International AS and A-level

Computer
Science
(9645) Specification

For teaching from September 2024 onwards

For International AS exams
May/June 2025 onwards
For International A-level exams
May/June 2026 onwards
For teaching and examination outside
the United Kingdom
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

Contents
1 Introduction 5
1.1 Why choose OxfordAQA International AS and A-levels? 5

1.2 Why choose our International AS and A-level Computer Science? 5

1.3 Recognition 5

1.4 The Oxford International Programme learner attributes 6

1.5 Support and resources to help you teach 7

2 Specification at a glance 8
2.1 Subject content 8

2.2 Assessments 9

3 Subject content 11
3.1 Procedural programming 11

3.2 Fundamental data structures 15

3.3 Program design 17

3.4 Searching and sorting algorithms 19

3.5 Representing data 20

3.6 Computer systems 28

3.7 Computer organisation and architecture 30

3.8 Machine code and assembly language 35

3.10 Advanced data structures 40

3.11 Advanced algorithms 42

3.12 Functional programming 43

3.13 Theory of computation 48

3.14 Networking and cyber security 52

3.15 Databases 57

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 3
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.16 Artificial intelligence 60

4. Scheme of assessment 62
4.1 Availability of assessment units and certification 62

4.2 Aims and learning outcomes 62

4.3 Assessment Objectives 63

4.4 Assessment weightings 63

5 General administration 64
5.1 Entries and codes 64

5.2 Overlaps with other qualifications 64

5.3 Awarding grades and reporting results 65

5.4 Resits 65

5.5 Previous learning and prerequisites 65

5.6 Access to assessment: equality and inclusion 66

5.7 Working with OxfordAQA for the first time 66

5.8 Private candidates 66

6 Appendix: Standard OxfordAQA assembly language instruction set 67

Are you using the latest version of this specification?

• You will always find the most up-to-date version of this specification on our website at
oxfordaqa.com/9645

• We will write to you if there are significant changes to the specification.

4 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

1 Introduction
1.1 Why choose OxfordAQA International AS and A-levels?
Our international qualifications enable schools that follow a British curriculum to benefit from the best education expertise in
the United Kingdom (UK).

Our International AS and A-levels offer the same rigour and high quality as AS and A-levels in the UK and are relevant and
appealing to students worldwide. They reflect a deep understanding of the needs of teachers and schools around the globe
and are brought to you by Oxford University Press and AQA, the UK’s leading awarding body.

Providing valid and reliable assessments, these qualifications are based on over 100 years of experience, academic research
and international best practice. They reflect the latest changes to the British system, enabling students to progress to higher
education with up-to-date qualifications

You can find out about OxfordAQA at oxfordaqa.com

1.2 Why choose our International AS and A-level Computer

Science?
We have worked closely with teachers to develop a relevant, engaging and up-to-date computer science specification to
inspire, motivate and challenge all students regardless of their academic ability.

Particular care has been taken to make the language used in question papers as accessible as possible and suitable for
those students for whom English is not their first language. UK English spellings will be used in examination papers. British
idiosyncratic terms however, will be avoided to aid students’ understanding.

Advances in computing are transforming the way we work and our Computer Science specification reflects these changes. This
flexible, accessible and rigorous qualification, is backed by top quality support, resources and professional development. This
up-to-date specification focuses on the knowledge, understanding and skills students need to progress to higher education or
thrive in the workplace.

You can find out about all our International AS and A-level Computer Science qualification at
oxfordaqa.com/9645

1.3 Recognition
OxfordAQA meet the needs of international students. They are an international alternative and comparable in standard to the
Ofqual regulated qualifications offered in the UK. Our qualifications have been independently benchmarked by UK ENIC, the
UK national agency for providing expert opinion on qualifications worldwide. They have confirmed they can be considered
‘comparable to the overall GCE A-level and GCSE standard offered in the UK’.

To read their report and see the latest list of universities who have stated they accept these international qualifications, visit
oxfordaqa.com/recognition

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 5
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

1.4 The Oxford International Programme learner attributes

In order to equip students with the skills they need for success both now and in the future, we have worked with Oxford
University Press to create the Oxford International Programme. This combines the Oxford International Curriculum with
OxfordAQA qualifications, creating an integrated offer for international schools, from Early Years to A-level.

At its core we have introduced the Oxford International Programme learner attributes – the skills and competencies that enable
our students to thrive academically, socially and personally.

The learner attributes, alongside our focus on demonstrating higher order critical thinking skills, ensure that students are
equipped to get the grades that will take them places, and build the skills they need to be successful when they get there.

6 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

1.5 Support and resources to help you teach

We know that support and resources are vital for your teaching and that you have limited time to find or develop good quality
materials.

That’s why we’ve worked with experienced teachers to provide resources that will help you confidently plan, teach and
prepare for exams.

Teaching resources
You will have access to:

• sample schemes of work to help you plan your course with confidence

• training and support to help you deliver our qualifications

• student textbooks that have been checked and approved by us

• command words with exemplars

• computer science vocabulary with definitions.

Preparing for exams

You will have access to the support you need to prepare for our exams, including:

• specimen papers and mark schemes

• exemplar student answers with examiner commentaries.

Analyse your students’ results with Enhanced Results Analysis (ERA)

After the first examination series, you can use this tool to see which questions were the most challenging, how the results
compare to previous years and where your students need to improve. ERA, our free online results analysis tool, will help you
see where to focus your teaching.

Information about results, including maintaining standards over time, grade boundaries and our post-results services, will be
available on our website in preparation for the first examination series.

Help and support

Visit our website for information, guidance, support and resources at oxfordaqa.com/9645

You can contact the subject team directly at info@oxfordaqa.com or

call us on +44 (0)161 696 5995 (option 1 and then 1 again).

Please note: We aim to respond to all email enquiries within two working days.

Our UK office hours are Monday to Friday, 8am – 5pm.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 7
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

2 Specification at a glance
2.1 Subject content
AS
1. Procedural programming

2. Fundamental data structures

3. Program design

4. Searching and sorting algorithms

5. Representing data

6. Computer systems

7. Computer organisation and architecture

8. Machine code and assembly language

A-level
9. Object-oriented and additional programming

10. Advanced data structures

11. Advanced algorithms

12. Functional programming

13. Theory of computation

14. Networking and cyber security

15. Databases

16. Artificial intelligence

8 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

2.2 Assessments
AS
Unit 1: Programming + Unit 2: Concepts and principles of computer science

What’s assessed What’s assessed

This paper tests a student’s ability to program, as well as This paper tests a student’s knowledge, skills and
their knowledge, skills and understanding of sections 3.1 understanding of sections 3.5 to 3.8 of the specification:
to 3.4 of the specification:
• Representing data
• Procedural programming
• Computer systems
• Fundamental data structures
• Computer organisation and architecture
• Program design
• Machine code and assembly language
• Searching and sorting algorithms

How it’s assessed How it’s assessed

• On-screen exam available in C#, Python or VB.Net • Written exam

• 2 hours • 1 hour 30 minutes
• 75 marks • 75 marks
• 50% of AS • 50% of AS
• 20% of A-level • 20% of A-level

Questions Questions

Students answer a series of short questions and write and A series of short-answer and extended-answer questions.
test programs, providing their responses in an Electronic
Answer Document (EAD) provided by OxfordAQA.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 9
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

A-level
Unit 3: Advanced Programming + Unit 4: Advanced concepts and principles of
computer science
What’s assessed What’s assessed

This paper tests a student’s ability to program using both This paper tests a student’s knowledge, skills and
procedural and object-oriented programming, as well as understanding of sections 3.12 to 3.16 of the specification:
their knowledge, skills and understanding of sections 3.9
to 3.11 of the specification: • Functional programming

• Object-oriented and additional programming

• Theory of computation

• Advanced data structures

• Networking and cyber security

• Advanced algorithms
• Databases
• Artificial intelligence
Programming is a synoptic activity, so questions will also
require students to be familiar with the content of sections
3.1 to 3.4 of the AS specification.

How it’s assessed How it’s assessed

• On-screen exam available in C#, Python or VB.Net • Written exam

• 2 hours 30 minutes • 1 hour 30 minutes
• 90 marks • 75 marks
• 30% of A-level • 30% of A-level

Questions Questions

Students answer a series of short questions and write and A series of short-answer and extended-answer questions.
test programs, providing their responses in an Electronic
Answer Document (EAD) provided by OxfordAQA.

10 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3 Subject content
3.1 Procedural programming
3.1.1 Data types
Content Additional information
Understand the concept of a data type.
Understand and use the following data types appropriately: Students using Python could use Python type hints to help
them become more familiar with the concept of data types,
• integer but this is not a requirement.
• real/float
• Boolean
• character
• string
• date/time.

3.1.2 Programming concepts

Content Additional information
Use, understand and know how the following statement Students will not need to use the terms function and
types can be combined in programs: procedure to distinguish between subroutines that do and
do not return values.
• variable declaration
• assignment
• selection
• iteration
• subroutine.
Use definite and indefinite iteration.
Use nested selection and nested iteration structures.
Use meaningful identifier names and know why it is important
to use them.
Be able to display output and obtain input from the user.

Understand the importance of adding comments to explain

how code works and be able to read comments in code and
add comments to code.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 11
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.1.2.1 Arithmetic operations in a programming language

Content Additional information
Be familiar with and be able to use:

• addition
• subtraction
• multiplication
• real/float division
• integer division, including remainder (DIV and MOD)
• exponentiation (power)
• rounding
• truncation.

3.1.2.2 Relational operations in a programming language

Content Additional information
Be familiar with and be able to use:

• equal to
• not equal to
• less than
• greater than
• less than or equal to
• greater than or equal to.

3.1.2.3 Boolean operations in a programming language

Content Additional information
Be familiar with and be able to use: Students will not be required to know the order of
precedence of XOR, which varies between languages and
• NOT systems.
• AND
• OR
• XOR.

Know that the order of precedence between NOT, AND and

OR operators is:

• NOT – highest
• AND
• OR – lowest.

12 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.1.2.4 String-handling operations in a programming language

Content Additional information
Be familiar with and be able to use:

• length
• position
• substring
• concatenation
• character → character code
• character code → character
• string conversion operations.

Required string conversion operations:

• string → integer
• string → float
• integer → string
• float → string
• date/time → string
• string → date/time.

3.1.2.5 Random number generation in a programming language

Content Additional information
Be familiar with, and be able to use, random number
generation.

3.1.2.6 Exception handling

Content Additional information
Be familiar with, and be able to use, exception handling.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 13
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.1.2.7 Subroutines
Content Additional information
Be familiar with subroutines and their uses.
Know that a subroutine is a named ‘out of line’ block of code
that may be executed (called) by simply writing its name in a
program statement.
Be able to explain the advantages of using subroutines in
programs.
Be able to describe the use of parameters to pass data within Students will not be required to distinguish between
programs. passing parameters by value or reference, but may use these
techniques if they wish to and they are supported by the
programming language that the student is using.
Be able to use subroutines that return values to the calling Students should know how to return more than one value
routine. from a subroutine. In C# and VB.Net this can be achieved
using tuples.
Know that variables that are accessible throughout an entire
program are known as global variables.
Know that subroutines may declare their own variables, Students using C# or VB.Net should also be aware of block
called local variables, and that local variables: scope variables. Block scope variables only exist inside the
block of code that they are declared within. Typical blocks
• exist only while the subroutine is executing of code would include selection and iteration structures.
• are accessible only within the subroutine. Questions will not be asked about block scope, but students
may wish to use this scope when programming.

Know that it is good practice to limit the scope of a variable In Python, local variables should be used in preference to
where possible. global variables. In C# and VB.Net, block scope or local
variables should be used in preference to global variables.
Be able to contrast local variables with global variables.

Be able to explain how a stack frame is used with subroutine

calls to store:

• the return address

• parameters
• local variables.

14 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.2 Fundamental data structures

Content Additional information
Be familiar with the concept of data structures.
Be able to distinguish between static and dynamic data
structures and compare their uses, as well as explaining the
advantages and disadvantages of each.

3.2.1 Arrays and lists

Content Additional information
Be able to use arrays and lists when solving problems, Python does not contain built-in support for arrays, but
including the use of two-dimensional arrays and lists of lists. students can use arrays, for example, by importing the
array (currently does not support string elements or multi-
dimensional arrays) or numpy modules.

In programming exams, it will be acceptable to use either

lists or arrays to solve a problem unless the question states
that a list must be used or an array must be used.

Students will not be required to use arrays of more than two

dimensions in exam questions, but may do so if they wish to.

3.2.2 Records
Content Additional information
Be familiar with the composition of a group of values (known In Python, classes can be used in a non-object-oriented way
as fields) into a record which can be manipulated as a single to create records simply. For example:
entity.
class Coordinate():
def __init__(self):
self.x = 0
self.y = 0
myposition = Coordinate()
myposition.x = 10
myposition.y = 5
Alternatively, data classes can be used in Python 3.7
onwards. For example:

from dataclasses import dataclass

@dataclass
class Coordinate:
x: int = 0
y: int = 0
In C# and Visual Basic, struct and Structure can be
used to create records.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 15
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.2.3 Queues
Content Additional information
Understand that a queue is a first-in first-out (FIFO) data
structure.
Be able apply the following operations to data stored in a
queue:

• add an item (enqueue)

• remove an item (dequeue).
Be able to describe situations in which a queue is an
appropriate data structure to use.
Understand how to implement a linear queue and a circular
queue using a one-dimensional array.

For implementations in a one-dimensional array, understand

how to test if the queue is empty or full.
Have experience of using a programming language library
that implements the queue data structure.

3.2.4 Stacks
Content Additional information
Understand that a stack is a last-in first-out (LIFO) data
structure.
Be able apply the following operations to data stored in a Peek or top returns the value of the top (most recently
stack: pushed) element without removing it.

• push
• pop
• peek (also known as top).
Be able to describe situations in which a stack is an
appropriate data structure to use.
Understand how to implement a stack using a one-
dimensional array.

For implementations in a one-dimensional array, understand

how to test if the stack is empty or full.
Have experience of using a programming language library
that implements the stack data structure.

16 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.3 Program design

3.3.1 Structured approach to programming
Content Additional information
Understand the structured approach to program design and Students should be able to describe the structured approach
construction. including:

• modularised programming
• the use of parameters and return values
• the use of local or (if supported by language) block scope
variables.
Be able to explain the advantages of the structured
approach.
Be able to construct and use hierarchy charts and structure
charts when designing programs.

3.3.2 Abstraction and decomposition

Content Additional information
Be familiar with the concept of abstraction. Abstraction is removing unnecessary details from a problem
to facilitate its solution.
Be familiar with the concept of decomposition. Decomposition is breaking a problem into a number of
sub-problems, so that each sub-problem accomplishes an
identifiable task, which might itself be further subdivided.

Decomposition can be achieved through the use of

subroutines.

3.3.3 Following and writing algorithms

Content Additional information
Understand the term algorithm. An algorithm is a sequence of steps that can be followed to
complete a task and that always terminates.
Be familiar with the use of pseudocode to express algorithms. Students will be expected to be able to understand
algorithms written in pseudocode but will not be expected
to write pseudocode in the exam.
Be able to convert an algorithm from pseudocode into high-
level language program code.
Be able to hand-trace algorithms.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 17
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.3.4 Aspects of software development

Content Additional information
Analysis Be aware that before a problem can be solved, it must be
defined, the requirements of the system that solves the
problem must be established and a data model created.

Requirements of the system must be established by

interaction with the intended users of the system. The
process of clarifying requirements may involve prototyping/
agile approach.
Design Be aware that before constructing a solution, the solution
should be designed and specified, for example planning
data structures for the data model, designing algorithms,
designing an appropriate modular structure for the solution
and designing the human user interface.

Be aware that design can be an iterative process involving a

prototyping/agile approach.
Implementation Be aware that the models and algorithms need to be
implemented in the form of data structures and code
(instructions) that a computer can process.

Be aware that the final solution may be arrived at using an

iterative process employing prototyping/an agile approach
with a focus on solving the critical path first.

The critical path consists of the part of a solution that

everything else depends upon.
Testing Be aware that the implementation must be tested for the
presence of errors, using selected test data covering normal
(typical), boundary and erroneous data.

Students should have practical experience of designing and

applying test data, normal, boundary and erroneous to the
testing of programs so that they are familiar with these test
data types and the purpose of testing.
Evaluation Know the criteria for evaluating a computer system,
including:

• correctness
• efficiency
• maintainability.

18 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.4 Searching and sorting algorithms

3.4.1 Searching algorithms
Content Additional information
Know the linear search algorithm and be able to Students may be asked to write code to implement a linear search
trace it. algorithm in the exam.

Students should know that an inefficient version of the linear search

algorithm will always look at every item in a list, whilst a more advanced
version will stop as soon as the item is found.
Know the binary search algorithm and be able to Students will need to understand how the binary search algorithm
trace it. operates and may be asked to write code to implement a binary search
algorithm in the exam.
Compare the linear search and binary search Students should be able to compare the algorithms in terms of:
algorithms.
• their time efficiency.
• the conditions under which they can be used (if the array/list has to
be ordered or not).

Formal comparisons using big-O notation will not be required at AS,

but may be required at A-level.

3.4.2 Sorting algorithms

Content Additional information
Know the bubble sort algorithm and be able to This is included as an example of a particularly inefficient sorting
trace it. algorithm.

Students will be expected to know that a number of versions of the

algorithm exists and that the most basic version that uses definite
iteration can be made more efficient by:

• reducing the number of items checked by one after each pass

through a list
• using indefinite iteration so that the sort process stops when one
pass has been made through the list without any swaps being
made.

Students may be asked to write code to implement a bubble sort

algorithm in the exam.
Know the merge sort algorithm and be able to Students will not be asked to write code to implement the merge sort
demonstrate how it operates. algorithm in the exam but may be asked to explain or demonstrate how
the algorithm works using a set of data.
Compare the efficiency of the bubble sort and Students should be able to compare the algorithms in terms of their
merge sort algorithms. efficiency of use of time and memory. Formal comparisons using Big O
notation will not be required at AS but may be required at A-level.
Understand that the time-efficiency of the bubble
sort algorithm depends upon the extent to which Students should be able to explain that an efficient version of the
the list is sorted at the start. bubble sort algorithm will terminate more quickly if the list is already
partially sorted.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 19
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.5 Representing data

3.5.1 Number bases
Content Additional information
Be familiar with the concept of a number base, in particular:

• decimal (base 10)

• binary (base 2)
• hexadecimal (base 16).
Convert between decimal, binary and hexadecimal number Number base conversions will not be examined
bases. independently, but students may be required to be able
to convert between these number bases whilst answering
questions on other topics, such as floating point numbers
and assembly language.

3.5.2 Units of information

Content Additional information
Know that:

• the bit is the fundamental unit of information

• a byte is a group of 8 bits.

Know that 2n different values can be represented with n bits. For example, 3 bits can be configured in 23 = 8 different
ways: 000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, 111
Know that quantities of bytes can be described using binary The terms kibibyte, mebibyte, etc have replaced the historic
prefixes representing powers of 2 or using decimal prefixes meanings of the terms kilobyte, megabyte etc.
representing powers of 10, eg one kibibyte is written as 1KiB
= 210 B and one kilobyte is written as 1kB = 103 B.

Know the names, symbols and corresponding powers of 2

for the binary prefixes:

• kibi, Ki - 210
• mebi, Mi - 220
• gibi, Gi - 230
• tebi, Ti - 240
Know the names, symbols and corresponding powers of 10
for the decimal prefixes:

• kilo, k - 103
• mega, M - 106
• giga, G - 109
• tera, T - 1012

20 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.5.3 The binary number system

3.5.3.1 Unsigned binary
Content Additional information
Know the difference between unsigned binary and signed
binary.
Know that in unsigned binary the minimum and maximum
values for a given number of bits, n, are 0 and 2n - 1
respectively.

3.5.3.2 Unsigned binary arithmetic

Content Additional information
Be able to:

• add two unsigned binary integers

• multiply two unsigned binary integers.

3.5.3.3 Signed binary using two’s complement

Content Additional information
Know that signed binary can be used to represent negative Two’s complement is the only representation of negative
integers and that one possible coding scheme is two’s integers that will be examined.
complement.
Students are expected to be able to convert between signed
binary and decimal and vice versa.
Know how to: The range of n bits is -2n-1 to +2n-1 - 1

• represent negative and positive integers in two’s

complement
• perform subtraction using two’s complement
• calculate the range of a given number of bits, n.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 21
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.5.3.4 Numbers with a fractional part

Content Additional information
Know how numbers with a fractional part can be represented Students are not required to know the Institute of Electrical
in: and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) standard, only to know,
understand and be able to use a simplified floating
• fixed point form in binary in a given number of bits and representation consisting of a mantissa and an exponent.
format
• floating point form in binary in a given number of bits and
format.
For both fixed point and floating point be able to convert: Exam questions on floating point numbers will use a format in
which both the mantissa and exponent are represented using
• from decimal to binary using a given number of bits and two’s complement.
format
• from binary to decimal using a given number of bits and
format.
Understand that in floating point the number of bits in the
mantissa determines the precision with which numbers can
be represented and the number of bits in the exponent
determines the range of numbers that can be represented.

3.5.3.5 Rounding errors

Content Additional information
Know and be able to explain why both fixed point and For a real number to be represented exactly by the binary
floating point representation of decimal numbers may be number system, it must be capable of being represented by
inaccurate. a binary fraction in the given number of bits and format. Some
values cannot ever be represented exactly, for example the
decimal number 0.1.

3.5.3.6 Absolute and relative errors

Content Additional information
Be able to calculate the absolute error of numerical data
stored and processed in computer systems.
Be able to calculate the relative error of numerical data stored
and processed in computer systems.
Be able to explain why relative error is a more useful measure
than absolute error.

3.5.3.7 Underflow and overflow

Content Additional information
Explain overflow and underflow and describe the Overflow occurs when the result of a calculation is so large that
circumstances in which they occur. it cannot be represented in the available number of bits.

Underflow occurs when the result of a calculation is so close to

zero that, in a given number of bits, its closest representation
is zero.

22 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.5.3.8 Compare fixed and floating point

Content Additional information
Compare the advantages and disadvantages of fixed point
and floating point representations in terms of:

• range
• precision
• speed of calculation.

3.5.3.9 Normalisation of floating point form

Content Additional information
Know why floating point numbers are normalised and be
able to normalise un-normalised floating point numbers with
positive or negative mantissas.

3.5.4 Representing characters

Content Additional information
Understand that characters are represented using a character Codes are represented as numbers and stored as bit
set, in which each character is assigned a unique code. patterns.

Describe ASCII and Unicode coding systems for coding

character data.

Explain why Unicode was introduced.

Know that ASCII is a 7-bit encoding system. ASCII can represent 27 = 128 characters.
Know that Unicode has more than one encoding system.

Know that UTF-8:

• is the most widely used Unicode encoding

• is a variable-length encoding system where 8, 16, 24 or
32 bits are used to represent a character
• was designed for backwards compatibility with ASCII and
that in UTF-8 and ASCII the numbers 0 to 127 represent
the same characters.
Know that in both Unicode and ASCII characters are grouped Students will not be expected to remember the Unicode or
into blocks: ASCII values of particular characters in the exam, but may be
asked to work out the code of another character in a block if
• numeric digits start at code 48 given the code of the first character in the block. For example,
• English uppercase letters start at code 65 if told the ASCII code of the character A, a student could be
expected to work out the ASCII code of the character G.
• English lowercase letters start at code 97.
Understand the difference between the character code For example, the pure binary representation of the digit 6
representation of a decimal digit and its pure binary is 110 but its representation as a character code in ASCII in
representation. binary is 0110110 and in UTF-8 it is 00110110.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 23
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.5.5 Representing graphics

3.5.5.1 Bitmapped graphics
Content Additional information
Describe how bitmaps represent images.
Understand the following for bitmaps: The size of an image is calculated as the width of an image
in pixels multiplied by the height of the image in pixels using
• size in pixels the notation: width in pixels x height in pixels.
• colour depth.
Colour depth is the number of bits used to represent the
colour of a pixel.

Calculate storage requirements for bitmapped images, Excluding metadata:

excluding metadata.
storage requirements = size in pixels x colour depth
Be aware that bitmap image files may also contain metadata.
where size in pixels is width in pixels x height in pixels.

Be familiar with typical metadata. Examples: width, height, colour depth.

3.5.5.2 Vector graphics

Content Additional information
Explain how vector graphics represents images using lists of The properties of each geometric object/shape in the vector
objects. graphic image are stored as a list.
Give examples of typical properties of objects. Typical properties include:

• x and y coordinates of top left corner of object

• colour of object outline
• line width of object outline
• colour of object fill.

3.5.5.3 Comparing bitmapped and vector graphics

Content Additional information
Compare the vector graphics approach with the bitmapped
graphics approach and understand the advantages and
disadvantages of each.
Be aware of appropriate uses of the vector graphics and
bitmapped graphics approaches.

24 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.5.6 Representing sound

3.5.6.1 Analogue and digital
Content Additional information
Understand the difference between analogue and digital
quantities.
Describe the principles of operation of:

• an analogue to digital converter (ADC)

• a digital to analogue converter (DAC).
Be able to describe the use of an ADC in the recording of
analogue audio and the use of a DAC in the playback of
digital audio.

3.5.6.2 Digital representation of sound and Nyquist’s theorem

Content Additional information
Describe the digital representation of sound in terms of: Sample resolution is the number of bits used to represent
one sample.
• sample resolution
Sampling rate is the number of samples taken in a second
• sampling rate.
and is usually measured in hertz.

1 hertz = 1 event/cycle per second. In the context of

sampling, 1 hertz = 1 sample taken per second.
Calculate sound sample sizes in bytes. File size (bits) = rate (Hz) x res x secs

rate = sampling rate (Hz)

res = sample resolution

secs = number of seconds.

Be able to describe Nyquist’s theorem and use it to calculate
the minimum sampling rate that should be used to sample a
sound in order to be able to represent it accurately.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 25
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.5.7 Basic encryption methods

Content Additional information
Understand what is meant by encryption and be able to Encryption is the use of an algorithm to convert plaintext into
define it. ciphertext so that it cannot easily be understood by a third
party who does not know both the method used to encrypt
the data and the encryption key.

Exam questions will be primarily focussed on the Caesar and

Vernam ciphers. If any other type of cipher is used in an exam
question, it will be explained in the question and will be of
similar conceptual difficulty.
Be familiar with the terms cipher, plaintext and ciphertext. A key is a value, such as a sequence of letters or bits, that is
applied to plaintext by a cipher to convert the plaintext into
Know what a key is. ciphertext.
Be familiar with the Caesar cipher and be able to apply it The Caesar cipher is easily cracked as:
to encrypt a plaintext message and decrypt a ciphertext
message. • there are only 25 possible keys

Be able to explain why the Caesar cipher is easily cracked.

• the frequency of letters in the ciphertext corresponds
to the frequency of letters in the plaintext, making it
susceptible to frequency analysis
• once the shift applied to one letter is identified, the shift
applied to all letters is known.
Be familiar with the Vernam cipher (sometimes known as a
one-time pad cipher) and be able to apply it to encrypt a
plaintext message and decrypt a ciphertext message.
Know what perfect security is. A cipher is perfectly secure if nothing can be learned about
the plaintext from examining the ciphertext.
Know that the Vernam cipher can be perfectly secure.
For the Vernam cipher to be perfectly secure:
Describe the conditions that must be met for the Vernam
cipher to be perfectly secure. • the key must be chosen completely randomly
• the key must be at least as long as the plaintext
• the key must be used only once
• the key must be known only to the sender and receiver.
Compare the Caesar and Vernam ciphers. Caesar and Vernam ciphers provide completely different
levels of security: the Caesar cipher provides very little
security, the Vernam cipher offers perfect security subject to
conditions being met.

Between these two types are ciphers that are computationally

secure.
Know that most ciphers used by computers rely on A computationally secure cipher is a cipher for which
computational security. information about the plaintext can be learned from the
ciphertext, but algorithms to crack the cipher take an
Understand the concept of a computationally secure cipher. unfeasible time to complete or have a very low probability of
Compare Vernam cipher with ciphers that depend on success.
computational security.

26 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

Content Additional information

Understand the key exchange problem. The key exchange problem is the problem of sharing the key
between the sender and receiver without it being at risk of
being intercepted.
Know the difference between a symmetric and an asymmetric A symmetric cipher uses the same key to encrypt and decrypt
cipher. the data.

Both the Caesar and Vernam ciphers are symmetric ciphers.

An asymmetric cipher uses different mathematically related

keys to encrypt and decrypt the data: since the encryption
and decryption keys are different the key exchange problem
does not apply.

3.5.8 Error detection and correction

Content Additional information
Describe and explain the use of:

• parity bits
• majority voting
• checksums.

Compare the use and effectiveness of these three methods.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 27
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.6 Computer systems

3.6.1 Hardware and software
Content Additional information
Understand the relationship between hardware and software Hardware is the electronic components of a computer
and be able to define the terms: system.

• hardware Software is the sequences of instructions that are executed

using the hardware.
• software.

3.6.2 Software
Content Additional information
Explain what is meant by:

• system software
• application software.
Understand the need for, and functions of the following For utilities, students will be expected to understand that
system software: utility programs add additional functionality to assist with the
management of a computer system and to be able to give
• operating systems (OSs) examples, such as a virus checker or compression program.
• utility programs
• libraries
• translators (compiler, assembler, interpreter).
Understand that a role of the operating system is to hide
the complexities of the hardware from the user and other
software.
Be able to describe the following functions of an operating Students only need to understand how main memory is
system: allocated. Virtual memory does not need to be covered.

• scheduling
• memory allocation
• I/O device management
• interrupt handling.

28 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.6.3 Programming languages and translation software

3.6.3.1 Classification of programming languages
Content Additional information
Show awareness of the development of types of Students do not need to be familiar with the terms first
programming languages and their classification into low-level generation, second generation and third generation.
and high-level languages.
Know that low-level languages are considered to be:

• machine code
• assembly language.
Describe machine code and assembly language.
Understand the advantages and disadvantages of machine
code and assembly language programming compared with
high-level language programming.
Explain the term ‘imperative high-level language’. An imperative high-level language is a high-level language
in which the commands describe the process that should be
followed to carry out a task.

3.6.3.2 Types of program translator

Content Additional information
Understand the role of each of the following:

• assembler
• compiler
• interpreter.
Explain the differences between compilation and
interpretation. Describe situations in which each would be
appropriate.
Explain why an intermediate language such as bytecode is Intermediate languages are used because:
produced as the final output by some compilers and how it is
subsequently used. • intermediate language code is more portable than
machine code
• security checks can be performed on intermediate
language code before it is executed
• intermediate language code can use less memory than
equivalent machine code.

The intermediate language code is used by either:

• a virtual machine, which will interpret the intermediate

language code to execute it, or
• a just-in-time (JIT) compiler that converts the intermediate
language code into machine code suitable for the
computer it is being executed on.
Understand the difference between source code and object
(executable) code.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 29
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.7 Computer organisation and architecture

3.7.1 Internal hardware components of a computer
Content Additional information
Have an understanding and knowledge of the basic internal
components of a computer system.
Understand the role of the following components and how
they relate to each other:

• processor
• main memory
• address bus
• data bus
• control bus
• I/O controllers.
Understand the need for, and means of, communication
between components. In particular, understand the concept
of a bus and how address, data and control buses are used.
Understand the concept of addressable memory. Exam questions on this topic will state the size of each
addressable memory location.
Be able to describe the stored program concept. The stored program concept is that machine code
instructions stored in main memory are fetched and executed
serially by a processor that performs arithmetic and logical
operations.
Be able to explain the difference between von Neumann
and Harvard architectures and understand the advantages of
each.

30 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.7.2 The processor and its components

Content Additional information
Explain the role and operation of a processor and its major
components:

• arithmetic logic unit (ALU)

• control unit
• clock
• general-purpose registers
• dedicated registers, including:

• program counter (PC)

• current instruction register (CIR)
• memory address register (MAR)
• memory buffer register (MBR)
• status register (SR).

3.7.3 The Fetch-Execute cycle and interrupts

Content Additional information
Explain how the Fetch-Execute cycle is used to execute
machine code programs including the stages in the cycle
(fetch, decode, execute) and details of registers and buses
used.
Describe the role of interrupts and interrupt service routines The volatile environment consists of the program counter,
(ISRs); their effect on the Fetch-Execute cycle; and the need status register, stack pointer and any other registers that
to save the volatile environment while the interrupt is being might be altered by the ISR.
serviced.
Students will not be required to explain how interrupts with
different priorities are dealt with.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 31
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.7.4 Factors affecting processor performance

Content Additional information
Explain the effect on processor performance of:

• multiple cores
• cache memory
• clock speed
• word length
• address bus width
• data bus width.

3.7.5 Secondary storage

Content Additional information
Explain the need for secondary storage within a computer Students should be able to distinguish between secondary
system. storage and main memory.
Know the main characteristics, purposes, suitability and
understand the principles of operation of the following
devices:

• magnetic hard disk

• solid-state drive (SSD).
Make comparisons between the use of magnetic hard disk
and solid-state storage and make a judgement about their
suitability for different applications.
Explain the term cloud storage. Cloud storage is storage of data on servers at a remote
location that is accessed via the Internet.
Explain the advantages and disadvantages of cloud storage
when compared to local storage.

32 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.7.6 Logic gates

Content Additional information
Construct truth tables for the following logic gates: Students should know and be able to use the following
symbols:
• NOT
• AND NOT
• OR
• XOR AND
• NAND
• NOR
OR

XOR

NAND

NOR

Be familiar with drawing and interpreting logic circuit

diagrams involving one or more of the above gates.
Complete a truth table for a given logic circuit.
Write a Boolean expression for a given logic gate circuit. The following notation will be used:
• NOT: ̅
• AND: ⋅
• OR: +
• XOR: ⨁
Draw an equivalent logic gate circuit for a given Boolean
expression.
Recognise and trace the logic of the circuits of a half-adder
and a full-adder.
Construct the circuit for a half-adder. Students will not be required to construct the circuit for a
full-adder.
Be familiar with the use of the edge-triggered D-type flip-flop Students should know that the D-type flip-flop has a clock
as a memory unit. and data input and that when the clock signal goes high the
current state of the input is stored and will be output until the
clock signal goes high again.

Knowledge of the internal operation of the D-type flip-flop is

not required.

Students will not be required to draw circuits that use D-type

flip-flops but may be asked to state the output of a simple
circuit that includes D-type flip-flops.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 33
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.7.7 Boolean algebra

Content Additional information
Be familiar with the use of Boolean identities and De The order of precedence of operators from highest to lowest
Morgan’s laws to manipulate and simplify Boolean is:
expressions.
• NOT: ̅
• AND: ⋅
• OR: +

Brackets can be used to change the order of evaluation.

Students should know how the laws of distributivity,

associativity and commutativity apply:

• Commutativity:

A+B=B+A

A⋅B=B⋅A

• Associativity:

A+(B+C)=(A+B)+C

A⋅(B⋅C)=(A⋅B)⋅C

• Distributivity (AND distributes over OR):

A⋅(B+C)=A⋅B+A⋅C

Students should be able to apply the following Boolean

identities:

=A

A⋅A=A

A+A=A

A⋅ = 0

A+ = 1

A⋅0=0

A+0=A

A⋅1=A

A+1=1

A⋅(A+B)=A

A+A⋅B=A

A+ ⋅B=A+B

A⨁B= A⋅ + ⋅B

34 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

Students should be able to apply De Morgan’s laws:

A+B=

A⋅B=

3.8 Machine code and assembly language

3.8.1 Instruction format
Content Additional information
Understand the term ‘processor instruction set’ and know
that an instruction set is processor specific.
Know that instructions consist of an opcode, an addressing Knowledge of the format of a particular instruction set is not
mode and one or more operands (value, memory address or required.
register).
For example, in a 32-bit ARM data processing instruction:
Know that the format of an instruction, in machine code
or assembly language, may be dependent on the type of • The instruction is stored in 12 bits:
instruction.
• 4 bits are used to represent the opcode
• 1 bit is used to represent the addressing mode for
<operand2>
• the remaining bits are used to represent other
information such as the condition under which the
instruction should be executed.

• Up to three operands are stored in 20 bits:

• 2 x 4 bits are allocated to storing two register

numbers
• 12 bits are allocated to storing <operand2>,
which can be a register number or a value to process,
depending on the addressing mode.
Understand and apply immediate, direct and indirect Immediate addressing: the operand is the value to operate
addressing modes. on.

Direct addressing: the operand is the address from which

the value to operate on should be fetched. Address can
be interpreted as meaning either main memory address or
register number.

Indirect addressing: the operand is a register that contains

the address in main memory from which the value to operate
on should be fetched.
Know that in machine code instructions are expressed in
binary and that in assembly language they are expressed as
mnemonics.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 35
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.8.2 Assembly language programming

Content Additional information
Understand and apply the basic operations of: Exam questions will use the OxfordAQA assembly language
instruction set, which is based on the ARM processor
• load instruction set. A copy of the instruction set will be included
• add in any exam paper that includes an assembly language
question and can be found in 6 Appendix: Standard
• subtract
OxfordAQA assembly language instruction set.
• store
• branching (conditional and unconditional)
• compare
• logical bitwise operators (AND, OR, NOT, XOR)
• logical

• shift right
• shift left

• halt.
Use the basic operations above to write, trace and reason An exam question could require a student to write a program
about assembly language programs using immediate, direct to meet a written requirement or to implement an algorithm
and indirect addressing modes. expressed in pseudocode.

A student should be able to convert pseudocode into

assembly language and convert assembly language into
pseudocode.

3.9 Object-oriented and additional programming

3.9.1 Classes, objects and instantiation
Content Additional information
Know why the object-oriented paradigm is used.
Be familiar with the concepts of:

• class
• property/attribute
• method
• object
• instantiation
• encapsulation
• inheritance
• overriding
• association

and be able to apply and identify these.

36 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

Content Additional information

Know what a class is and be able to create classes. A class defines methods and property/attribute fields that
capture the common behaviours and characteristics of
objects.
Know what an object is and how to create objects using Objects based on a class are created using an explicit or
instantiation. implicit constructor.

Know that a constructor is called when an object is

instantiated from a class and be able to create constructor
functions.

Know that a constructor initialises an object to a given state.

3.9.2 Encapsulation
Content Additional information
Know what encapsulation is and how it is used in object- Know that encapsulation is when the ways in which a class
oriented programming. operates and how the class represents data are hidden from
other classes.
Be able to design classes to use encapsulation appropriately.
Be able to use access modifiers to determine which classes Be able to use the public, private and protected access
can access properties and methods in a class. modifiers.

Students using Python should be familiar with the naming

conventions used to represent public, private and protected.

Note that access modifiers are also known as access

specifiers.
Use getter and setter methods to provide controlled access
to data stored in a class.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 37
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.9.3 Relationships between classes

Content Additional information
Know that inheritance is a relationship between classes in For example, a Car class could be a more specialised version
which one class is a more specialised version of an existing of a Vehicle class.
class.

Be able to create classes using inheritance.

Know that when inheritance is used there is a base class and Base class is also known as parent class.
a subclass.
Subclass is also known as derived class.
Be able to use the protected access modifier to determine
which methods and properties of a base class can be Properties and methods that are common to the base class
accessed in subclasses without being accessible to objects in and the subclass are defined in the base class but accessible
other classes. to both the parent and base class.

The protected access specifier is used in the base class to

give a subclass access to specific methods and properties.
Know what overriding is. Know that overriding is when a method from the base class is
redefined in a subclass so that an instance of the subclass can
Be able to use overriding. behave in a different way to an instance of the base class.

Students using C# and VB.Net will need to declare a method

as virtual so that it can be overridden in a subclass.
Know that association is a relationship between two objects Association is a much weaker relationship than inheritance.
in which one object can make use of another.
For example, in a football simulation, a Team object might be
Be able to use association. associated with Player objects.

Students will not be required to distinguish between

aggregation and composition.
Be familiar with the use of class diagrams to show inheritance The following line types will be used to represent
and association relationships. relationships.

Inheritance:

Association:

The public access specifier will be indicated by the + symbol,

the private access specifier by the - symbol and the protected
access specifier by the # symbol.

38 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.9.4 Additional programming

3.9.4.1 Files
Content Additional information
Be able to read/write from/to a text file.

3.9.4.2 Recursion
Content Additional information
Know that a recursive subroutine is a subroutine that calls
itself.
Know that recursive subroutines have a base and a recursive The base case is the case in which the subroutine does not
case. call itself.

The recursive case is the case in which the subroutine calls

itself.

Recursive subroutines must have a base case to prevent the

function recursing indefinitely.

Note that there may be more than one base case and/or
more than one recursive case in a subroutine.
Be able to solve simple problems using recursion. Students should be able to read and write code that uses
recursion and be able to trace recursive algorithms.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 39
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.10 Advanced data structures

3.10.1 Graphs
Content Additional information
Be aware of a graph as a data structure used to represent
complex relationships.
Be familiar with typical uses for graphs.
Be able to explain the terms:

• graph
• weighted graph
• vertex/node
• edge/arc
• undirected graph
• directed graph.
Know how an adjacency matrix and an adjacency list may be Students should be familiar with the use of an adjacency
used to represent a graph. matrix to represent both weighted and unweighted graphs.

Be able to compare the use of adjacency matrices and Adjacency matrices are more appropriate when:
adjacency lists.
• edges must be added or removed frequently
• the presence/absence of edges is tested frequently
• a graph is dense, ie there are many edges relative to the
number of vertices.

Adjacency lists are more appropriate when a graph is sparse,

ie there are few edges relative to the number of vertices.

3.10.2 Trees
Content Additional information
Know that a tree is a connected, undirected graph with no Note that a tree does not have to have a root.
cycles.
Know that a rooted tree is a tree in which one vertex has A class hierarchy in object-oriented programming is an
been designated as the root. A rooted tree has parent-child example of a rooted tree, with Object as the root and all
relationships between nodes. The root is the only node with other classes descending for it.
no parent and all other nodes are descendants of the root.
Know that a binary tree is a rooted tree in which each node
has at most two children.
Understand how a binary tree can be used as a binary search
tree.

40 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.10.3 Hash tables

Content Additional information
Be familiar with the concept of a hash table and its uses. A hash table is a data structure that creates a mapping
between keys and values.
Know what a hash function is. A hash function uses a record’s key to calculate a value which
represents the position that the record is stored at in a hash
Be able to apply simple hash functions. table.
Understand the properties of a good hash function. Hash functions often use the MOD operator to limit the
maximum size of the hash table by always returning a value in
the range 0 .. hash table size - 1.

Good hash functions generate an even distribution of records

throughout the table and are quick to compute.
Know what is meant by a collision and how collisions are A collision occurs when two key values compute the same
handled using rehashing. hash.

When a collision occurs, the second record, that should have

been stored at the position occupied by the first record, is
instead stored in the next available position.
Understand the advantages and disadvantages of using a
hash table as an alternative to an array.

3.10.4 Priority Queues

Content Additional information
Know what a priority queue is.
Be able apply the following operations to data stored in a
priority queue:

• add an item (enqueue)

• remove an item (dequeue).
Be able to describe situations in which a priority queue is an Priority queues can be used to implement some graphing
appropriate data structure to use. algorithms, such as a breadth-first search or Dijkstra’s
algorithm.
Understand how to implement a priority queue using a one-
dimensional array.

For implementations in a one-dimensional array, understand how

to test if the priority queue is empty or full.

3.10.5 Dictionaries
Content Additional information
Be familiar with the concept of a dictionary. A collection of key-value pairs in which the value is accessed
via the associated key.
Be familiar with simple applications of dictionaries.
Have experience of using a programming language library
that implements the dictionary data structure.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 41
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.11 Advanced algorithms

3.11.1 Graph algorithms
Content Additional information
Be able to trace breadth-first and depth-first search Example applications are:
algorithms and describe typical applications of both.
• breadth-first: shortest path for an unweighted graph
• depth-first: navigating a maze.
Be able to implement breadth-first and depth-first search
algorithms in program code.
Understand and be able to trace Dijkstra’s shortest path Students will not be expected to recall the steps in Dijkstra’s
algorithm. shortest path algorithm or to write program code to
implement it, unless the algorithm is given to them on a
Be aware of applications of shortest path algorithm. question paper.

3.11.2 Tree algorithms

Content Additional information
Be able to trace the tree-traversal algorithms:

• pre-order
• post-order
• in-order.
Understand how to implement pre-order, post-order and in-
order tree-traversal algorithms.

Be able to describe uses of tree-traversal algorithms. Pre-order: copying a tree, producing a prefix expression from
an expression tree.

In-order: binary search tree, outputting the contents of a

binary search tree in ascending order.

Post-order: producing a postfix expression from an

expression tree, emptying a tree.

42 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.12 Functional programming

3.12.1 The functional programming paradigm
Content Additional information
Know that a function, f, has a function type A → B where A Informally, a function is a rule that, for each element in some
is the argument type and B is the result type. The name of a set A of inputs, assigns an output from set B, but without
function and its type are expressed as necessarily using every member of B. For example, f:
f: A → B {a,b,c,…,z} → {0,1,2,…,25} could use the rule that maps a to
0, b to 1, and so on, using all values which are members of
set B.
Know that A is called the domain and B is called the co- The domain is a set from which the function’s input values are
domain. chosen.

The co-domain is a set from which the function’s output

values are chosen. Not all of the co-domain’s members need
to be outputs. For example, the function

sqr: ℝ → ℝ will never output a negative value.

Be familiar with the natural, integer, rational and real number ℕ = {0, 1, 2, 3, … }
systems, which can be used as the domains and co-domains
of functions. ℤ = { …, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, … }

Be familiar with the concept of a natural number and the set ℕ ℚ is the set of numbers that can be written as fractions (ratios
of natural numbers (including zero). of integers). Since a number such as 7 can be written as 7/1,
all integers are rational numbers.
Be familiar with the concept of an integer and the set ℤ of
integers. ℝ is the set of all ‘possible real world quantities’.

Be familiar with the concept of a rational number and the set

ℚ of rational numbers, and that this set includes the integers.

Be familiar with the concept of a real number and the set ℝ of

real numbers.
Know that a function is a first-class object in functional For example, integers, floating point values, characters
programming languages and in imperative programming and strings are first class objects in many programming
languages that support such objects. languages.

Know that first-class objects (or values) are objects which

may:

• appear in expressions
• be assigned to a variable
• be assigned as arguments
• be returned in function calls.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 43
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

Content Additional information

Know that function application means a function applied to The process of giving particular inputs to a function is called
its arguments. function application, for example add(3, 4) represents
the application of the function add to integer arguments 3
and 4.

The type of this function is

add: integer x integer → integer

where integer x integer is the Cartesian product
of the set integer with itself.
Know what is meant by composition of functions. The operation functional composition combines two
functions to get a new function.

Given two functions:

f: A → B
g: B → C
The function g ○ f, called the composition of g and f, is
a function whose domain is A and co-domain is C and so has
the type A → C.

If the domain and co-domains of f and g are ℝ, and f(x)

= (x + 2) and g(y) = y3. Then:
g ○ f = (x + 2)3
f is applied first and then g is applied to the result returned
by f.
Understand what a higher-order function is. A function is higher-order if it takes a function as an argument
or returns a function as a result, or does both.

44 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.12.2 Writing functional programs

Content Additional information
Show experience of constructing simple programs in a Exam questions on functional programming will use the
functional programming language. Haskell language.

Functional programming techniques can also be used in C#,

Python and VB.Net.
Know how to define and use a function with argument(s). For example:

add a b = a + b
Know how to apply the arithmetic operations of addition, ^ is used for exponentiation (power).
subtraction, multiplication, division and power.

Know how to perform Boolean comparisons and combine

them. Students should be able to use ==, /=
(not equal to), >, <, && (and), || (or), not.

Have experience of defining functions using recursion, with For example:

both base and recursive case(s).
fact 0 = 1
Be familiar with the use of pattern matching to recognise
values and determine which case of a recursive function to fact n = n * fact n - 1
apply.

Have experience of using the map higher-order function. map is the name of a higher-order function that applies a
given function to each element of a list, returning a list of
results.

For example:

square x = x * x
numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4]
map square numbers
produces the list:

[1,4,9,16]
Have experience of using the filter higher-order function. filter is the name of a higher-order function that processes
a data structure, typically a list, in some order to produce a
new data structure containing exactly those elements of the
original data structure that match a given condition.

For example:

filter (<10) [15, 8, 20, 3]

produces the list:

[8,3]

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 45
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

Content Additional information

Have experience of using a fold (also known as reduce) foldl and foldr are the names of higher-order functions
higher-order function. which reduce a list of values to a single value by repeatedly
applying a combining function, together with an initial value,
Know that there are two fold functions in Haskell: foldl to a list of values.
starts with the leftmost item of a list and works forward, while
foldr starts with the rightmost item and works backward. For example:

numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4]
foldl (+) 0 numbers
evaluates to 10 since ((((0 + 1) + 2) + 3) + 4) = 10.

This is because it combines the list by repeatedly applying

the addition function to it starting with 0 at the left.

foldr (+) 0 numbers

also evaluates to 10 since ((((4 + 0) + 3) + 2) + 1) = 10.

However:

foldl (-) 0 [1, 2, 3, 4]

evaluates to -10 since ((((0 – 1) – 2) – 3) – 4) = -10

whilst:

foldr (-) 0 [1, 2, 3, 4]

evaluates to -2 since ((((4 – 0) – 3) – 2) – 1) = -2

46 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.12.3 Lists in functional programming

Content Additional information
Know that a list can store a sequence of values and that lists For example,[7, 2, 1] is a list containing the three
are represented using brackets. numbers 7,2 and 1.

Know that a list can be empty. [] is the empty list.

Know how to define a list. An example of defining a list:

listOne = [10, 7, 8]
listTwo = ["Adam", "Ananya"]
Be familiar with representing a list as a concatenation of a For example, in Haskell the list [4, 3, 5] can be written
head and a tail. in the form head:tail where head is the first item in the
list and tail is the remainder of the list. In the example, we
Know that the head is an element of a list and the tail is a list. have 4:[3, 5]. We call 4 the head of the list and [3,
5] the tail.
Note that the tail of a list is always a list, even if it only contains
a single element, so should be written in brackets.
Describe and apply the following list operations: For example:

• return head of list listOne = [1, 2, 3]

• return tail of list listTwo = [4, 5]
• test for empty list
listThree = []
• return length of list
head listOne evaluates to 1
• construct an empty list
tail listOne evaluates to [2, 3]
• append an item to a list.
null listOne evaluates to False
Have experience writing programs for the list operations
mentioned above in Haskell. null listThree evaluates to True
length listOne evaluates to 3
listOne ++ listTwo evaluates to
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Understand how the head and the tail of a list argument to a For example, if the function sum below was passed the
function can be referred to inside the function. argument [8, 3, 2] then x would reference the value 8
and xs would reference the list [3, 2].

sum (x:xs) = x + sum (xs)

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 47
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.13 Theory of computation

3.13.1 Finite state machines (FSMs)
Content Additional information
Be able to draw and interpret simple state transition diagrams For FSMs with output, only Mealy machines are required, not
and state transition tables for FSMs with output and without Moore machines.
output.

3.13.2 Regular expressions and regular languages

Content Additional information
Be able to form and use simple regular expressions for string Students should be familiar with the metacharacters:
matching.
• * (0 or more repetitions)
• + (1 or more repetitions)
• ? (0 or 1 repetitions, ie optional)
• | (alternation, ie or)
• ( ) to group regular expressions.

Students should also be able to use character classes, for

example [CH] matches the character C or the character H and
[A – Z] matches any character between A and Z, including A
and Z.

Any other metacharacters used in an exam question will be

explained as part of the question.
Be able to describe the relationship between regular Regular expressions and FSMs are equivalent ways of
expressions and FSMs. defining a regular language.
Be able to:

• write a regular expression to recognise the same

language as a given FSM
• design an FSM to recognise the same language as a given
regular expression.
Know that a language is called regular if it can be represented
by a regular expression.

Know that any regular language can be recognised by an

FSM.

Know that a regular expression can be written to describe the

language recognised by any FSM.

48 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.13.3 Turing machines

Content Additional information
Know that a Turing machine can be viewed as a computer Exam questions will only be asked about Turing machines
with a single fixed program, expressed using: that have one tape that is infinite in one direction.

• a finite set of states in a state transition diagram No distinction will be made between the input alphabet and
the tape alphabet.
• a finite alphabet of symbols
• an infinite tape with marked-off squares
• a sensing read-write head that can travel along the tape,
one square at a time.

One of the states is called a start state and states that have no
outgoing transitions are called halting states.

Be able to:

• represent transition rules using a transition function

• represent transition rules using a state transition diagram
• hand-trace simple Turing machines.

Understand the equivalence between a transition function

and a state transition diagram.
Be able to explain the importance of Turing machines Turing machines provide a (general/formal) model of
and the Universal Turing machine (UTM) to the subject of computation and provide a definition of what is computable.
computation.
The UTM is a Turing machine that can simulate the behaviour
of any other Turing machine. A description of the Turing
machine to simulate and the machine’s input are stored on
the UTM’s tape.

3.13.4 Backus-Naur Form (BNF) and syntax diagrams

Content Additional information
Be able to check language syntax by referring to BNF or
syntax diagrams and formulate simple production rules.
Know that BNF can represent some languages that regular For example, BNF can represent the following languages that
expressions cannot represent. cannot be represented by regular expressions:

• palindromes
• a language where strings must contain equal numbers of
certain characters.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 49
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.13.5 Classification of algorithms

3.13.5.1 Comparing algorithms
Content Additional information
Understand that algorithms can be compared by expressing The size of the problem usually refers to the amount of data
their complexity as a function relative to the size of the to be processed, for example the number of elements in a list
problem. Understand that the size of the problem is the key that an algorithm is being applied to.
issue.
Understand that some algorithms are more efficient than Efficiently implementing algorithms means designing data
others: models and algorithms to run quickly while taking up the
minimal amount of resources such as memory.
• time-wise
• space-wise.

3.13.5.2 Order of complexity

Content Additional information
Be familiar with Big O notation to express time complexity
and be able to apply it to cases where the running time
requirements of the algorithm grow in:

• constant time – O(1)

• logarithmic time – O(log n)
• linear time – O(n)
• polynomial time – O(na)
• exponential time – O(an).
Be able to derive the time complexity of a simple algorithm.

Know that algorithms may have a best and a worst-case time For example, bubble sort has a worst-case time complexity of
complexity and that these may be different. O(n2) and a best-case time complexity of O(n).

Know the best and worst-case time complexity of the

following algorithms:

• linear search
• binary search
• bubble sort
• merge sort
• Dijkstra’s shortest path algorithm
• searching a binary search tree.

50 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.13.5.3 Classification of algorithmic problems

Content Additional information
Know that algorithms may be classified as being either:

• tractable – problems that have a polynomial (or less) time

solution are called tractable problems
• intractable – problems that have no polynomial (or less)
time solution are called intractable problems.
Know that heuristic methods are often used when tackling Students will be expected to explain what a heuristic method
intractable problems. is but do not need to be familiar with any specific heuristic
techniques.
Understand that a heuristic is a set of rules or knowledge
about the problem domain and that a heuristic method
might:

• find an approximate but non-optimal solution to a

problem
• change some of the problem constraints.

3.13.5.4 Computable and non-computable problems

Content Additional information
Be aware that some problems cannot be solved
algorithmically.
Describe the Halting problem. The Halting problem is the unsolvable problem of
determining whether a program will eventually stop if given
particular input, without executing the program.

Students will not be required to prove that the Halting

problem is unsolvable.
Understand the significance of the Halting problem for The Halting problem demonstrates that there are some
computation. problems that cannot be solved by a computer.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 51
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.14 Networking and cyber security

3.14.1 Communications
3.14.1.1 Communication methods
Content Additional information
Define serial and parallel transmission methods and discuss
the advantages of serial over parallel transmission.
Define and compare synchronous and asynchronous data
transmission.
Describe the purpose of start and stop bits in asynchronous A start bit brings the clock of the receiver into phase with the
data transmission. clock of the sender.

A stop bit allows the next start bit to be recognised and

in older devices gave the receiver time to deal with the
received data.

3.14.1.2 Communication basics

Content Additional information
Define:

• baud rate
• bit rate
• bandwidth
• latency
• protocol.
Understand the difference between baud rate and bit rate. Bit rate can be higher than baud rate if more than one bit is
encoded in each signal change.
Understand the relationship between bit rate and bandwidth. Bit rate is directly proportionate to bandwidth.

3.14.2 Networking
3.14.2.1 Types of networking between hosts
Content Additional information
Explain the following and describe situations where they In a peer-to-peer network, each computer has equal status.
might be used: In a client-server network, most computers are nominated
as clients and one or more as servers. The clients request
• peer-to-peer networking services from the servers, which provide these services, for
• client-server networking. example file server, email server.

52 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.14.2.2 Thin-client versus thick-client computing

Content Additional information
Compare and contrast thin-client computing with thick-client
computing.

Understand the different hardware and networking

requirements of thin-client and thick-client systems.

3.14.2.3 Wired networking

Content Additional information
Compare copper and fibre-optic cables. Comparisons should be made in terms of cost, speed and
capacity.

Students should be able to select the most appropriate type

of cable for a given situation.
Be able to describe how the protocol Carrier Sense Multiple
Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) works.

3.14.2.4 Wireless networking

Content Additional information
Explain the purpose of Wi-Fi. A wireless local area network that is based on international
standards.

Used to enable devices to connect to a network wirelessly.

Be familiar with the purpose of a Service Set Identifier (SSID).

Be familiar with the components required for wireless Wireless network adapter. Wireless access point.
networking.
Note that in many home networks a single device combines
the functions of a switch, router and wireless access point.
Be familiar with how wireless networks are secured. Strong encryption of transmitted data using WPA2, SSID
(Service Set Identifier) broadcast disabled, MAC (Media
Access Control) address allow list.
Be able to describe how the wireless protocol Carrier Sense
Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) with
and without Request to Send/Clear to Send (RTS/CTS)
works.

3.14.2.5 Compare wired and wireless networking

Content Additional information
Compare the advantages and disadvantages of wireless
networking compared to wired networking.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 53
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.14.3 The Internet

Content Additional information
Understand the structure of the Internet.
Understand the role of packet switching and routers.
Know the main components of a packet. Including:

• source address
• destination address
• packet sequence number
• time to live
• payload
• error detection/correction information.
Explain how routing is achieved across the Internet.
Describe the term 'uniform resource locator' (URL) in the
context of internetworking.
Explain the terms ‘fully qualified domain name’ (FQDN),
‘domain name’ and ‘IP address’.
Describe how domain names are organised.
Understand the purpose and function of the domain service
and its reliance on the Domain Name System (DNS).

Be able to outline how the Domain Name System works

using Domain Name Servers.

Explain the service provided by Internet registries and why

they are needed.

3.14.4 The Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

(TCP/IP) protocol
3.14.4.1 The TCP/IP model
Content Additional information
Describe the role of the four layers of the TCP/IP stack
(application, transport, internet, link).
Understand why networking protocols like TCP/IP use layers.

Describe the role of sockets in the TCP/IP stack.

Be familiar with the role of MAC (Media Access Control)
addresses.

54 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.14.4.2 Standard application layer protocols

Content Additional information
Be familiar with the following protocols:

• FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

• HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
• HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure)
• IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol)
• POP3 (Post Office Protocol (v3))
• SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
• SSH (Secure Shell).
Be familiar with FTP client software and an FTP server, when
transferring files using anonymous or authenticated access.

Be aware that FTP is being replaced by alternative protocols

such as SFTP that encrypt files for secure transmission.
Be familiar with how SSH is used for remote management.

Be familiar with using SSH to log in securely to a remote

computer and execute commands.
Describe the role of an email server when sending or
receiving emails.

Describe how SMTP and POP3 or IMAP protocols are used

when an email is sent.
Describe the role of a web server in serving up web pages in
text form.

Understand the role of a web browser in retrieving web

pages and web page resources and rendering these
accordingly.

3.14.4.3 IP addresses
Content Additional information
Know that an IP address is split into a network identifier part
and a host identifier part.
Know that networks can be divided into subnets and know
how a subnet mask is used to identify the network identifier
part of the IP address.
Know that there are currently two standards of IP address, v4
and v6.
Know why v6 was introduced.
Distinguish between routable and non-routable IP addresses.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 55
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.14.4.4 Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

Content Additional information
Understand the purpose of the DHCP system.
Be able to describe how the DHCP system works.
Understand the advantages of the DHCP system over manual
configuration.

3.14.5 Cyber security

Content Additional information
Understand how a firewall works (packet filtering, proxy
server, stateful inspection).
Understand symmetric and asymmetric (private/ public key)
encryption and key exchange.
Understand how digital certificates and digital signatures are
obtained and used.
Discuss worms, trojans and viruses, and the vulnerabilities
that they exploit

56 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.15 Databases
3.15.1 Relational databases
3.15.1.1 Conceptual data models and entity relationship modelling
Content Additional information
Produce a data model from given data requirements for a
simple scenario involving multiple entities.
Produce entity relationship diagrams representing a data Underlining can be used to identify the attribute(s) which
model and entity descriptions in the form: Entity1(Attribute1, form the entity identifier.
Attribute2, …).
The degree of relationships will be indicated as follows:

One-to-many:

Many-to-one:

One-to-one:

Many-to-many:

3.15.1.2 Key concepts

Content Additional information
Explain the concept of a relational database.

Be able to define the terms: The terms attribute, entity identifier and relation are usually
used in the context of abstract models of a database.
• attribute/field
The terms field, primary key and table are usually used in the
• entity identifier/primary key
context of implemented databases.
• composite entity identifier/composite primary key
• foreign key
• relation/table.

3.15.1.3 Database design and normalisation techniques

Content Additional information
Be able to normalise relations to third normal form. Students should know what properties are possessed by a
relation in third normal form.

Students will not be expected to differentiate between first,

second and third normal forms.
Understand why databases are normalised.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 57
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.15.1.4 Structured Query Language (SQL)

Content Additional information
Be able to use SQL to retrieve, update, insert and delete data Know how to use the commands:
from multiple tables of a relational database.
• SELECT, FROM, WHERE,
ORDER BY, GROUP BY
• UPDATE
• INSERT
• DELETE
Be able to use aggregate SQL functions. Know how to use the functions:

• COUNT
• SUM
• AVG
• MIN
• MAX
Be able to use SQL to define a database table. Know how to create a table using data types for integer and
real numbers, strings, Boolean values, dates and times.

Know how to specify the primary key of a table.

Know how to add a simple foreign key constraint using a

single field.

3.15.1.5 Client server databases

Content Additional information
Know that a client server database system provides
simultaneous access to the database for multiple clients
(known as concurrent access).
Understand that concurrent updates of a database can result If two clients edit a record simultaneously, the first saved
in the lost update problem. update can be lost when it is overwritten by the second one.

Know how concurrent access can be controlled using record

locks to preserve the integrity of a database.

58 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.15.2 Big data

Content Additional information
Know that ‘Big Data’ is a catch-all term for data that cannot be Whilst its size receives all the attention, the most difficult
stored or processed using traditional methods. Big Data can aspect of Big Data really involves its lack of structure. This lack
be described in terms of: of structure poses challenges because:

• volume – too big to fit into a single server • analysing the data is made significantly more difficult
• velocity – streaming data, milliseconds to seconds to • relational databases are not appropriate because they
respond require the data to fit into a row-and-column format.
• variety – data in many forms such as structured,
unstructured, text, multimedia.
Know that when data sizes are so big as not to fit on to a Functional programming languages provide support for
single server: distributed processing through:

• the processing must be distributed across more than one • immutable data structures
machine
• statelessness
• functional programming is a solution, because it makes it
• higher-order functions that can combine the results of
easier to write correct and efficient distributed code.
processing on different servers (map-reduce).
Be familiar with the: Each fact within a fact-based model captures a single piece of
information.
• fact-based model for representing data
In a graph-based schema:
• graph schema for capturing the structure of the dataset
• nodes, edges and properties in graph schema. • An individual entity about which data are stored is
represented as an oval node.
• The properties of an entity are drawn in rectangles, which
are attached to the oval for the entity by a dashed line.
• Relationships between the entities are represented by
solid line edges drawn between the them, labelled with
text to describe the nature of the relationship.

For example:

DOB: 11/03/2012 Gender: Male

Student Shahid

Member of

Form 11R

Room: UW

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 59
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

3.16 Artificial intelligence

3.16.1 Applications of artificial intelligence
Content Additional information
Know the characteristics of artificial intelligence. Students should be aware that there is no one accepted
definition of artificial intelligence.

Systems are often described as being artificially intelligent if

they solve a complex problem and arrive at a solution:

• using a similar method to that which a human might

follow, or
• that is at least as good as a human might arrive at.

The problems solved by artificially intelligent systems are

typically problems that historically have not been solvable
by computer systems because they were believed to require
human intelligence and could not be solved algorithmically
using available computer hardware.
Be aware that current artificial intelligence systems are not Generally intelligent systems are an area of research.
generally intelligent, but work in narrow fields.
Some people argue that modern deep learning systems are
early versions of generally intelligent systems.
Be aware of the following common application areas for
artificial intelligence:

• generative AI
• search and recommendation systems
• playing strategic games
• medical diagnosis.

3.16.2 Creating artificially intelligent systems

Content Additional information
Know what a neural network is and understand how neural A neural network is a network of nodes that are connected
networks can be used. together in a similar way to neurons in the human brain.

Be able to describe the structure of a neural network. The nodes in a neural network are built up in layers.

Know that backpropagation is commonly used to train a The outputs of nodes in one layer are weighted to form the
neural network. inputs to nodes in the next layer.

A simple neural network has three layers: an input layer, a

hidden processing layer and an output layer.
Know that deep learning systems use neural networks with
several hidden layers of nodes to produce output and
that using more layers of nodes allows for more complex
problems to be solved.

60 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

Content Additional information

Know that machine learning is a type of artificial intelligence
in which the performance of the system is improved based on
experience.
Know that artificially intelligent systems are often trained
using data and that care must be taken when selecting the
training data to ensure that a system does not develop bias.

3.16.3 Benefits and risks of artificial intelligence

Content Additional information
Understand the benefits associated with the use of artificial Example benefits include:
intelligence.
• improved and more consistent decision making. For
example, more accurate analysis of medical data
• ability to analyse very large data sets quickly
• continuous availability
• lower cost of operation
• can be available to more people and in areas that human
expertise is not readily available.
Understand the risks associated with the use of artificial Students should consider the following risks arising from the
intelligence. use of artificial intelligence:

• elimination of jobs and the social impact of this

• bias in decision making, which could be based on
characteristics such as gender or race
• false information can be output if the data used to train a
system is incorrect
• plagiarism
• use in surveillance systems.
• risk to human existence from superintelligent systems.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 61
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

4. Scheme of assessment
Find mark schemes, and specimen papers for new courses, on our website at: oxfordaqa.com/computer-science

These qualifications are modular. The full International A-level is intended to be taken over two years. The specification content
for the International AS is half that of an International A-level.

The International AS can be taken as a stand-alone qualification or it can count towards the International A-level.

To complete the International A-level, students can take the International AS in their first year and the International A2 in their
second year or they can take all the units together in the same examination series at the end of the two year course.

The International AS content will be 50% of the International A-level content. International AS assessments contribute 40% of
the total marks for the full International A-level qualification. The remaining 60% comes from the International A2 assessments.

All materials are available in English only.

4.1 Availability of assessment units and certification

Exams and certification for this specification are available as follows:

Availability of units Availability of certification

International AS International A2 International AS International
A-level
June 2025  
January 2026  
June 2026    
January 2027 onwards    
June 2027 onwards    

4.2 Aims and learning outcomes

This specification encourages students to develop a broad range of the knowledge, understanding and skills of Computer
Science, as a basis for progression into further learning and/or employment.

The specification encourages students to develop:

• an understanding of, and the ability to apply, the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including
abstraction, decomposition, algorithms and data representation

• the ability to analyse problems in computational terms through practical experience of solving such problems by writing
programs to do so

• the capacity for thinking creatively, innovatively, analytically, logically and critically

• the capacity to see relationships between different aspects of computer science

• mathematical skills related to computer science.

62 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

4.3 Assessment Objectives

The exams will measure how students have achieved the following assessment objectives.

• AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the key concepts and principles of computer science.

• AO2: Apply knowledge and understanding of key concepts and principles of computer science.

• AO3: Analyse problems in computational terms in order to develop and test programmed solutions and demonstrate an
understanding of programming concepts.

4.3.1 Assessment Objective weightings for International AS

Computer Science
Assessment Objectives (AOs) Unit weightings (approx %) Overall weighting of
AOs (approx %)
Unit 1 Unit 2
AO1 0 27.5 27.5
AO2 0 17.5 17.5
AO3 50 5 55
Overall weighting of components (%) 50 50 100

4.3.2 Assessment Objective weightings for International A-level

Computer Science
Assessment Objectives (AOs) Unit weightings (approx %) Overall weighting of
AOs (approx %)
Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4
AO1 0 11 0 16 27
AO2 0 7 0 9 16
AO3 20 2 30 5 57
Overall weighting of components (%) 20 20 30 30 100

4.4 Assessment weightings

The raw marks awarded on each unit will be transferred to a uniform mark scale (UMS) to meet the weighting of the units and to
ensure comparability between units sat in different exam series. Students’ final grades will be calculated by adding together the
uniform marks for all units. The maximum raw and uniform marks are shown in the table below.

Unit Maximum raw mark Percentage weighting Maximum uniform

A-level (AS) mark
Unit 1 75 50 80
Unit 2 75 50 80
International AS qualification - 100 160
Unit 1 75 20 80
Unit 2 75 20 80
Unit 3 90 30 120
Unit 4 75 30 120
International A-level qualification - 100 400

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 63
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

5 General administration
We are committed to delivering assessments of the highest quality and have developed practices and procedures that support
this aim. To ensure that all students have a fair experience, we have worked with other awarding bodies in England to develop
best practice for maintaining the integrity of exams. This is published through the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ). We will
maintain the same high standard through their use for OxfordAQA.

More information on all aspects of administration is available at oxfordaqa.com/exams-administration

For any immediate enquiries please contact info@oxfordaqa.com

Please note: We aim to respond to all email enquiries within two working days.

Our UK office hours are Monday to Friday, 8am – 5pm local time.

5.1 Entries and codes

You should use the following subject award entry codes:

Qualification title OxfordAQA entry code

OxfordAQA International Advanced Subsidiary Computer Science 9646

OxfordAQA International Advanced Level Computer Science 9647

Please check the current version of the Entry Codes book and the latest information about making entries on oxfordaqa.com/
exams-administration

You should use the following unit entry codes:

Unit 1 – CS01

Unit 2 – CS02

Unit 3 – CS03

Unit 4 – CS04

A unit entry will not trigger certification. You will also need to make an entry for the overall subject award in the series that
certification is required.

Exams will be available May/June and in January

5.2 Overlaps with other qualifications

There is overlapping content in the International AS and A-level specifications. This helps you teach the International AS and
A-level together.

This specification overlaps with the AQA UK AS and A-level Computer Science (7516/7517).

64 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

5.3 Awarding grades and reporting results

The International AS qualification will be graded on a five-point scale: A, B, C, D and E.

The International A-level qualification will be graded on a six-point scale: A*, A, B, C, D and E.

To be awarded an A*, students will need to achieve a grade A on the full A-level qualification and 90% of the maximum uniform
mark on the aggregate of the A2 units.

Students who fail to reach the minimum standard for grade E will be recorded as U (unclassified) and will not receive a
qualification certificate.

We will publish the minimum raw mark needed for each grade in each unit when we issue students’ results. We will report a
student’s unit results to schools in terms of uniform marks and unit grades and we will report qualification results in terms of
uniform marks and grades.

The relationship between uniform marks and grades is shown in the table below.

Uniform mark range per unit and per qualification

Grade Unit 1 Unit 2 International Unit 3 Unit 4 International
AS Computer A-level
Science Computer
Science
Maximum uniform 80 80 160 120 120 400
mark
A* *See note below
A 64–80 64–80 128–160 96–120 96–120 320–400
B 56–63 56–63 112–127 84–95 84–95 280–319
C 48–55 48–55 96–111 72–83 72–83 240–279
D 40–47 40–47 80–95 60–71 60–71 200–239
E 32–39 32–39 64–79 48–59 48–59 160–199

* For the award of grade A*, a student must achieve grade A in the full International A-level qualification and a minimum of 216
uniform marks in the aggregate of Unit 3 and Unit 4.

5.4 Resits
Unit results remain available to count towards certification, whether or not they have already been used, provided the
specification remains valid. Students can resit units as many times as they like, so long as they’re within the shelf-life of the
specification. The best result from each unit will count towards the final qualification grade. Students who wish to repeat a
qualification may do so by resitting one or more units.

To be awarded a new subject grade, the appropriate subject award entry, as well as the unit entry/entries, must be submitted.

5.5 Previous learning and prerequisites

There are no previous learning requirements. Any requirements for entry to a course based on this specification are at the
discretion of schools.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 65
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

5.6 Access to assessment: equality and inclusion

Our general qualifications are designed to prepare students for a wide range of occupations and further study whilst assessing
a wide range of competences.

The subject criteria have been assessed to ensure they test specific competences. The skills or knowledge required do not
disadvantage particular groups of students.

Exam access arrangements are available for students with disabilities and special educational needs.

We comply with the UK Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments to remove or lessen any disadvantage that affects a
disabled student. Information about access arrangements is issued to schools when they become OxfordAQA centres.

5.7 Working with OxfordAQA for the first time

You will need to apply to become an OxfordAQA centre to offer our specifications to your students. Find out how at
oxfordaqa.com/centreapprovals

5.8 Private candidates

Centres may accept private candidates for examined units/components only with the prior agreement of OxfordAQA. If you
are an approved OxfordAQA centre and wish to accept private candidates, please contact OxfordAQA at: info@oxfordaqa.
com

Private candidates may also enter for examined only units/components via the British Council; please contact your local British
Council office for details.

66 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

6 Appendix: Standard OxfordAQA

assembly language instruction set
LDR Rd, <memory ref> Load the value stored in the memory location specified by <memory ref> into
register d
LDR Rd, [Rn] Load the value stored in the memory location specified in register n into register d

STR Rd, <memory ref> Store the value that is in register d into the memory location specified by
<memory ref>
STR Rd, [Rn] Store the value that is in register d into the memory location specified by register n

ADD Rd, Rn, <operand2> Add the value specified in <operand2> to the value in register n and store the
result in register d
SUB Rd, Rn, <operand2> Subtract the value specified by <operand2> from the value in register n and
store the result in register d
MOV Rd, <operand2> Copy the value specified by <operand2> into register d
CMP Rn, <operand2> Compare the value stored in register n with the value specified by
<operand2>
B <label> Always branch to the instruction at position <label> in the program.
B<condition> <label> Branch to the instruction at position <label> if the last comparison met the
criterion specified by <condition>. Possible values for <condition> and
their meanings are:
EQ: equal to NE: not equal to
GT: greater than GE: greater than or equal to
LT: less than LE: less than or equal to
AND Rd, Rn, <operand2> Perform a bitwise logical AND operation between the value in register n and the
value specified by <operand2> and store the result in register d
ORR Rd, Rn, <operand2> Perform a bitwise logical OR operation between the value in register n and the
value specified by <operand2> and store the result in register d
EOR Rd, Rn, <operand2> Perform a bitwise logical XOR (exclusive or) operation between the value in
register n and the value specified by <operand2> and store the result in
register d
MVN Rd, <operand2> Perform a bitwise logical NOT operation on the value specified by <operand2>
and store the result in register d
LSL Rd, Rn, <operand2> Logically shift left the value stored in register n by the number of bits specified by
<operand2> and store the result in register d
LSR Rd, Rn, <operand2> Logically shift right the value stored in register n by the number of bits specified by
<operand2> and store the result in register d
HALT Stops the execution of the program.

Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration 67
 OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Computer Science (9645).
For International AS exams May/June 2025 onwards. For International A-level exams May/June 2026 onwards. Version 1.1

Labels: A label is placed in the code by writing an identifier followed by a colon (:). To refer to a label, the identifier of the label
is placed after the branch instruction.

Interpretation of <operand2>

<operand2> can be interpreted in two different ways, depending on whether the first character is a # or an R:

• # – use the decimal value specified after the #, eg #25 means use the decimal value 25

• Rm – use the value stored in register m, eg R6 means use the value stored in register 6
The available general purpose registers that the programmer can use are numbered 0–12

68 Visit oxfordaqa.com/9645 for the most up-to-date specification, resources, support and administration
Fairness first
Thank you for choosing OxfordAQA,
the international exam board that puts
fairness first.

Benchmarked to UK standards, our

exams only ever test subject ability, not
language skills or cultural knowledge.

This gives every student the best

possible chance to show what they can
do and get the results they deserve.

Get in touch
You can contact us at
oxfordaqa.com/contact-us

or email info@oxfordaqa.com

Copyright © 2025 Oxford International AQA Examinations and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Oxford International AQA Examinations retains the copyright on all its publications, including specifications.
However, approved OxfordAQA schools are permitted to copy material from this specification for their own
internal use.