Computer Science GCSE cancelled at school

[ThisAintLegit]

My child's school has decided not to teach Computer Science any longer. No formal reason was given but it was clear that the teacher was very poor (my kids have had this teacher and agree) and results were an issue.
We were very disappointed but were told that DC could still study it at A-level elsewhere with strong maths which they have. We've since learned that this is impossible as all the 6th form colleges reasonably expect a 7+ at GCSE.
I don't know what to think now. DC is entering year 10 and can't move schools, but is talented at computer science. Someone suggested we get a tutor and enter as an external candidate. But how would the project work get marked as an external candidate?
Is there any option we may be overlooking?
Thanks everyone for getting this far.

The centre where you sit as an external candidate (or private candidate if their normal school) has to sign to say it is your child’s work. Lots of private candidates didn’t get cags this year. It’s fine if the centre will mark it but many won’t agree to this as it’s a lot of work for the teachers-compared to just rocking up and sitting an exam in the hall. It may prove difficult.

That was a bit of a ramble.
Is there any exam board that doesn't have assessments in computer science so that entering as an external candidate is more possible?

Huh?
Usually colleges understand that not all students have the opportunity to take computer science. If a local feeder school has stopped teaching it, the sixth form may have to be a bit more flexible

We had this, I was very cross about it at the time for same reason you are.
When I started emailing 6th forms they were actually very accommodating and most said he could do it without the GCSE as long as the Maths is good.
He is starting the A Level next week.

Thanks everyone!

@superram That is in line with what we heard too and a local tutor says that he has never managed to get a centre to enter external candidate for computer science. [Sad]
@Somethingkindaoooo and @FoolsAssassin - my DC's school has a 6th form so isn't a feeder to any 6th form college. However there is a local 6th form with a wide intake that does the course at A level. You've given me the idea to call and explain the situation to see what we can do.

The UK is crying out for kids to do computer science and yet they can't even get started. It all seems wrong.

I agree it's not really the point, as you want your child to be able to study subjects they enjoy and will do well in; however do note that it is quite usual to be able to do a computer science course at university with A level maths (+/- further maths) and no necessity to have taken computer science at A level.

Do keep encouraging your son's interest in computers, ask him what progamming languages he is learning, there are all sorts of online challenges he can get involved in if he isn't already. My own son's school has a coding club but I don't think they offer computer science at the moment; if he decides to pursue CS or a related area I don't think that will be a problem. (he's a year older than your son)

Good luck finding the right way forward, hope it works out well whichever way.

Gosh how annoying. Ds enjoys this subject and maths. I’d be upset if CS ended.

I suspect sixth forms will only require 7+ where a student has been able to take computer science. They might, however, want to know what he can do in the way of programming, so doing some programming in his spare time would be no bad idea.

By the OP
Try Coursera, Futurelearn, EdX

Harvard dies someone computing, and have a look at the NCSC website, and their Cyberfirst initiative.

There are loads of online resources out there. If he can't take Comp sci, he would fo well to do as well as possible in maths, and do some extra courses as well.

It is a pretty flexible area to get in to, as said due to the need for it.
I think schools struggle with recruiting teachers

Thanks all. I appreciate all the ideas and suggestions for how to develop learning alone.
It's not that relevant really but the DC are female and it's obviously not as usual to find girls who like programming at this age. Hence the school cancelling has a bigger impact for the tiny number of girls than boys who have friends who enjoy the same type of hobbies I think.
I also think universities will be less likely to bend the rules for women? I admit I have no evidence for such a sweeping statement
@Somethingkindaoooo I agree it's a very flexible area to get into, e.g. via engineering, maths or another way. That's a good reminder, thanks.

We have had the same at my sons school. Computer science was an option but it has been removed due to poor performance in previous cohorts. My son was gutted he loves coding and does a lot in his spare time and was looking forward to developing his skills. The teacher told me it was too difficult for the majority of students and is not worth running for the minority who will excel at it.

We had the opposite and DD has had to take computer science after her initial option choices were rejected and not much choice left. She enjoys it but schools results are dire (highest result was a 6 with most failing) and 3 computing teachers in last year.

I think state schools really struggle to get teachers in this subject and consquently results are poor. It's a shame as when you work you realise it's one of the most useful and increasingly important qualifications out there. I'm not sure if there is a private route due to coursework element - you could ask LA education department if they know of any or look on internet for local places doing private entries. DD found this year is especially restricted due to covid for private entries or looking at exam boards is other way.

We are trying to find ways for DD to teach it herself due to limited duration of teachers and poor results - so far DD has done all the seneca courses. I would try asking A level places and explaining - if more and more places aren't offering the GCSE I would have thought they would need to be more flexible on entry but I guess they may also have teacher shortages. I don't know much about it but I know there are also things like Girls Who Code.

It is possible to do the Cambridge Computer Science IGCSE as an external candidate as there is no coursework to be signed off. It's popular with the home-ed community for that reason. It's very straightforward as long as you can find a local school or exam centre to take it at. There are some excellent online tutors that provide it.

It is possible to do the Cambridge Computer Science IGCSE as an external candidate as there is no coursework to be signed off.
This is a great lead, thank you! I've googled and it seems right. Finding a centre doesn't seem too onerous either.

@KoalasandRabbit I wish your DD very good luck. Seneca is very good or at least mine thinks so! Does she have a Coder Dojo class near her?

Was going to mention the Cambridge IGCSE as this is what my son (Home Educated) is taking, but I see another poster has beaten me to it. He is studying through a company called LearnTec. Our local schools not offering Computer Science (and only offering double award GCSE or BTEC Science) was one of his main reasons for not going to Secondary school!

Regarding finding an exam centre to sit the paper(s), if your school already use the Cambridge exam board (CAIE) for any other subjects, they could easily arrange for your DC to sit it there. This would be at your cost obviously and they may say no anyway, but it's worth asking just in case.

Yes I worry about this at my DC school. DS wants to take it (always gets grade 9's for computing) but everyone he has spoken to does not like the new head of computing and the 2 teachers they had before left so it is just her. I think we will just get him to study it at home and sit as an external candidate if they do drop it.

It's a shame but it is just hard to get good computer science teachers as people who are good at it can earn a lot more money as programmers etc so why would they bother?!

Thanks This Hope it goes well with the iGCSE. DD is a huge seneca fan too. I'll ask her about Coder Dojo, thanks for that, she did y7 at grammar with a brilliant computing teacher, got a high 9 at end of that year then moved to a comp in year 8 was given a computer that didn't work all year and mixed ability class which teacher said was the worst class he'ld ever taught for y9 with three teachers and so last 2 years she's not learnt much at all and now predicted a 6. She had to give up a subject she's predicted 9 in and already on a 7. But she has spent 40 hours on seneca trying to catch up and at least its a useful subject. At least the latest teacher has a computing degree and computing GCSE will be at least those who opted to do it so hopefully less disruption.

Having just quickly looked at five universities at random, one didn’t specify any required A Level subjects, and the rest only specified a good maths grade.

So it won’t be a barrier to studying at university level. I realise that doesn’t answer the immediate question and that she may not want to take it to university level, but the option is there if so.

I’d also be surprised if a sixth form refused to take someone without the specific GCSE when their school didn’t offer it.

You don't need any previous computer science to study it for a degree only maths and further maths.

Ds1 is in year 13 (when they go back) admittedly he has done computer science for both GCSE and A level, his sixth form just want you to have a level 4 at GCSE if you took it.

Even Cambridge are only interested in your maths skills. They don't want computer science A level. Maths and Further Maths at A level are needed for the top 6 universities for Computer Science, so Cambridge, Durham, Warwick, Manchester, and some London ones.

There are a lot of online things to look into without taking a GCSE in it. Ds1 and Ds2 for that matter have always done online stuff for fun outside of school computer science. If they are interested, they will find a way.

Obviously it is shit that they have cancelled the course but better that than a shit teacher. The spec for the course is online so your DD can look at that to see what they cover in GCSE. But this is about maths, maths and more maths.

If this is the route your DD is looking to go down, then you need to find a sixth form that does FM for the future. Yes, you can apply with just maths but a candidate is severely disadvantaged if they don't have FM too.

Opposite issue round here. Plenty of schools offer CS at GCSE, but hardly anywhere offers it at A Level. So those with aspirations of studying it at university just offer maths.

Sadly (I work in IT) it is still a minority subject amongst girls. In DS's GCSE class of 25, there were only 4 girls.

@RedskyAtnight

Opposite issue round here. Plenty of schools offer CS at GCSE, but hardly anywhere offers it at A Level. So those with aspirations of studying it at university just offer maths.

Sadly (I work in IT) it is still a minority subject amongst girls. In DS's GCSE class of 25, there were only 4 girls.

Red can I ask what’s the best path do you think to IT? Doing CS at GSCE / A level if you can or just maths FM and then best university you can.

DS had to choose between electronics and computer science and as some unis accept electronics A level for engineering courses, he took that.
The computer science teacher did say that you can take A level computer science without the GCSE, but you'd need to do some work over the summer before starting it.

@ThisAintLegit my son has just finished OCR GCSE. They had to do a project but it wasn't assessed because last year someone posted the solution online and since then it became something they had to complete, but not be graded on. I don't know if that makes things easier for you.

I can guess why your school has cancelled the subject - it's because good computer science teachers are very difficult to recruit. They are few in number and are often poached by private schools who are also struggling to recruit them. My DS had 3 or 4 different teachers across the lifetime of his course and most were managed out pretty quickly because they either couldn't teach or couldn't control a class, or both.

But if your child has an interest in CS and has done some coding then lack of a GCSE shouldn't prevent A level entry. Similarly, lack of an A Level won't prevent study of CS at uni. CS uni courses like people with maths/physics and don't assume prior knowledge.

Oooh this makes me so cross! I work in an admissions role for comp sci and we are working hard to reach young people (particularly girls) to encourage them into our field.

From our point of view, as other PPs have sent, an A level in Comp Sci isn't always essential to study the subject at degree level. At our gaff, we look for an A level in Maths as an essential subject and the others can be in any subject. Physics is also good prep for our courses. Many degrees don't expect a deep knowledge of coding and therefore start from scratch at the beginning of the first year.

Check out Code Academy and Code Wars for fun/informative coding activities. Also LearnPython.org and Learn-C.org.

Also, CS is a key area for WP work as I mentioned. Many universities offer summer schools and other activities and, for the Sciences at least, encouraging girls to take part will be a key objective. Our uni starts these from Y10, so it's not too late.

Also, take a look at Headstart: we have run this in our department in the past - a fantastic residential opportunity for young people.

OP, take a look at stemettes.org. It's an organisation aimed at getting girls interested in tech careers. No help with your GCSE issue but she may find some interesting opportunities through it.