That Blue Square Thing

Syllabus content:

Unit 4 content – PDF doc to download

Note: this syllabus content is a slightly amended version of the one published freely on the web by AQA. I have made very minor adjustments to remove some content less suitable for students to use and it is presented here simply to allow the children I teach to download a usable copy of the syllabus content. It is copyright AQA and reproduced here simply to make access easier for students. No attempt to claim copyright is being made, although I could have copied the text into my own interpretation...

AQA Computer Science GCSE

Computer Systems

This area is all about the ways in which computers work. That includes what goes on inside the "black box" of the computer system and how things fit together.

I break the syllabus here down into nine parts, although the order I teach these in will vary depending on how I'm doing for time. Some of the parts are short and others quite complex and detailed.

1. Software types & OS
2. Systems architecture
3. CPU Performance
4. Fetch-Execute Cycle
5. Memory
6. Secondary Storage
7. Embedded systems
8. Languages & translators
9. Boolean logic

Boolean logic crosses over with practical programming skills from unit 2 whilst cloud storage, part of the secondary storage section, has its own section in unit 8.