Named 2025 DfE entry data show which Oxford schools teach GCSE Computer Science as an academic GCSE - and which teach computing a different way entirely.
Book a Free ConsultationWhether an Oxford pupil ever sits GCSE Computer Science depends on which school they attend, not on ability: in 2025, The Swan School entered 30 of its 120 pupils (25.0%), while Greyfriars Catholic School entered none. Leading Tuition's expert GCSE Computer Science tutors help students across Oxford, across AQA, OCR, Edexcel and WJEC Eduqas.
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Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppUnlike English, maths or the sciences, GCSE Computer Science is not something every pupil in Oxford ever encounters, and the reason is not ability - it is which qualification their own school has chosen to teach. DfE's own school-performance data files the GCSE's entries under the row label "Computer Studies/Computing" - not the words "Computer Science" at all - so searching a school's table for "Computer Science" finds nothing, even at a school that enters plenty. Two further DfE row labels sit in the same broad computing space and must not be confused with the GCSE or with each other. "Multimedia" - DfE's 2025 discount code KA4 - is OCR's Cambridge National in Creative iMedia specifically, confirmed directly against DfE's own 2025 key stage 4 qualifications and discount codes spreadsheet. "Computer Appreciation/Introduction" - discount code CN1 - is a Technical Award that the same spreadsheet shows currently covers three entirely different vocational qualifications sharing one code: Pearson's BTEC Tech Award in Digital Information Technology, OCR's Cambridge National in IT, and WJEC's Vocational Award in ICT. The CN1 label alone cannot say which of the three a given school actually teaches, and it is not Creative iMedia, which carries its own separate code.
The distinction is not academic pedantry - it changes what a zero in the data actually means, and it stops a real school being misidentified as teaching a qualification it does not. Greyfriars Catholic School's 2025 subject-entry table records no GCSE Computer Science entries at all, but 28 entries under the CN1 row, "Computer Appreciation/Introduction" - one of BTEC Digital Information Technology, OCR's Cambridge National in IT or WJEC's ICT Vocational Award, though which of the three cannot be told apart from this label alone. No Oxford school surveyed on this page records any entry under the separate Creative iMedia code, KA4, in 2025. DfE's own qualification-type column, not the subject name, is what separates any of these vocational entries from a GCSE one, and a school with zero Computer Science entries is not necessarily a school that ignores computing altogether.
Every school named on this page was checked individually at DfE's Get Information about Schools register by its own unique reference number (URN) on 2 September 2026, not assumed from a sibling page or from memory. One correction was necessary before the data could be trusted: DfE's register lists two establishments both called "The Oxford Academy" at the same Sandy Lane West, Littlemore address - URN 135675, which opened in 2008 and closed under a "Fresh Start" conversion, and URN 148354, which opened on 1 November 2020 under the same "Fresh Start" reason and remains open today. Only the current, open URN's 2025 entry figures appear on this page.
Across Oxford's state-funded secondary schools, the share of pupils sitting GCSE Computer Science in 2025 ranges from a quarter of a cohort to none at all, with no obvious pattern by school size. DfE's own subject-entry data for each school, checked directly rather than assumed, shows the full spread below.
| Oxford school (2025 entries) | GCSE Computer Science | KS4 cohort | Entry rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Swan School | 30 | 120 | 25.0% |
| The Cherwell School | 56 | 269 | 20.8% |
| Matthew Arnold School | 37 | 207 | 17.9% |
| The Oxford Academy | 25 | 200 | 12.5% |
| Cheney School | 34 | 282 | 12.1% |
| Oxford Spires Academy | 22 | 215 | 10.2% |
| Greyfriars Catholic School | 0* | 90 | 0% |
*Greyfriars records 28 entries under DfE discount code CN1, "Computer Appreciation/Introduction" - one of three vocational IT qualifications this code covers, and not Creative iMedia (a separate code, KA4).
The Swan School, on Marston Ferry Road, enters the highest share of any state school surveyed: 30 of its 120 pupils, exactly a quarter of the cohort. The Cherwell School, a short distance away on the same road, enters the most pupils in raw terms - 56 from a 269-pupil cohort - though its 20.8% rate sits below Swan's. Matthew Arnold School follows at 17.9% (37 of 207), then The Oxford Academy in Littlemore at 12.5% (25 of 200) and Cheney School in Headington at 12.1% (34 of 282), both clustered close together despite cohorts of very different sizes. Oxford Spires Academy has the lowest rate of any school that offers the subject at all, 10.2% (22 of 215). Greyfriars Catholic School, in Cowley, is the only school in this survey with no GCSE Computer Science entries whatsoever - a genuine zero, not a suppressed small number, confirmed against its full subject-entry table.
These are DfE's own "total number of entries" figures, not a headcount of pupils achieving any particular grade, and every school shown above was confirmed open at DfE's Get Information about Schools register on 2 September 2026.
From a 25.0% entry rate at The Swan School to zero at Greyfriars — our expert GCSE Computer Science tutors help students across Oxford whichever route their own school follows.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppComputer Science counts as a fourth option inside the EBacc's science pillar: alongside biology, chemistry and physics, a pupil can satisfy part of their science requirement through it. DfE publishes two separate measures that both look like "triple science" but are not the same thing, and neither can be derived from the other. The first is the exact triple: pupils entered for biology, chemistry and physics together. The second, published only at local authority and national level, never at individual-school level, is "the number of pupils entering three out of four single sciences" - biology, chemistry, physics or Computer Science - and it allows a pupil to swap Computer Science in for one of the three separate sciences and still count.
In Oxfordshire's 2024/25 state-funded-schools results, the two measures sit almost on top of each other: 2,546 pupils (36.0%) on the exact biology-chemistry-physics triple, against 2,547 pupils (36.0%) on the wider measure that allows Computer Science. DERIVED (declared): 2,547 minus 2,546 is exactly 1 - meaning at most a single Oxfordshire pupil used Computer Science in place of one of the three separate sciences to qualify under this route in 2024/25, the narrowest gap this page reports on any measure comparison. England's own results show the same two measures diverging by far more in absolute terms: 145,726 pupils (23.3%) on the exact triple against 145,985 (23.3%) on the wider measure - DERIVED (declared): a gap of 259 pupils nationally, though both figures round to the identical one-decimal percentage as Oxfordshire's own pair.
Zoomed out, Oxfordshire's pupils enter the overall EBacc science pillar - any qualifying science route at all, including combined science - at a lower rate than England as a whole: 6,453 pupils (91.3%) against 588,875 (94.1%) nationally, both state-funded-schools figures. Combined science is the route the overwhelming majority of pupils in both populations actually take: 3,906 Oxfordshire pupils (55.3%) against 442,902 nationally (70.8%) - Oxfordshire leans further towards the separate-sciences route than England does, which is consistent with the higher triple-science rate already seen on this page's sibling pages for Biology, Chemistry and Physics in Oxford.
One further point matters more than any single figure here: DfE's own EBacc-eligible-qualifications workbook, published as at June 2026, states plainly that "EBacc headline and additional measures are being removed from key stage 4 performance measures" from academic year 2025/26 onwards - meaning the 2024/25 results quoted throughout this page are among the last for which DfE will publish EBacc entry and EBacc APS as a headline national statistic. The underlying qualifications list itself is not being scrapped; it continues to determine which GCSEs count towards Attainment 8 and Progress 8 slots. But the EBacc entry-rate measure this section relies on is being retired as a published headline figure, not merely updated.
Whichever science route your child's school follows for the EBacc — our expert GCSE Computer Science tutors help Year 10 and Year 11 students across Oxford build the programming and theory skills the exam actually needs.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppFour boards currently offer GCSE Computer Science, and every code below was checked directly against the board's own live specification page, not assumed from a list. AQA's is specification 8525 - but AQA now publishes two editions under that same code, confirmed directly on its own specification page: "GCSE Computer Science 8525 (Current)", last examined in 2026, which is the edition Oxford's summer 2025 GCSE cohort actually sat; and "GCSE Computer Science 8525 (Updated)", for first teaching from September 2025 with first exams in summer 2027, which replaces graded coursework entirely. The code is identical; only the edition has changed, so families should check which edition their own child's school is actually teaching rather than assume either applies. Under the Updated edition specifically, AQA now requires every school to submit a "Practical programming statement" - a written declaration, provided by AQA itself, confirming that each learner had the opportunity to complete practical programming tasks. It carries no marks of its own and does not contribute to a pupil's grade; failing to submit it is treated as malpractice or maladministration. The Updated edition is assessed by two written exams only: Paper 1, Computational thinking and programming skills (2 hours, 90 marks, 50%), and Paper 2, Computing concepts (1 hour 45 minutes, 90 marks, 50%).
OCR's specification is J277, first assessed in 2022 and itself the successor to an earlier specification, J276 - OCR's own summary of updates documents the J276-to-J277 change directly. OCR also now trades under a new name: "As of September 2025, our name is Cambridge OCR," its own specification states, though students who sat exams in summer 2025 still received an OCR-branded certificate under the old name. Like AQA's outgoing model, OCR's J277 carries no separate coursework component; practical programming skills are tested inside component J277/02's written exam instead, in a dedicated Section B worth 30 of that paper's 80 marks. Pearson Edexcel's specification is 1CP2, first taught from September 2020, with no non-exam assessment component in its specification text at all. WJEC Eduqas's GCSE Computer Science carries qualification code C500QS on Eduqas's own live qualifications catalogue, listed as a current, non-legacy qualification first taught from 2020.
DfE's own EBacc-eligible-qualifications list, current as at June 2026, confirms all four boards' GCSE Computer Science qualifications have counted as an EBacc science option continuously in every year from 2018 through 2028 - AQA (qualification number 60183019), Pearson Edexcel (60180584), OCR (6018355X) and WJEC Eduqas (6018291X) - with no gap and no withdrawal recorded for any of them.
None of the three current specifications checked directly for this page - AQA's, OCR's and Pearson Edexcel's - carries a marked, graded programming project sitting outside the written exams. OCR builds practical programming assessment directly into its written paper: Section B of component J277/02 specifically "assesses a student's ability to design, write, test and refine programs," worth 30 of the component's 80 marks, using a mix of natural English, pseudocode, flowcharts and OCR's own Exam Reference Language rather than a live coding environment. Pearson Edexcel's 1CP2 specification contains no equivalent non-exam assessment section at all - its GCSE is examined entirely through written papers.
AQA's Updated edition, for first exams in 2027 (not the Current edition Oxford's 2025 cohort sat, which shares the same 8525 code but runs to last exams in 2026), introduces something different again: not a graded task, but a compliance declaration. The "Practical programming statement" the school itself must submit carries no marks, contributes nothing to a pupil's grade, and exists purely to confirm that pupils had the chance to write real code during the course - a materially different thing from a scored coursework component, even though the language ("practical programming") sounds similar. Families comparing exam boards should not assume any of the four current specifications examine programming ability through anything other than a written paper, whichever board their own school uses.
The organic results actually ranking for "gcse computer science tutors in oxford" are dominated by tutor marketplaces and university-branded pages, none of which checks which Oxford school teaches which qualification. The Profs' own Oxford computer science page brands itself around a "University of Oxford Computer Science Tutor" and spans GCSE, A-level, dissertation and full university-level tutoring in the same breath - broad coverage, but no Oxford secondary school named anywhere and no distinction drawn between GCSE Computer Science and any vocational computing alternative. Tutor Hunt's Oxford computing directory, headed "Top 10 Computing Tutors Near Me", lists individual tutors including a QTS-qualified Computer Science teacher who also offers English tuition, and a University of Oxford research fellow whose own PhD in computer science is from Imperial College London rather than Oxford - and its "Oxford Computing Tutors" listings include one tutor based in Wolvercote, seven miles from the city centre.
Two further results carry the same gap in different forms. Spires' own Oxford computer science page claims "81% of our students get grade increases", but its heading juxtaposes its own brand name, "Spires", against "Oxford" in a way that reads like a reference to Oxford Spires Academy without being one - the page never actually names any Oxford secondary school. Studymind's GCSE Computer Science tutors page is not scoped to Oxford at all, mixes GCSE tutoring with Oxbridge STEM admissions consulting in the same tutor bios, and tells visitors outright that it offers "a selection of 1 highly qualified tutors" for this exact subject - a roster of one.
Neither the marketplaces nor the brand-name coincidences name a single Oxford secondary school's own DfE entry data, neither distinguishes the academic GCSE from Creative iMedia, BTEC Digital Information Technology or any other vocational computing route, and neither checks which of the four exam boards' current specifications - AQA's reformed 2027 spec, OCR's J277, Edexcel's 1CP2 or WJEC Eduqas's C500QS - a particular pupil is actually sitting.
Looking for GCSE Computer Science tuition, not a university-student marketplace? Leading Tuition's expert tutors work with Year 10 and Year 11 pupils across Oxford's own schools, on whichever exam board they actually sit.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppd'Overbroeck's, a selective independent school on Banbury Road with its own boarding places, records the highest GCSE Computer Science entry rate of any Oxford school in this survey, state or independent: 25 entries from a 46-pupil KS4 cohort in 2025, a 54.3% rate - more than double The Swan School's own state-sector-leading 25.0%. DfE's Get Information about Schools register confirms d'Overbroeck's remains open. Independent schools do not report every measure state-funded schools do - Progress 8 and disadvantaged-pupil breakdowns are among the figures DfE does not publish for them - so d'Overbroeck's own entry-rate comparison here is limited to the same subject-entry data available for every school on this page, not the fuller EBacc science-pillar picture available at county and national level.
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Our diagnostic assessment for every new Oxford GCSE Computer Science student starts with the question this page's own data shows cannot be assumed from a school's reputation alone: which exam board and specification does this pupil's school actually use, and is the school on AQA's Current edition of specification 8525, or its separate Updated edition for 2025 onwards? Once we know the board, tier and specification version, our tutors, who hold degrees from leading UK universities, build a programme around a student's own past papers and mark schemes rather than a generic computer science syllabus - working one-to-one online through algorithms, programming exercises and the theory content each board's own written papers actually test.
Whichever exam board or specification version your child's school teaches. Our expert GCSE Computer Science tutors help students across Oxford build every programme around their own school and specification. Leading Tuition is rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 58 reviews, read on 22 August 2026.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppAll figures above are drawn from the Department for Education's Compare School and College Performance service and its Key Stage 4 performance, 2024/25 release and Explore Education Statistics API, both checked on 2nd September 2026, plus AQA's, OCR's, Pearson Edexcel's and WJEC Eduqas's own live GCSE Computer Science specification documents and DfE's own EBacc-eligible-qualifications workbook. For students weighing what comes after their GCSE results, our Oxford 16+ tuition guide covers sixth-form and college entry requirements, and families with a younger child can see our Oxford 13+ tuition guide for independent-school entry preparation. See our computer science tutoring service page for how programmes are structured, our GCSE Chemistry tutors in Oxford, GCSE Biology tutors in Oxford and GCSE Maths tutors in Oxford pages for our tuition in other Oxford GCSE subjects, and our overview of tutoring across Oxford for our wider service in the city.
Still working out which edition of which specification your child's school teaches? Our expert GCSE Computer Science tutors check the board, tier and edition first, then build the programme around it.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppGCSE Computer Science is the academic GCSE, filed by DfE under the row label 'Computer Studies/Computing' rather than the words 'Computer Science' — a school's table must be read by that label, not searched by the subject's modern name. Creative iMedia, OCR's Cambridge National, carries its own separate DfE discount code, KA4, and does not count as a GCSE. A different label, 'Computer Appreciation/Introduction' (discount code CN1), is a Technical Award that DfE's own 2025 qualifications and discount codes spreadsheet shows covers three different vocational qualifications at once — BTEC Digital Information Technology, OCR's Cambridge National in IT, and WJEC's ICT Vocational Award — which cannot be told apart from the label alone. At Greyfriars Catholic School in Oxford, DfE's 2025 data records zero entries under the GCSE Computer Science label but 28 under CN1: the school teaches computing, just not through the GCSE, and not through Creative iMedia either. Always check the qualification type and discount code before concluding what a school teaches.
Among state-funded Oxford schools, The Swan School entered the highest share of its pupils in 2025: 30 of 120 (25.0%). The Cherwell School entered the most pupils in raw terms, 56 from a 269-pupil cohort (20.8%). Oxford Spires Academy had the lowest rate among schools that offer the subject at all, 22 of 215 pupils (10.2%), and Greyfriars Catholic School entered none. Independent school d'Overbroeck's entered the highest rate of any Oxford school surveyed, state or independent: 25 of its 46 pupils (54.3%).
Yes. DfE's own EBacc-eligible-qualifications list confirms that GCSE Computer Science from all four current exam boards — AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel and WJEC Eduqas — has counted as an EBacc science option continuously in every year from 2018 to 2028, alongside biology, chemistry, physics and combined science. Separately, DfE's own qualifications workbook states that EBacc headline and additional measures are themselves being removed from Key Stage 4 performance measures from academic year 2025/26 onwards, though the qualifications list continues to govern Attainment 8 and Progress 8 slot eligibility.
DfE publishes two separate, non-derivable measures. The exact triple-science measure counts only pupils entered for biology, chemistry and physics together. A separate, wider measure counts pupils entering any three out of four single sciences — biology, chemistry, physics or Computer Science. In Oxfordshire's 2024/25 state-funded-schools results the two measures are almost identical: 2,546 pupils (36.0%) on the exact triple against 2,547 (36.0%) on the wider measure, a gap of exactly one pupil. In England the same two measures diverge by far more in absolute terms: 145,726 (23.3%) against 145,985 (23.3%), a 259-pupil gap. Neither measure can be derived from the other, and DfE does not publish the wider measure at individual-school level, only at local authority and national level.
Four boards currently offer it, each confirmed directly against its own live specification. AQA's GCSE Computer Science is specification 8525, currently published in two editions: the Current edition, which is what today's Year 11 sat and which runs to last exams 2026, and the Updated edition, for first teaching from September 2025. OCR's is J277, successor to a prior specification J276, and OCR now trades as Cambridge OCR following a September 2025 rebrand. Pearson Edexcel's is 1CP2, first taught from September 2020. WJEC Eduqas's is listed under qualification code C500QS on Eduqas's own live qualifications catalogue. All four remain current, non-legacy qualifications; none has been withdrawn.
Not as marked coursework, on any of the three specifications checked directly for this page. OCR's J277 tests practical programming skills inside a written exam paper — Section B of component J277/02, worth 30 of that component's 80 marks — rather than through separate coursework. Pearson Edexcel's 1CP2 specification contains no non-exam assessment component at all. AQA's Updated edition of specification 8525 (for teaching from September 2025, first exams 2027 - not the Current edition of the same code, which runs to last exams 2026) replaces graded coursework with a non-graded 'Practical programming statement': a written declaration the school itself must submit confirming pupils had the opportunity to complete practical programming tasks. It carries no marks and does not contribute to a pupil's grade; failing to submit it is treated as malpractice.
No, though some of the top search results for this exact term conflate the two. GCSE Computer Science tuition prepares Year 10 and Year 11 pupils for their school's own specification and exam board. The Profs' Oxford computer science page brands itself around a 'University of Oxford Computer Science Tutor', spanning GCSE, A-level, dissertation and university-level tutoring without naming a single Oxford secondary school or its own results. Tutor Hunt's Oxford computing directory lists individual tutors by proximity to the city centre, including one based in Wolvercote, seven miles out, under the heading 'Oxford Computing Tutors'. Neither distinguishes GCSE Computer Science from any vocational computing alternative, and neither checks which qualification a specific Oxford school's pupils are actually sitting.
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