Application information
Closing date for applications: 18 September 2026
The examination is held in conjunction with the Sixth-form Entrance Examinations. Candidates sit three academic examinations, one of which must be the Computer Science paper, together with a Verbal Reasoning test, Non-verbal Reaoning test and an interview.
The Computer Science paper will incorporate questions based on the areas of related theory below. Questions are designed to test the abilities of exceptional Computer Science candidates from a range of backgrounds and experiences.
- The characteristics of contemporary processors
- Input, output and storage devices
- Software and software development
- Exchanging data
- Data types, data structures and algorithms
- Legal, moral, cultural and ethical issues
- Elements of computational thinking
- Problem solving and programming
- Algorithms to solve problems and standard algorithms
Candidates must upload and bring examples or a portfolio of programming projects to be discussed at the interview. The Department is looking for students to present one or more self-developed projects that have been largely completed outside of lesson time. It is recommended that a procedural or object-oriented approach is utilised.
Applicants may bring working versions of their programs on a digital device, provided that all source code can be easily accessed and discussed. This may be presented in either digital or printed format.
Applicants should be able to explain individual elements of their development when prompted, discuss how these contribute to the overall solution, and evaluate the purpose and efficiency of the algorithms used. Students should also be able to describe any pre-defined functions that have been used and must clearly identify any snippets of code retrieved from external sources.
If a Computer Science Scholarship is awarded, the pupil will be required to take Computer Science as an IB Higher subject or an A level subject and would be encouraged to apply for a university course related to Computer Science.
Next steps
For more information, please contact Mrs Lisa Bell, Head of Computer Science.
To apply for a Computer Science Scholarship, please complete the below form.