Track theory, programming and the pre-release / practical skills required for your papers. Confirm the latest syllabus for your exam session.
| Topic | Sub-Topic | Confidence (1–5) | Last Reviewed | Next Review |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Information representation | Number systems: binary, hexadecimal, denary | |||
| Information representation | Binary addition and two’s complement | |||
| Information representation | Character, image and sound encoding | |||
| Information representation | Data compression and encryption basics | |||
| Information representation | Logical operations and truth tables | |||
| Communication and internet technologies | Network topologies and hardware | |||
| Communication and internet technologies | TCP/IP, protocols and packet switching | |||
| Communication and internet technologies | Client–server and peer-to-peer models | |||
| Communication and internet technologies | Cloud computing and virtualisation concepts | |||
| Communication and internet technologies | Security: authentication, firewalls, threats | |||
| Hardware and virtual machines | CPU architecture: fetch–decode–execute | |||
| Hardware and virtual machines | Processor components and performance | |||
| Hardware and virtual machines | Memory: RAM, ROM, cache, secondary storage | |||
| Hardware and virtual machines | I/O devices and interfaces | |||
| Hardware and virtual machines | Operating system functions and scheduling | |||
| Logic circuits and logic gates | Boolean algebra and simplification | |||
| Logic circuits and logic gates | Combinational logic: half and full adders | |||
| Logic circuits and logic gates | Flip-flops and sequential circuits | |||
| Logic circuits and logic gates | Karnaugh maps (where required) | |||
| Logic circuits and logic gates | Linking logic to processor components | |||
| Processor architecture and assembly | Instruction sets and addressing modes | |||
| Processor architecture and assembly | Assembly language programming | |||
| Processor architecture and assembly | Subroutines, stacks and interrupts | |||
| Processor architecture and assembly | Comparing low-level and high-level code | |||
| Processor architecture and assembly | Tracing program execution | |||
| High-level language programming | Data types, variables and constants | |||
| High-level language programming | Selection and iteration | |||
| High-level language programming | Modularity: procedures and functions | |||
| High-level language programming | File handling and exception handling | |||
| High-level language programming | Abstract data types: lists, trees, graphs | |||
| Databases (theory) | Relational model: keys and normalisation | |||
| Databases (theory) | SQL: SELECT, JOIN, aggregate functions | |||
| Databases (theory) | Data integrity and security | |||
| Databases (theory) | Indexing and query optimisation concepts | |||
| Databases (theory) | Comparing database models | |||
| Artificial intelligence | Search algorithms: breadth-first, depth-first, A* | |||
| Artificial intelligence | Knowledge representation and rules | |||
| Artificial intelligence | Machine learning concepts: supervised vs unsupervised | |||
| Artificial intelligence | Ethical and social implications of AI | |||
| Artificial intelligence | Limitations of AI systems |
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