Higher Computing Science
Free revision guides
Short guides to the Higher Computing Science questions that candidates find hardest, taken from the examiners' reports. Each one explains what gains the mark, with two exam-style questions to try. No account needed.
What is in the Higher Computing Science exam, what the examiners keep noticing, and a revision plan from now to May: practice, past papers and the hardest questions.
Software design and development
- Data flow in a top-level designHigher Computing Science: how to write the data flow for each step of a top-level design, with arrays shown as arrays and no extra parameters.
- Standard algorithms with arrays of recordsHigher Computing Science: writing find minimum, count and linear search on an array of records, and the slips the examiners keep seeing.
Computer systems
- Digital signatures and digital certificatesHigher Computing Science: the difference between a digital signature and a digital certificate, and how public and private keys are used.
Database design and development
- SQL GROUP BY with aggregates and calculationsHigher Computing Science SQL: what GROUP BY does, how to work out a query's output, and aggregates such as SUM over a calculation.
- Compound keys in databasesHigher Computing Science: what a compound key is, why neither field works alone, and the two points an explanation needs.
Web design and development
- CSS layout: when boxes no longer fitHigher Computing Science CSS: adding up width, padding and margin to see if floated boxes fit side by side, and when clear: both is needed.
The full course covers every topic like this. Every topic in Higher Computing Science has a short note, and a practice quiz with feedback on every answer, plus coding lessons in Python, SQL and HTML, a full mock exam and a progress report for parents.
This site is independent: it is not connected to the SQA or Qualifications Scotland. Points from the examiners' course reports are given in our own words.