Discover a Career in IT

CCEA speaks to professionals at Allstate NI, Liberty IT and Kainos, asking them about their educational pathway into IT and experiences along the way.

The CCEA GCSE Digital Technology specification is unique in the UK. Students choose either Route A: Multimedia or Route B: Programming. Based on this, the qualification they achieve is either GCSE Digital Technology (Multimedia) or GCSE Digital Technology (Programming).

Students acquire and apply knowledge and understanding of digital technology in a variety of contexts. They also develop creative and practical digital technology skills, either using a range of generic software or in an object-oriented environment. They explore the legal, social, economic, ethical and environmental impact of digital technology. This qualification also helps them to develop transferable skills such as creative problem-solving and teamwork.

This qualification builds on the knowledge, understanding and skills developed through the Cross-Curricular Skill of Using ICT.

This specification is unitised, so it’s possible to take part of the assessment at the end of the first year of study.

The specification has five units:

• Unit 1: Digital Technology
• Unit 2: Digital Authoring Concepts
• Unit 3: Digital Authoring Practice
• Unit 4: Digital Development Concepts
• Unit 5: Digital Development Practice.

Unit 1 is compulsory. Students then choose either Units 2 and 3 (Route A) or Units 4 and 5 (Route B).