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CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL AS & A LEVEL · SYLLABUS 9618 · AGES 16–18

AS & A Level Computer Science

Twenty units across four papers, from theory fundamentals to advanced programming. Units are being added now, with the same notes, live tools and grade tests as IGCSE.

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Exam at a glance

AS Level = Papers 1 and 2 · A Level = all four

Paper 1 · Theory Fundamentals25%
Units 1–8 · 1 h 30 · 75 marks
Paper 2 · Problem-solving and Programming25%
Units 9–12 · 2 h · 75 marks
Paper 3 · Advanced Theory25%
Units 13–20 · 1 h 30 · 75 marks
Paper 4 · Practical25%
Units 19–20 · 2 h 30 · 75 marks · Python, Java or VB

Percentages are of the full A Level. Papers 1 and 2 are each 50% of the AS Level.

AS Level · Paper 1

Units 1–8
1Information representationNumber systems, BCD, ASCII and Unicode, bitmaps and vectors, sound and compression.11 sectionsNumber converterFile size calculatorGrade test2CommunicationNetworks, topologies, cloud computing, Ethernet, wireless, the internet, IP addressing and DNS.13 sectionsIPv4 explorerGrade test3HardwareEmbedded systems, devices, buffers, RAM and ROM types, monitoring and control systems, and logic gates.7 sectionsLogic gate testerGrade test4Processor fundamentalsVon Neumann architecture, registers, buses, the fetch-execute cycle, interrupts, assembly language and bit manipulation.10 sectionsFDE stepperGrade test5System softwareOperating system tasks, utility software, program libraries and DLLs, compilers, interpreters and IDE features.6 sectionsTranslator quizGrade test6Security, privacy and data integritySecurity measures, malware, hacking, phishing and pharming, validation checks and verification methods.5 sectionsParity & check digitGrade test7Ethics and ownershipProfessional codes of conduct, copyright, software licences and the impact of artificial intelligence.5 sectionsLicence quizGrade test8DatabasesFile-based limits, relational terms, E-R diagrams, normalisation, DBMS features and SQL (DDL and DML).7 sectionsSQL query builderGrade test

A Level · Paper 3

Units 13–20
13Data representation (A Level)User-defined data types, serial, sequential and random files, hashing and collisions, floating-point representation and normalisation.4 sectionsFloating-point decoderGrade test14Communication and internet technologiesProtocols, the four-layer TCP/IP stack, HTTP, FTP, SMTP, POP3, IMAP, BitTorrent, and circuit vs packet switching.4 sectionsTCP/IP layer quizGrade test15Hardware and virtual machinesRISC and CISC, pipelining, SISD/SIMD/MISD/MIMD, virtual machines, Boolean algebra, Karnaugh maps, adders and flip-flops.6 sectionsFull adderGrade test16System software (A Level)Process states and scheduling, paging, segmentation and virtual memory, compilation stages, BNF and Reverse Polish Notation.4 sectionsRPN stack evaluatorGrade test17SecuritySymmetric and asymmetric encryption, quantum cryptography, the SSL/TLS handshake, digital certificates and digital signatures.4 sectionsCipher demoGrade test18Artificial intelligenceGraphs, Dijkstra’s shortest path algorithm, A* search, supervised, unsupervised and reinforcement learning, neural networks.4 sectionsDijkstra stepperGrade test19Computational thinking and problem-solvingLinear and binary search, bubble and insertion sort, ADTs including trees, graphs and dictionaries, Big O notation and recursion.6 sectionsBinary search visualiserGrade test20Further programmingLow-level, procedural, object-oriented and declarative paradigms, classes, inheritance, polymorphism, Prolog, random files and exceptions.5 sectionsOOP concept quizGrade test

A Level · Paper 4

Practical
P4Practical programmingA 2 h 30 paper on a computer, using Units 19 and 20, written in Python, Java or Visual Basic (console mode). Practise in the Coding Lab.Coding Lab

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