Computer Science carries the code 0478, and Cambridge lists a 2026 to 2028 syllabus for it. Cambridge also has a separate page for Computer Science 0265.
The later course is a different document. What it asks does not apply to your year unless Cambridge and your centre say so.
This page sits in the exam guide section. It does not list the content of the later course. It shows where to read it and how to keep the two sets of advice apart.
Who is responsible for what?
- Cambridge publishes each syllabus and each advance notice, and states the years covered.
- Your exam centre or school enters you for one exam year and tells you the programming arrangements that apply.
- You and your family label notes by year, so later-year ideas do not slip into current revision.
We are a tuition team, not an exam centre. Your centre handles entry. We teach to the code and year you confirm.
What should you check, step by step?
- Get your exam year from your centre and write it on the front of your file.
- Open the 0478 page and the 2026 to 2028 syllabus if your year falls in that range.
- Open the 0265 page and read its notices and syllabus document for later years.
- Label every note with the year range of the document it came from.
- Read the assessment section of each document, including what it says about how programming is examined.
- Check the Cambridge syllabus changes page for notices.
The syllabus-version comparison viewer never shows a 2029 change as a requirement for an earlier year. It lists each verified change with its source and year.
A short worked example
Wei Jie finds a video saying “the paper now uses only one programming language”. He asks two questions. Which exam year does the video mean, and what does my syllabus say?
He opens the syllabus for his year and reads the sections on programming and pseudocode. He notes the page number where the claim appears, or that it is missing. If it does not match, he labels the video “later year, not for me yet” and keeps practising from his own syllabus.
What are the common mistakes?
Projecting later requirements onto your paper. Label by year, then check the source.
Mixing up Computer Science and ICT. They are separate subjects. See the language route check for the same habit applied to other near-identical code pairs.
Treating a code change as a rename. Read the document. Do not rely on the title.
Where next?
The Computer Science learning guide gives the topic map, and the 0478 code page summarises the code. If a source does not state its year, do not use it to decide what you must learn. Check it against your year’s syllabus first.
If tracing algorithms and debugging are where marks slip, Computer Science tuition lets an assigned teacher go through your own code and answers with you one-to-one.