Engagement in secondary computing education is a significant challenge. Too many students lose interest, disengage, or abandon the subject altogether before reaching higher levels of study. The enthusiasm seen in Year 7 fades by the time students make their GCSE choices, with many reporting that they find the subject uninteresting, difficult, or irrelevant to their future study and careers. If we want to turn this around, we must reimagine how we teach computing by once again fostering creativity and curiosity.

The Problem: A Disconnect Between Expectation and Reality

Computing is all too often introduced to students in an uninspiring way. Many come to the subject with expectations—building computers, developing games, creating apps—only to be met with a heavily theoretical, abstract curriculum. Some students enter Year 10 expecting hands-on experiences but instead encounter worksheets and rote learning. The way we present computing is too often misaligned with what sparks students’ interest.

This is not a new issue. Even in the late 1980s, HMI reports noted that computing should be fascinating and stimulating for pupils, yet it often felt dry and unexciting. More recently, Michael Gove’s 2012 vision of students writing apps by the age of 16 remains far from reality. Instead, computing education often alienates students, particularly girls, who express a desire for a curriculum that emphasises what they can create with technology rather than the mechanics of how technology works.

The Solution: Engaging Students Through Creativity and Curiosity

Computing is an inherently creative discipline. It is about solving problems, designing solutions, and building digital experiences. However, our current approach often neglects this aspect in favour of rigid, assessment-driven instruction. If we are to rekindle enthusiasm, we need to focus on creativity in the classroom.

Start with What Interests Them

Engagement improves when students see the relevance of what they are learning. If they are interested in building computers, let them take apart old machines and reconstruct them. If they love gaming, introduce them to coding through game development. If they care about social media, explore how algorithms influence their feeds.

Encourage Questions and Discovery

Curiosity should be at the heart of computing education. Instead of simply delivering content, we should encourage students to ask and explore their own questions. This requires a shift from passive consumption to active inquiry. Why does encryption matter? How do algorithms shape the world? In what way does a web browser behave like a database? These questions drive deep engagement and authentic learning.

Make Computing Hands-On

Students learn best by making things. The familiar PRIMM approach (Predict, Run, Investigate, Modify, Make) is powerful, but teachers, and thus students, often stop before the final step. The process of making, whether it’s a simple Python program, a digital art project, or an AI model, gives students ownership of their learning. Scratch, for example, succeeds because it allows students to build and share their own creations in a community-driven way.

The Role of AI: A Challenge or an Opportunity?

With AI now capable of generating code, some question whether coding should still be a core focus of computing education. However, coding is not just about writing instructions; it teaches logical thinking, problem-solving, and perseverance. Even if AI handles routine programming tasks in the future, students will still need to understand how to structure problems, debug solutions, and critically assess machine-generated content.

Rather than seeing AI as a threat, we can use it to enhance learning. Students can use AI tools to help them prototype ideas, generate code snippets, or debug problems. However, true mastery of computing comes from struggling with concepts, experimenting, and iterating on solutions—processes that AI alone cannot replace.

What Needs to Change?

To create a more engaging and inclusive computing curriculum, we need to rethink both what we teach and how we teach it. Some suggestions include:

• Broadening the curriculum: Computing should not just be about programming and networks; it should encompass digital creativity, ethics, and problem-solving.
• Reframing the GCSE structure: Offering a broader ‘Computing’ GCSE, rather than just Computer Science, would attract a wider range of students and provide more pathways.
• Connecting with primary education: Building continuity between primary and secondary computing education ensures that students do not experience a sudden, jarring transition.
• Improving representation: Encouraging girls and underrepresented groups by making computing feel relevant to their ambitions and interests.
• Encouraging collaborative projects: Real-world teamwork is essential in computing careers; schools should integrate more group-based, creative assignments.

Conclusion: A Call to Action

We know what makes students engage: curiosity and creativity. Computing should not be a subject that students endure but one that inspires and excites them. The way forward is clear—shift the focus from rigid theory to creative application, from passive learning to active problem-solving. If we embrace this mindset, we can cultivate a generation of students who see computing not just as a school subject but as a gateway to endless possibilities.

So, how will you make computing more engaging for your students? Let’s start the conversation.

Based on my talk at the Big Computing Leadership Conference, 12 December 2024, Oxford Brookes University.