Databases and relational databases – AQA GCSE Computer Science

Databases and relational databases lesson for AQA GCSE Computer Science (8525), with editable PowerPoint slides, a student worksheet and full answers. A relational database stores data in linked tables; students learn why it beats a flat file and how tables relate to each other.

Written for Paper 2 Computing concepts, section 3.7 Relational databases and SQL (spec 3.7.1.1, 3.7.1.2). Everything is editable, so you can adapt it to your class.

What’s included

• PowerPoint lesson (13 slides) with teacher notes on every slide
• Student worksheet (Word), ready to print or edit
• Answer sheet (Word) with mark-scheme style answers for every question

AQ2.43 Databases and relational databases

By the end of the lesson students can:

• Explain what a database is and why organisations use one
• Explain what a relational database is: data held in separate tables linked by shared fields
• Spot repeated data in a single table and split it into linked tables

Worksheet sections: A. Key words; B. Find the problems; C. Split the table; D. Exam-style questions; E. Challenge

Every lesson includes

• Learning goals and a starter question
• Clear explanations, diagrams and worked examples (Python 3 throughout, with AQA pseudo-code alongside so students can read exam algorithms)
• A quick check and a “your turn” task linked to the worksheet
• Exam-style questions with marks, and an exit ticket

Format

• PowerPoint (.pptx) and Word (.docx), fully editable
• Works in PowerPoint and Google Slides
• Bright, clear GCSE design, consistent across the whole course

These are independent resources written for the AQA GCSE Computer Science specification (8525, version 1.3), for exams from 2027. They are not produced or endorsed by AQA. Spec point numbers are our own numbering of the specification statements.

More lessons in this series

• Previous lesson: Detecting and preventing threats – AQA GCSE Computer Science
• Next lesson: Tables, keys and redundancy – AQA GCSE Computer Science lesson
• Save with the bundle: Relational databases and SQL – AQA GCSE CS (6 lessons)

Last updated: November 2026.