IT BTEC
This course offers a specialist qualification for students aged 16-19 years old. It will develop knowledge, understanding and skills that focuses on aspects of employment within an IT vocational sector. You will have the opportunity to apply what you learn to real-life contexts, such as:
- Interpreting client requirements and documenting ideas.
- Planning and designing UX/UI solutions.
- Developing web sites and computer games
To enhance your experience on the course, we have made links and visited several leading IT businesses and have ex-students who have gained apprenticeships with these organisations visiting the College, including ANS, Barclays, AstraZeneca, MBDA and Fujitsu to name a few.
Year 1: Computing: Application Development (Certificate) For this qualification, students must complete two units
Unit F160 – Fundamentals of application development
- In this unit you will learn what an application is and the tasks/functions they’re commonly developed to do. You will learn about the different stages that developers go through to produce a working software application, how developers scope application requirements, and the design features which make applications intuitive for users. Finally, you will learn about the job roles available in application development and some of the skills required for these roles
- This will be an assessed external examination (2 hours)
Unit F162 – Designing and communicating UX/UI solutions
- In this unit you will learn the principles of UX/UI design: how users interact with applications, how applications should adapt to support specific user needs, and what makes interfaces interesting and easy to use. You will learn how to develop ideas for UX/UI solutions which meet specific requirements and the design process to create graphical representations of these. Communication skills are vital in the IT sector and in this unit, you will also learn how to prepare a “showcase” to demonstrate UX/UI solutions to clients.
- This is an assessed piece of coursework, marked internally
Year 2: Extended Certificate (above plus)
Unit F161 – Developing Application Software
- In this unit you will learn implementation methodology and the areas that need to be considered when applications are being developed for different platforms. You will also learn about how data moves in applications and beyond, and how to make sure applications are safe to use and the data they hold is secure. Finally, you will learn how developers deploy finished applications to users, how they’re installed on devices, and maintained in the future.
- This will be an assessed external examination (2 hours 15 minutes)
Unit F164 – Website Development (started in lower 6 year and completed in Upper 6)
- In this unit you will learn how to design and develop a prototype website. You will learn about website principles and the components of web pages. You will learn how to design a website that can be viewed on a range of devices, together with how to make sure a website complies with accessibility requirements and guidance. You will also learn how to make websites more visible in search engine results by utilising SEO techniques. You will develop your skills by creating, testing, and reviewing a website prototype using a range of tools and techniques.
- This is an assessed piece of coursework, marked internally.
- In this unit you will learn how types and genres of digital games and their characteristics affect game design. You will then learn how to plan, design, create, and test game prototypes. You will gain the technical skills to create game environments and game functionality and learn how to test game prototypes to ensure they function as intended.
- This is an assessed piece of coursework, marked internally.
Unit F163 – Game Development
Completing this course alongside other chosen Level3 courses can open up opportunities to study IT/ Computing related degrees at various universities. The degrees on offer range from creative IT such as BSc (Hons) Computer Games Technology degree to more technical related degrees such as BSc (Hons) Cyber Security and BSC (Hons) Computer Games Development. It can also contribute towards the points/grades required to attend university to study other degree courses. It can also offer placements in the IT profession both or Technical and Design based IT related professions. A number of our students have achieved Degree Apprenticeships placements in organisations such as Barclays Bank, Fujitsu, MBDA and Thales.
Annual overseas trip to either San Francisco Trip or Tokyo. For more information about this trip please see the Trips and Travel page
- Barclays Bank Technology Centre
- MDBA (missile research)
- Manchester Metropolitan University (Cyber Security workshop)
- ANS Cloud Hosting, Manchester
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