Nat 5 Computing Science Revision Checklist & Tracker

Know exactly what is in National 5 Computing Science, see your gaps at a glance, and close them one by one before the prelim and the final exam.

This printable checklist turns the whole course into 84 clear “I can…” statements, based on the current National 5 Computing Science course specification. Tick your option (Database or Web), colour a traffic light for each statement, tick it off every time you revise, and watch the reds turn green.

UP TO DATE FOR 2026-27
The course and exam are unchanged for 2026-27: one 80-mark question paper (1 hour 30 minutes) with software design and development and computer systems (55 marks) plus your choice of database or web design and development (25 marks), and a 40-mark assignment done in class over 6 hours. Everything in this checklist follows that structure.

WHAT’S INSIDE (19 A4 pages)

• Cover with name, school, target grade (A / B / C / D) and exam date
• How to use: tick your options, see what is in the pack, the command words to know
• The exam at a glance: the question paper (80 marks, 1 hour 30 minutes), the assignment (40 marks, 6 hours), where the 120 marks come from, and the mark range for each skill
• 6 checklist pages covering all four areas: software design and development, computer systems, database design and development, and web design and development. Every statement has Red / Amber / Green circles, Revised x1 / x2 / x3 boxes and a Practised? tick box
• 2 code checklists: programming (data types, constructs, standard algorithms, design and testing) and SQL, HTML, CSS and JavaScript, each with lines of code to recognise and where marks are lost
• Answer skills and practice: how to answer state, describe and explain questions, a binary workout drawn as a place-value grid, and a test table with normal, extreme and exceptional data
• Key terms: 24 must-know words, from iterative and concatenation to referential integrity and lossy compression
• Past paper tracker: Section 1 (out of 55), your option (out of 25), total out of 80, percentage and focus areas for 10 papers, plus a progress graph
• My fix-it list and three check-ins to count your greens, ambers and reds over the year
• Assignment: how it works, what you can and cannot do, a timing plan, and a marks checklist for Task 1 and for Task 2 or Task 3
• Exam tips from the examiners’ course reports, plus an exam-week checklist
• Useful links and notes: links to the course page, past papers and past paper questions by topic

PLEASE NOTE

• A4 portrait PDF. Prints in colour or greyscale on standard A4 paper.
• An independent revision resource, not an official exam board product. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Qualifications Scotland. Topics and statements are based on the current National 5 Computing Science course specification.

Good luck with your exams!