GCSE Computer Science Revision

These links to free revision resources are designed to allow you to quickly recap and/or check your understanding of various topics - they are not aimed at in-depth revision. Most of our students take OCR Computer Science, but all GCSEs have similar content.

General

• Connecting Wall - identify and group the related Computer Science terms
• Computing Worderama - identify key Computer Science terms from the GCSE specification

Number Bases

• Binary - check your conversion skills
• Binary Breakout - binary/denary conversion game
• Binary Counter - see how the digits change (also useful for completing truth tables)
• Hexadecimal - check your understanding (only two digits required for GCSE)
• Binary and Hexadecimal - converting directly between the two

Representation and File Sizes

• Calculating File Sizes - YouTube playlist
• Metadata - why do we need it?
• Representing images - what do the numbers mean?
• Representing sound - record a sound, see the waveform and samples, and calculate for the file size
• Sampling - see the impact of sampling rate and sample size on recorded sound
• Character sets - see the range of Unicode characters
• Compression - see Run-Length Encoding and Huffman Coding in action

Algorithms - Sorting and Searching

• Bubble Sort Game - check your understanding of the steps required
• Merge Sort Game - check your understanding of the steps required
• Insertion Sort Game - check your understanding of the steps required
• Sorting algorithms - see how many steps are required for different sorting algorithms
• Binary search - practise performing a binary search
• Bubble Sort Python program - explains the steps as required for a GCSE answer
• Merge Sort Python program - explains the steps as required for a GCSE answer
• Insertion Sort Python program - explains the steps as required for a GCSE answer
• Binary Search program - explains the steps as required for a GCSE answer

Programming

• The Silent Teacher - programming logic test
• Programming Concepts Crossword - familiarise yourself with programming terms from the specification
• Spot the Error - recognise common mistakes
• Algorithm-a-Day - practice algorithm questions for paper 2
• Strings in ERL - ERL string manipulation methods reproduced in Python (in case they come up on paper 2)
• GCSE Python Guide - using OCR terminology and showing where ERL differs from Python

Boolean Logic

• Boolean Logic - a reminder of what the common logical operators do
• Logic Circuits - how the logic gates are used in circuits
• Name the Logic Gate - practice with truth tables and recognising logic functions

Other

• SQL Injection - activity with link to video explanation
• Hardware/Processor Crossword - familiarise yourself with terms related to hardware and the fetch-execute cycle
• Computer Science Dingbats - revise key vocabulary
• Impact of Computing - news articles and examples that you can include in longer answers
• Long Answers - some generic points that you can use with most contexts

Proper Revision

All of the links above are to quick tests or reminders to fill a few spare minutes - the links below are for more exam-focussed revision.

• Clickschool for OCR J277 (they also have AQA notes) - includes questions at the ends of sections and downloadable flashcards
• Seneca Revision - also available for other subjects
• Six-a-Day - past paper questions in bite-size chunks