Higher Computing Science 2026–27

CS1Binary and positive integers CS2Two's complement CS3Floating-point: mantissa and exponent CS4ASCII and Unicode CS5Bitmap and vector graphics CS6Computer architecture CS7Fetch-execute cycle CS8Performance factors CS9Environmental impact of intelligent systems and energy use CS10Computer Misuse Act 1990 CS11Tracking cookies and DOS attacks CS12Encryption: public/private keys, digital certificates and signatures CS13Computer Systems revision and past paper practice COVERMonday Computer Systems revision · 2-hour supervised session

SDD0PyCharm setup and Python challenge ladder EXTENDSDD Extension Zone · independent extension challenges SDD1Development methodologies SDD2Analysis: purpose, scope, boundaries and functional requirements SDD3Design: structure diagrams and data flow SDD4Design: pseudocode and wireframes SDD5Data structures: parallel arrays SDD6Records and arrays of records SDD7Functions and procedures SDD8Parameter passing SDD9Scope: local vs global SDD10Pre-defined functions SDD11File handling: reading SDD12File handling: writing SDD13Standard algorithms: linear search SDD14Min, max, count occurrences SDD15Standard algorithms with arrays of records SDD16Testing: test plans and error types SDD17Debugging SDD18Evaluation criteria SDD19Mini-project 1: modular program SDD20Mini-project 2: arrays of records and file I/O SDD21SDD past paper practice SDD22SDD unit review

DDD1Analysis: end-user and functional requirements DDD2ER diagrams: entities and relationships DDD3Cardinality and entity-occurrence diagrams DDD4Compound keys and data dictionaries DDD5Validation: presence, restricted choice, length, range DDD6Query design: tables, fields, criteria, sort, grouping DDD7SQL: SELECT, WHERE, ORDER BY, wildcards DDD8SQL: aggregate functions, GROUP BY, aliases DDD9SQL: INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE DDD10DDD testing and evaluation DDD11DDD past paper practice and unit test

WDD0WebStorm setup and getting-to-know-the-app challenges WDD1Analysis WDD2Multi-level site structure WDD3Wireframes and low-fidelity prototyping WDD4HTML: semantic elements and page structure WDD5HTML: forms and input types WDD6CSS: getting started WDD7CSS: box model, display, float and clear WDD8CSS: margins and padding WDD9CSS: height and width WDD10CSS: horizontal navigation bar and descendant selectors WDD11JavaScript: events and functions WDD12JavaScript: showing and hiding content WDD13JavaScript: changing page layout WDD14Testing: usability and compatibility WDD15Evaluation: fitness for purpose and usability WDD16WDD past paper practice WDD17WDD unit test

CourseCourse overviewhow the course is structured and assessed CourseSpec checklisttick off the SQA course specification CourseGlossarykey terms from every unit ExamQuestion paper guidehow the 80-mark paper is marked, with real candidate examples ExamAssignment guidehow the 40-mark assignment is marked, with real candidate examples HelpGlow access guideGlow, SCHOLAR and e-Sgoil sign-in help Helpdraw.io guidedrawing structure diagrams and ER diagrams GameEscape room2-hour Python challenge: 15 locks across 3 rooms SQASQA subject page ↗past papers and marking instructions StudySCHOLAR (Heriot-Watt) ↗study guides for all units