“The Department for Education is proposing an updated version of the Computer Science GCSE to reflect advancements in technology since the publication of the current subject content in 2015. Findings from this consultation will be taken into account when finalising the subject content.”

Find the link to the online survey, and the accompanying documents here https://consult.education.gov.uk/computing-policy-team/gcse-computer-science-subject-content-update/

From the first of the three accompanying documents (p3 of 12, more detail on p5) –

“4. Key changes to the subject content include the opportunity for visual programming languages to be used in meeting the programming requirements, a clarification which confirms that artificial intelligence (AI) must be considered within the teaching of the impacts of digital technologies, greater transparency of the underlying programming knowledge and skills students need to learn, and a general re-structure of the content that is designed to aid its coherence and flow. In addition, a new introductory paragraph is proposed to contextualise the study of computer science, and to better represent the subject as an academic discipline.”

See what other computing teachers have said about the consultation

You can also see what fellow teachers have considered when responding to the consultation from this discussion thread on the CAS Forum (Computing At School). It’s free to register but you’ll need to do that before reading or joining in.

A general tip is to put the consultation’s URL into the search bar on Twitter which will then show you any public tweets (aka “posts on X”) which included the link in the tweet, though in this case it’s not very many.

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This blog is supported through EPSRC grant EP/W033615/1.