BTEC Information Technology

Sixth Form

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.