Introduction

A single, holistic GCSE in computing should be developed to address the full breadth of the subject: its foundations in computer science, its applications through information technology and the implications that provide digital literacy and much needed criticality. Its scope should be on the use which individuals, organisations and society make of digital technology, rather than just on the internal operation of hardware and software. It should recognise pupils’ learning in computing throughout secondary education, and prepare them for further academic or technical study, as well as ensuring they have the skills and understanding needed for employment and life in modern society. It should be responsive to the fast pace of change in this domain, reflecting the present and immediate future of digital technologies.

Rationale for a single GCSE

We propose replacing the current GCSE in computer science with a new GCSE in computing. This would reflect the full breadth of the national curriculum subject, and serve as an appropriate culmination to pupils’ study of computing from age 5 onwards. Like national curriculum computing, the requirements for this GCSE would cover the knowledge and skills needed to ensure that pupils understand the principles underpinning digital technologies, information and computation, the ability to solve meaningful problems and create original content, and the criticality needed to address how technology affects individuals and society.

GCSE computing should be grounded in a secure knowledge of computer science, but it should be as concerned about what pupils, and people, can do with computers as it is with what computers do. Through broadening the focus from what happens inside the machine to include what people do with these machines, we will create an up-to-date qualification that better prepares pupils for study, employment and life using technology. They would then be able to contribute to the design, development and discussion of digital artefacts and technology more generally. We also develop a qualification far more inclusive in its scope and audience, leading to better digital skills for those who study it, and a more representative, informed workforce and society. This would also make a qualification with broad appeal to pupils, school leaders, parents and business.

GCSE computing would assess pupils across the content of Key Stages 3 and 4 of the national curriculum. This would help to ensure that all of the Key Stage 3 programme of study is given adequate coverage, and recognise schools’ statutory duties to teach the brief, but too often overlooked, Key Stage 4 programme of study, as well as computing related content from relationships and sex education requirements. The GCSE would allow schools to fulfil the national curriculum requirement that

“All pupils must have the opportunity to study aspects of information technology and computer science at sufficient depth to allow them to progress to higher levels of study or to a professional career.”

The qualification would serve as a foundation for pupils progressing to study computer science, IT or digital media at Level 3, but it should not be framed in narrow, vocational terms as preparation for careers in technology. Rather, it should be constructed more broadly, as part of a commitment to digital skills, as a qualification which most schools could expect the majority of their pupils to take, recognising that computing should be positioned as a core subject in the curriculum, alongside English and mathematics, as essential for both learning and life.

Computing is a fast changing domain, and, whilst the foundational principles of computer science are stable, the applications and implications of these evolve at a fast pace. The new GCSE should be designed to reflect the knowledge and skills appropriate to the modern world. Whilst covering fundamental ideas of computer science, it should also address current applications of digital technology in a range of contexts, including business, study, culture and personal life, and pupils’ ability to articulate critical thinking about the positive and negative impacts of technology, and consider how the latter might be mitigated.

The requirements for computing GCSE should be framed with sufficient flexibility to allow coverage of emerging ideas, technologies and issues. Thus pupils might learn about generative AI, ‘green’ technology, social media manipulation, and accessible design. Rather than a ‘shopping list’ of the latest technologies or issues, it would be better to frame requirements in terms of the application of principles, such as ethics, sustainability, inclusivity, criticality, interdisciplinarity, abstraction, openness and adaptability.

The single computing GCSE qualification should be deliverable in a typical 3 hours of timetabled teaching per week. It would be suited to the needs, interests and aspirations of a wider group of students, including girls. Having a single GCSE covering the full breadth of the programmes of study would ensure computing has parity with other national curriculum subjects, avoiding the dangers and divisions implicit in a ‘computer science for some but digital skills for the rest’ split between academic and vocational provision.

Problems with current provision

After the government’s 2017 decision to phase out GCSE ICT, computing now stands as the sole national curriculum subject without its own dedicated GCSE. As a result, students interested in obtaining a computing qualification face a choice: either narrow their focus by taking GCSE computer science or explore vocational courses - an option sometimes regarded with less esteem by both parents and students. A recent survey of teachers and school leaders in schools with high levels of GCSE CS participation found that many of them thought the current GCSE wasn’t offering the skills and knowledge that their students needed are looking for a new broader GCSE computing qualification.

Since the introduction of the computing curriculum in 2014 there has been a marked decrease in the number of hours taught at key stage 4, which has coincided with a decrease in GCSE and vocational computing qualifications. Whilst GCSE computer science is now well established with c.90,000 entries a year, this represents only ~14% of the student population, and due to the gender disparity in uptake, ~6% of girls and ~24% of boys are sitting the exam. For students not taking the GCSE CS qualification, it seems likely that they are getting no computing provision at this key stage.

The increase in GCSE CS numbers since 2012 might suggest that the subject is receiving wider acceptance and the overall numbers are to be celebrated. However, the percentage of girls within the cohort has remained at ~21 % and yearly increases in student numbers have recently been confined to grammar schools and independent schools. Non-selective state school provision saw an increase from 12.8% of their school population in 2017, to 12.9% of the population in 2023; i.e. GCSE computer science provision has plateaued over the last 7 years for the majority of students.

The low uptake of the GCSE amongst girls seems likely to be resulting from their disengagement with the subject content of computer science, with student surveys showing that they are less likely to enjoy the programming, networking, maths and hardware components of the subject than boys. Additionally, when girls do take the subject they perform worse than male peers of similar grade profiles in other subjects .

Teaching capacity for GCSE computer science remains a concern, even after ~7,300 teachers were retrained by the NCCE. However, it seems likely that there are many thousands of ICT teachers still in teaching who are no longer teaching computer science with the skills to teach other elements of computing.

Objections

Isn’t this just a return to ICT?
No. we are looking to create a qualification that represents computing as laid out in the national curriculum. In addition to new material, this will involve some content areas from the previous ICT GCSE being combined with elements of computer science.

What about those students really interested in computer science?
The single GCSE will retain significant areas of computer science, reflecting the position of computer science in the national curriculum. For students particularly interested in this part of computing, the qualification will prepare them for further study.

Will this mean that students are going to be less well prepared for A-level CS?
By not focusing solely on computer science at Key Stage 4 we provide more opportunity for changes to qualifications at A Level. Encouraging the development of an A-level in computer science that doesn’t repeat content from GCSE or preempt first year undergraduate content, but sits properly between the two. It can be argued that the A-Level has been put out of shape by the introduction of the computer science GCSE. Computer science undergraduates with the A-level can be poorly served by universities as they may find themselves repeating material in their first year. Reform of A-Level computer science would lead to a broader qualification, suited to any wanting to pursue STEM disciplines at university or in employment, just as A-Level maths is seen as more than just preparation for studying mathematics at university

The current A-level was developed to be taken by students who had not undertaken the GCSE in computer science. With a single GCSE in computing that schools are more able to staff and deliver, we can establish a qualification that A-level computer science can build on. Additionally, the GCSE will provide a set of skills and knowledge that all students should have when entering post-16 education, which will support the building of digital components in other post-16 qualifications.

Won’t we still have a teacher recruitment issue?
Teacher recruitment has been an issue with delivery of computing in schools since the subject’s inception in the late 1960s. There will be continuing issues around teacher recruitment, development and retention. However, a broader computing qualification will expand the pool of applicants for initial teacher training and allow schools to engage teachers who possess a broader range of technical skills, drawing on business IT, cybersecurity and digital media graduates as well as those from computer science.

What areas of computer science would be dropped?
A discussion on the specific content of the computing GCSE needs serious consideration involving a broad range of stakeholders. It would necessarily involve debate on which areas of computer science covered by the current GCSE would need to be pared back. This short paper is not intended to outline these changes.

My school doesn’t currently offer the GCSE in computer science, how would this affect me?
We hope a single GCSE will be easier for schools to staff, more attractive to a wider and more diverse range of students, and more relevant to the needs of society. For those students not choosing, or unable to take the full GCSE, a short course qualification could be developed that could be delivered in one hour a week. This model would be similar to the one used by some schools when offering short course religious studies and physical education courses. We hope this means your school will be more willing to offer a GCSE in computing than the current exam offering.

We have been successful with GCSE CS, we don’t want to have to learn a whole load of new content.
We anticipate that many of the topics in the current computer science GCSE will be present in a computing GCSE meaning much of what you do will continue to be relevant.If your school has covered the full breadth of the Key Stage 3 computing national curriculum programme of study, your students would be well prepared for much of the new content.

Why not just have two GCSEs, one in IT and one in computer science? Or have a non-GCSE digital skills qualification for those not taking GCSE computer science?
The last 10 years have shown that certain groups of students were disenfranchised from the GCSE computer science. A two tier system would likely replicate current inequalities. If a non-GCSE qualification is developed, or a GCSE in IT, it seems likely that schools serving poorer communities would offer this instead of computer science. Within schools that offered the GCSE in computer science, girls, certain ethnicities and students from poorer backgrounds would be more likely to sit the non-GCSE.

Why not just make the GCSE computer science compulsory for all students?
We argue above that a broader qualification is needed to meet the needs of society, the current qualification only covers part of the computing national curriculum. If students only focused on computer science at this age then they would be missing important skills and knowledge in the IT and Digital Literacy domains. Additionally, current computer science teacher and teacher skills shortages suggest that an expansion of GCSE computer science would prove difficult, especially where the majority of state secondary schools currently only have one GCSE class. By analogy: science is compulsory for all to the end of Key Stage 4, and qualifications at this level thus reflect the full breadth of science, rather examining the subject through just, say, GCSE physics.

GCSE computer science has been growing, can’t we just give it more time?
The overall number of students taking a digital qualification has declined substantially since the removal of GCSE IT. Whilst there has been growth recently, this appears to have been limited to private and grammar schools. Additionally, the stubborn gender imbalance in the computer science uptake suggests the subject does not offer a qualification that is appealing for all students. Research has repeatedly shown pupils’ dissatisfaction with current computer science content. We believe a shift in GCSE provision towards computing offers the best route to engaging all students.

Wouldn’t it be better to cover these skills across the curriculum?
Research shows that digital skills are better taught as a discrete subject than in a cross curricular way. Whilst digital skills should be encouraged (and expected) in other subjects, teachers in these subjects may require substantial training in delivering these skills, especially if students haven’t been introduced to them in dedicated computing lessons. The current computer science GCSE is skewing what is taught at key stage 3, reducing the range of knowledge and skills available to students and thus limiting what might be achieved in other subjects. With a discrete computing GCSE, a core set of expected digital skills and knowledge can be delivered to students whilst supporting a broad interpretation of key stage 3.

What about those who wouldn’t want or be able to do this? Shouldn’t we focus on a digital skills non-GCSE qualification?
The development of a digital skills qualification that isn’t a GCSE risks creating a two-tier qualification space similar to the one seen pre-2014 with a GCSE competing against less well respected and less rigorous alternatives. It is likely that the existing inequalities in participation seen with the current qualifications would be seen again, resulting in academic GCSE CS for some and vocational digital skills for the rest. Whilst this is better than no digital skills, it leads to reduced expectations for pupils who would demonstrably gain through a broader computing GCSE.