What equipment you will need

Whilst much of your time will be based in classrooms using PC's you will still need to bring the following to every lesson:

• An A4 ring binder folder for notes storage
• A pad of A4 paper with which to make notes to store in your folder
• File dividers to separate your work
• A pen - yes it is an ICT course but you will need to write things down as well!
• A floppy disk to take work home (100/250Mb zip drives and CD-Rewriters are also available on a more limited basis)

Standards of behaviour in lessons

In addition to the general college standards of behaviour, the following rules apply to ICT lessons:

• You must wait in a line outside of the classroom until your teacher instructs you to enter room.  During this time you should ensure that your coat has been taken off and that your uniform conforms to college standards.
• You must ensure that your mobile telephone is switched off at all times during the lesson.  Failure to do so will result in your phone being confiscated for a set period.
• You must ensure that you do not eat or drink anything inside the ICT rooms (this includes chewing gum!)
• Games are forbidden!   You must not play games or download any files that you have not been given permission to do.  Should you not conform to this, you will be removed from the class and we will contact home.  In addition, you may find that your access to the college network is restricted or suspended.
• Access to the Internet or email is only allowed with prior permission of your teacher.
• Homework must be completed on time and to standard, failure to do so will result in your attendance at a lunchtime detention and a meeting with your parent(s).

the classroomThe Applied GCSE in ICT is a vocational course that will help you to learn how to use a variety of ICT tools, how business organisations use ICT and how ICT has affected the way we live and work. 

It consists of 3 units, these are:

1 - ICT Tools and Applications (in Year 10).  There is an exam for this unit

2 - ICT in Organisations (in Year 11).  This is a portfolio based unit.

3 - ICT in Society (in Year 10).  This is a portfolio based unit.

After completing all three units, your total score is added up and converted into a grade worth two GCSE's and will be AA, AB, BB, BC, CC and so on down to GG.

The topics in each unit are designed to give you a broad overview of ICT rather than make you an expert in one particular field.  In preparation for the Unit 1 exam, you will complete a mini-portfolio called a pre-release.  This will help you to learn all of the skills you need and will help you to apply them across a variety of different situations.  

Examinations are held in January and May.  Unit 1 is assessed by a computer based examination which will take up to 3 hours.  All students sit the same exam paper as it is un-tiered and is targeted at all students in the ability range.

The provisional exam dates are as follows, you must not book any time away from college during these times!