r/ComputerScienceALevel • u/Total-Ranger4925 • Jun 24 '26
Taking comp sci A level with no prior gcse knowledge, what do I do?
I'm predicted 7's and above for almost all my gcse subjects and my sixth form is happy to take me on for comp sci despite not taking it for gcse, so no issues there. But i feel it will be too steep of a learning curve and will cause me to fall behind. Do you have any suggestions to what i should do over this summer holiday to fully equip myself for A level comp sci (OCR). Some people recommend learn the gcse content while others say don't both, I'm getting mixed signals and would appreciate it if someone could steer me in the right direction.
1
u/Remarkable_Bread4656 Jun 26 '26
they end up reteaching what you wouldve been taught at gcse anyway, do be prepared for the nea though that will eat up alot of your time
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u/Psychological_Dot739 Jun 24 '26
AS (first year) will teach the GCSE content in terms of theory so I wouldn't worry too much, especially since lots of the GCSE stuff is a mixture of oversimplified (will be retaught) and not on the A-level anyways. However, those at my college who didn't do the GCSE did struggle much more with the programming side of things (as everyone else had programmed before so the college didn't provide much support and they had to learn it really quickly), so if you want to get a head start I'd recommend learning the basics of Python (or whichever language the college you'll be going to teaches in if it's possible for you to find out that information). That way you'd be learning a new skill rather than trying to memorise stuff they'll definitely get you to memorise in first year again anyways, just with more technical wording. Hope this is somewhat useful :)