BTEC Information Technology

Course title: BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate in Information Technology

What are the knowledge and skills that students will gain over Key Stage 5?

Information Technology (IT) involves the use of computers in industry, commerce, the arts and elsewhere. IT includes aspects of defining structure, behaviour and views of IT systems, interaction of humans with IT systems, project management and the general ability to use computers. Increasingly businesses are implementing IT strategies to manage and process data both to support many business processes and to deliver new opportunities.

Information Technology KS5 course is aimed at progression to higher education. However, it also enables students to develop the knowledge and skills needed for entry level roles related to IT, including vocational apprenticeship roles and trainee/entry level roles in software development web/content development, mobile apps design, games design, programming and IT/business analysis support.

Students study the relationship between hardware and software, managing and communicating information and data, and the principles of designing and developing computer programs across four mandatory units:

• Information Technology Systems (Exam)

• Creating Systems to Manage Information (Exam)

• Using Social Media in Business (Coursework)

• Website development/data modelling (Coursework)

At John Colet Year 12 and 13 students study in the same class which have proved very successful in recent years. Year 12 students get a lot more support from experienced teachers as well as from Year 13 students. Below is the topic outline for each unit:

Information Technology Systems

Digital devices in IT systems

Transmitting data

Operating online

Protecting data and information

Impact of IT systems

Ethical, moral and legal issues

Creating Systems to Manage Information

Structure of relational database management systems

Standard methods and techniques to design relational database solutions

Creating a relational database structure

Evaluating a database development project

Using Social Media in Business

Social media websites

Use of social media in a business

Risks and issues

Social media planning processes

Content planning and publishing

Developing an online community

Developing a social media policy

Reviewing and refining plans

Creating accounts and profiles

Content creation and publication

Implementation of online community building

Data gathering and analysis

Website Development

Purpose and principles of website products

Factors affecting website performance

Design a website to meet client requirements

Common tools and techniques used to produce websites

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Develop a website to meet client requirements

Data modelling investigation

Why is it delivered in this way?

Units in this course are taught on a rotational basis which means the course can run for Year 12 and 13 students at the same time. It also means that students complete one exam and one coursework unit each year which significantly reduces stress in the final year of A Level.