Teach the BCS Level 2 Thinking as a Coder Award
In conjunction with the ICDL Foundation, BCS is delighted to introduce this new qualification, which covers the key concepts involved in creating a program to testing and debugging a program.
Ofqual approved
The BCS Level 2 Thinking as a Coder Award includes essential computational thinking and coding skills that support the creation of simple computer programs.
Computational thinking is useful in many contexts, not just programming and software development and coding is becoming the new standard of literacy, with skills used in areas as varied as art and design, engineering, data analysis, and science.
This qualification develops related skills such as problem solving, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithms.
The Thinking as a Coder qualification package includes:
- Learner materials
- Diagnostic test
- Teacher handbook
- Automated testing and instant results for the online assessment
- and, on successful completion, BCS Level 2 certification
Who is it for?
The qualification has been designed for:
- Learners aged 11 and above
Your learners will develop computational thinking abilities and the skills needed to code simple computer programs.
Main learning outcomes
- Understand key concepts relating to computing and the typical activities involved in creating a program.
- Understand and use computational thinking techniques like problem decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithms to analyse a problem and develop solutions.
- Write, test, and modify algorithms for a program using flowcharts and pseudocode.
- Understand key principles and terms associated with coding and the importance of well-structured and documented code.
- Understand and use programming constructs like variables, data types, and logic in a program.
- Improve efficiency and functionality by using iteration, conditional statements, procedures and functions, as well as events and commands in a program.
- Test and debug a program and ensure it meets requirements before release.
How long will it take?
- Recommended guided learning hours: 39 hours
- Recommended total qualification time: 70 hours
Assessment
The qualification is assessed within a BCS Approved Centre or school by a 45-minute online test with 36 questions. The pass mark is set at 75%.
