Cambridge IGCSE Computer Science Tutor (0478 & 0984)
I teach Cambridge IGCSE Computer Science one to one over Zoom, for both papers and both syllabus codes. I am a working software engineer and I built and run my own software products, so the databases, networks and security chapters are not topics I revise before a lesson. They are Tuesday.
Your tutor
Distinction · AS-Level
Best Across Five
Top aggregate across five AS-Level subjects.
- Straight A* grades at O-Level, all eight subjects, including Computer Science.
- Straight A grades at A-Level, including Computer Science.
£60/hour. No packages to commit to.
Junaid Khalid, software engineer and Computer Science tutor · Reviewed September 2026
What an online IGCSE Computer Science lesson looks like
We start from the work in front of you: the last paper, the program that will not run, the topic that will not stick. Nobody sits through a lecture on something they already know.
One student, one plan
Every session is one to one over Zoom, so the pace follows your gaps rather than a class timetable. Sessions can be recorded on request.
Cambridge notation, not a generic dialect
Pseudocode is marked against Cambridge's own notation. We write it the way the mark scheme expects, by hand, until it is automatic.
Your code on screen, not a model answer
We debug the program you actually wrote, line by line, which is how a wrong mental model gets found and corrected.
Marks, not just topics
We work through past-paper questions on how much detail earns the mark, and where students routinely give easy ones away.
0478 and 0984 are the same syllabus
Two codes for one qualification causes more confusion than anything else on this course, and almost nobody explains it plainly. So: the subject content is identical. The papers are identical. The topics, the durations, the mark totals and the weightings are identical.
The only difference is the grading scale printed on the certificate. 0478 is graded A* to G. 0984 is the (9-1) version, graded 9 to 1. Schools decide which one to enter students for, usually so the grade format matches the rest of the subjects on the report.
What follows from that is the useful part. Nothing about how you revise changes. Every 0478 past paper, mark scheme, textbook and examiner report is a 0984 resource, and the reverse is true too. If a tutor or a revision site treats them as two different courses, that is a signal about the tutor, not the syllabus.
Two papers, equally weighted
There is no coursework and no NEA at IGCSE. Both papers are externally assessed written papers, so every mark is earned in the exam hall. Calculators are not permitted in either one.
| Paper | Length | Marks | Weighting | Content | Question types |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1Computer Systems | 1 hour 45 minutes | 75 marks | 50% | Topics 1 to 6 | Short-answer and structured questions |
| Paper 2Algorithms, Programming and Logic | 1 hour 45 minutes | 75 marks | 50% | Topics 7 to 10 | Short-answer and structured questions, plus a scenario-based question |
Scroll the table sideways
Paper 1
Computer systems
- 1Data representation
- 2Data transmission
- 3Hardware
- 4Software
- 5The internet and its uses
- 6Automated and emerging technologies
Paper 2
Algorithms, programming and logic
- 7Algorithm design and problem-solving
- 8Programming
- 9Databases
- 10Boolean logic
Source: the Cambridge syllabuses for examination in 2026, 2027 and 2028, 0478 and 0984.
Three ways students lose marks they had already earned
1. Revising pseudocode from the wrong board
Cambridge sets out its own pseudocode notation in the syllabus. Variables are declared as DECLARE Counter : INTEGER, the assignment operator is the arrow ←, and arrays carry explicit bounds, as in ARRAY[1:30] OF STRING. OCR and AQA use different dialects. A student revising from a popular OCR video or an AQA workbook writes fluent, correct logic in a notation the Cambridge examiner is not marking. I teach Cambridge 9618 and IGCSE 0478/0984 alongside OCR H446 and AQA 7517, so I can tell you which habit belongs to which board and which one to keep.
2. Writing program code where pseudocode is required
This one is expensive. In Paper 2, coded solutions must be written in pseudocode, and answers written in a programming language are not awarded marks. The single exception is the 15-mark scenario question at the end of the paper, where pseudocode, Python, Visual Basic or Java are all accepted, and where you should expect to spend about 30 minutes. A student who has spent the year typing Python into an editor and has never written Cambridge pseudocode by hand can solve the problem and still score nothing on it.
3. Preparing for pre-release material that no longer exists
There is no pre-release material on 0478 or 0984. It was dropped from the summer 2023 exams and the scenario-based question replaced it. Plenty of revision guides, forum threads and videos still tell students to prepare a pre-release task, because they were written for the older version of the qualification. Worth correcting early: it changes what the final third of Paper 2 practice should look like.
Taught by an engineer who sat these exams
I am Junaid Khalid, a software engineer and the founder of several software products. I went through the Cambridge system myself, which is the part that matters for an exam this procedural: I know from the inside how much detail a two-mark question wants, and where students write a paragraph for a mark that needed a sentence.
The engineering half changes the explanations rather than the syllabus. When we reach databases, packet switching or validation, the answer to “but why is it done that way” comes from having shipped it, not from the textbook margin.
Syllabuses I teach
- Cambridge IGCSE Computer Science0478 / 0984
- Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science9618
- OCR A Level Computer ScienceH446
- AQA A Level Computer Science7517
Online, hourly, and workable from the Gulf
Lessons run over Zoom, one to one, at £60 an hour. There are no packages to buy up front and no minimum commitment. The first conversation is a free introductory call, which is mostly me asking what has gone wrong so far.
You will need a laptop or PC with a webcam and Zoom installed. A second screen helps if you have one, because we spend a lot of time with your code on one side and the question on the other.
On timings: evening UK slots land in early evening Gulf time, which makes this workable for students at British-curriculum international schools in the UAE and across the region. If you are further east or west, say so when you get in touch and I will tell you honestly whether the calendar works.
IGCSE Computer Science help, in short
What is the difference between IGCSE Computer Science 0478 and 0984?
Only the grading scale. The subject content and the paper structure are identical: 0478 is graded A* to G and 0984 is the (9-1) version graded 9 to 1. Your school chooses which one to enter you for, so a 0478 past paper is a 0984 past paper.
Is there any coursework in IGCSE Computer Science?
No. There is no coursework and no NEA at IGCSE. Both papers are externally assessed written papers worth 50% each, so every mark is earned in the exam hall.
Is there still pre-release material for 0478?
No. Pre-release material was dropped from the summer 2023 exams and replaced by the scenario-based question at the end of Paper 2. A lot of older advice online has not caught up with that.
Which programming language should my child learn?
For the scenario question, Cambridge accepts pseudocode or Python, Visual Basic or Java. Python is the usual school choice and a good one, but the rest of Paper 2 requires pseudocode, so we practise both.
Are the lesson times workable from the UAE and the Gulf?
Yes. Evening UK slots land in early evening Gulf time, which suits students at British-curriculum international schools across the region.
How much do lessons cost and how do we start?
£60 an hour, with a free introductory call over Zoom first. Get in touch with the student's name, the syllabus code and what they need help with, and I will send a calendar link.
Carrying on to A-Level?
IGCSE is the natural feed into Cambridge International AS and A Level 9618, and into OCR H446 and AQA 7517 if you move to a UK school. Those A-Level courses do carry a coursework project, and my guide to NEA project ideas covers which ones reach the top mark bands. To be clear on where that help stops: I plan, structure, debug and review a student's own project. I do not write or supply projects.
Everything else I have written is free and needs no sign-up. The resources hub collects the guides.