Top 10 Resources For OCR A Level Computer Science Part 2

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

If you haven't checked out the first part, click here. Anyway, let's jump straight into part 2 because this is going to be a really long post.


5: Hodder Education OCR A Level Computer Science & My Revision Notes

OCR A Level Computer Science Textbook

1. Content 10/10: This textbook is actually endorsed by OCR (not that that means much) so by default it covers it's entire course and yes it includes material on the coursework.
2. Concision 8/10: Not as long as the Cambridge Elevate Student Book which was over 300 pages but still has lot of useless information in it and is 270 pages long.
3. Presentation 9/10: Very clear layout, good use of space on each page makes the textbook very easy to read. Includes images and diagrams to further enhance the aesthetic appeal. 
4. Accessibility 7/10: Has loads of errors which I think they've now fixed in the new edition or something, but judging by the textbook I have then I have to say it was really annoying finding so many errors in a resource that was supposedly endorsed by OCR.
5. Price 8/10: £31 for the textbook which is slightly overpriced in my opinion since the Cambridge one was only £28 (but I'd recommend this one over that). Well, I guess they can do that since they're endorsed by OCR. Don't worry though, a quick search on Ebay or Amazon and you can get this used for as little as £25. 

Final Score & Verdict: If the price would be a bit lower this resource is a must buy in my opinion. If you're lucky enough to get it for free from your school then definitely use it, there's a lot of good stuff in here. 8.4/10

My Revision Notes Textbook

1. Content 9/10: This textbook isn't endorsed by OCR and it doesn't have anything for the coursework component. Heavily focused on the exam components which is OK for a revision guide sort of thing (although I don't consider it one).
2. Concision 8/10: Only 168 pages but still has the same style of delivering content as the other textbook. An improvement but just too much waffling to be honest.
3. Presentation 9/10: Again, very clear layout, good use of space on each page makes the textbook very easy to read. Includes images and diagrams to further enhance the aesthetic appeal. No faults here.
4. Accessibility 8/10: Has a few mistakes here and there and sometimes misses some content completely so it's hard get a good understanding of some topics as a whole. I guess that's why it's not endorsed by OCR.
5. Price 9/10: £17. Decent price for a fairly high quality resource. Hard to find anything cheaper on Ebay or Amazon since this is not as popular as the other textbook.

Final Score & Verdict: If this resource is supposed to be a revision guide, I wouldn't say it's great one but as a textbook it get's the job done in getting all the content across in it's own way (which can be unnecessarily long sometimes). Even though this is cheaper, I would recommend the other one as it fully supports the specification. 8.6/10

Final Hodder Education Series Score: 8.5/10

4: PG Online Textbook

1. Content 9/10: This textbook is endorsed by OCR as well but strangely misses out on the programming project.
2. Concision 9/10: Almost 100 pages longer than the Hodder Education textbook yet doesn't have any useless information and minimal waffling. It's just very detailed which is OK but personally I think it could've been shorter
3. Presentation 9/10: Same as the other textbooks. Very clear layout, good use of space on each page makes the textbook very easy to read. Includes images and diagrams to further enhance the aesthetic appeal. 
4. Accessibility 8/10: Initially had a few mistakes which were corrected but is still a solid textbook that actually deserves an endorsement by OCR.
5. Price 8/10: £30 for the textbook which isn't bad at all. £1 cheaper than the Hodder Education one and is better in my opinion. Unfortunately, a quick search on Ebay or Amazon will not get you anything cheaper.

Final Score & Verdict: It's a great textbook, covers everything (apart from the programming project) in great detail. If I had to choose between this and the Hodder Education one it's a close call because both of them are very good but this one edges it for me. Again. if you're lucky enough to get one of these for free from your school you should definitely use it. 8.6/10

Final PG Online Textbook Score: 8.6/10

3: CGP OCR A Level Computer Science Revision Guide

Error 404: Not Found (For some reason CGP haven't got a revision guide for A level Computer Science but if they did I'd reckon it would be amazing).

3: ZigZag Education Revision Guide & Course Companion

Revision Guide

1. Content 9/10: This one is a bit of a punt since the full A level revision guide is going to be released this October but judging by the AS revision guide (which is excellent), I think it may just include everything apart from the coursework component.
2. Concision 10/10: Very, very concise. Doesn't beat around the bush and just gives you all the information you need in minimal space. Definitely the best revision guide available right now (unfortunately, CGP haven't got one for A level Computer Science otherwise I think it would be equally good).
3. Presentation 10/10: A very unique way of displaying the information that works very well. Everything is separated into boxes that fill the page very nicely. Despite it being in black and white this revision guide is presented amazingly well.
4. Accessibility 10/10: Surprisingly easy to understand. Even though it gives the content you need to know without any waffling or introductions (which is great) it makes it very easy to digest the info via bullet points and short paragraphs.
5. Price 6/10: £79 for the AS guide and £119 for the A level guide. Obviously that's way too expensive for your average student to afford but this guide is absolutely brilliant so I would highly recommend that you ask your teacher to pre-order the A level revision guide coming out in a few weeks.

Final Score & Verdict: This is definitely by far the best paper resource out there. Beats all the textbooks in everything except price. I would highly recommend you get your school to get this resource because it's definitely worth it. 9/10

Course Companion

1. Content 9/10: This one is already available but doesn't have anything on the programming project either. Covers all other parts of the spec very well.
2. Concision 9/10: This resource uses more of a textbook approach in explaining things and is about 240 pages long which is shorter than all the other textbooks in this list. Again, very concise but can have a bit of waffling here and there.
3. Presentation 8/10: Generally displays the content well but not the presentation is not as good as the other textbooks in my opinion. Maybe it's because of its monochromatic images or simply because there's no colour whatsoever. 
4. Accessibility 10/10: Quality of accessibility is pretty much the same as the revision guide. No complaints here. 
5. Price 6/10: £119 for AS guide and £179 for the full A level. Again, it's way too expensive but if you can get your teacher to purchase it then go for it.

Final Score & Verdict: This is definitely one of the best paper resources out there. Very good but is unfortunately very expensive as well. Again, I would highly recommend you get your school to get this resource because it's definitely worth it. 8.4/10

Final ZigZag Education Resources Score: 8.7/10

2: Dynamic Learning Package

1. Content 10/10: The plethora of resources available in the package fully support the specification
2. Concision 10/10: Most of the resources are actually summary presentations of the Hodder Education textbook which condense all the important information from 270 pages in short slides.
3. Presentation 10/10: All the interactive activities, worksheets, tests and the summary presentations are extremely well presented. Can't fault anything here.
4. Accessibility 10/10: All the resources are very easy to understand, much more accessible than the textbook.
5. Price 5/10: Now all these wonderful resources come at a price. It's £400 for the package which is sort of crazy but these resources are excellent and a must buy for all schools providing this course.

Final Score & Verdict: The best online resource available plain and simple (that isn't endorsed by OCR for some reason). 9/10

1: OCR Past Papers

1. Content 10/10: Need I say more?
2. Concision 10/10: Markschemes are the best resource of all in my opinion. Clear, concise and get straight to the point. It simply tells you everything the examiners are looking for without any unnecessary information.
3. Presentation 10/10: As past papers go, there isn't much else you can improve here.
4. Accessibility 9/10: Going to have to give a slight downgrade here since OCR (along with pretty much every other exam board) are quite notorious for writing "evil" papers. 
5. Price 10/10: They're free, duh.

Final Score & Verdict: It's absolutely essential to do past papers in order to succeed in the final exam. All the other resources on this list are irrelevant if you do not do all the past papers available, and yes that means both old H047/H447 and new H046/H446 spec ones. Don't make the mistake of thinking you can only do each paper once so you should start doing them in like March or something. Start NOW, I mean it. It doesn't matter if you have to do them more than once, if anything it'll help you understand the exam patterns and make it easy to memorise markschemes. Obviously skip the questions in the old spec papers that aren't relevant to the new spec but by all means do the rest.

Final OCR Past Papers Score: 9.8/10

(Cheeky) Honorable Mention

This blog: http://themuslimcompsciblog.blogspot.co.uk/

It's nearly been a month since I've made this blog and I know it isn't amazing (#stay humble) but I would be really grateful if everyone reading this could just spread this around. It would honestly mean the world to me even if one person would benefit from this blog :) .

Anyway, enough self advertising. That's my list of the top 10 resources for OCR A level Computer Science that I have used personally, do you agree with it? Is there any resource I missed? Put your comments below and as always...

Hope this helps!