Reddit mentions of OCR AS and A Level Computer Science

I'd say so, yes.

Component 1 is pretty easy, all you need is a good textbook and you're sorted. You may run into trouble with component 2 as you can't solely rely on a textbook for it. My advice would be to get pretty good over summer at programming, it will deffo help with such component if you're self-teaching. As for the programming project, you'll need to find somebody to mark it for you. It's pretty hefty (I think the average page count is 100 or something) and so it might be hard to find a teacher willing to help you with it.

Some resources I highly recommend:

• PG Online Textbook

• CraigNDave YouTube videos

I was considering self-teaching as well, so if you have any more questions just PM me :)

Computer Science is horrifically taught. Im in Year 13, and in the last two years we have literally not been taught a single lesson.

This is the only remotely accurate and good computer science A level textbook, and I highly recommend it. CraigNDave, as others have mentioned, are good too for the basics but that book will go into more depth.

The real problem with Computer Science is the ridiculous amount of knowledge you are expected to have of every item in the spec. This is the document of the spec. That should be your work checklist. Go sequentially through that and make notes on each spec point. Also, I would recommend making flashcards for all the definitions in the book. I learnt around 200 flashcard definitions over the course of the last few months and it really helps in the exams.

Hi, I read a lot of negative Amazon reviews about the official specification textbook you linked by Hodder Education.

Also, I'm looking to buy a revision guide to revise from, and I'm not sure if I should get the PG Online book (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1910523054/ref=rdr_ext_sb_ti_hist_3) or this one (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1535183535/ref=pd_luc_rh_bxgy_01_02_t_img_lh?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1).

The price doesn't matter; I want to get a revision guide that provides solely all the information required to pass the new spec OCR Computing AS exams (I may carry on to A2 but that's irrelevant, my choice is dependent on the helpfulness of the AS content).

I hope someone can help give me a better idea to decide. Thanks.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/OCR-AS-Level-Computer-Science/dp/1910523054/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1480621058&sr=8-2&keywords=ocr+computer+science+textbook

This is the book that my school provided for our class. It's quite a thick book (1 1/2 inches-ish) because the text is quite large which makes it easier to read. It goes through every topic in order and has plenty of exam questions throughout.

I used this textbook from Amazon. Revision guides didn't have enough depth.

This is the textbook I have, which my school recommends: https://www.amazon.co.uk/OCR-AS-Level-Computer-Science/dp/1910523054.

Ask your school if they sell or recommend any textbooks - they might have them sell them at a discounted price...