explain the ethical, legal and environmental impacts and risks of digital technology on society, including data privacy, across the named areas. | The impacts of digital technology | ScholaFly CS17-01 |
| P1-index0AQA 8525 | Assume all indexing in code starts at 0 unless a question says otherwise. | Arrays, one and two dimensional | ScholaFly CS13-01 |
| P1-langAQA 8525 | Answer AQA Paper 1 programming questions in the one language you were entered for - C#, Python 3 or VB.NET - because pseudocode does not earn the code marks. | Which notation do you answer in? | ScholaFly CS10-09 |
| S5a-refineAQA 8525 | Refine a working program in response to testing outcomes, and say what was changed and why. | Reading and refining someone else's program | ScholaFly CS14-01 |