Syllabus history
How the A/L ICT syllabus has changed
Three syllabi have been examined since A/L ICT began. Knowing which one a past paper was set on tells you which questions still matter.
The 2017 syllabus is the current one
It has been examined since 2019 and, as of November 2026, NIE has not published a replacement. The national education reforms that began in 2026 start with the lower grades; in October 2026 the government said the A/L assessment framework was still being developed. A reform announcement is not a change to the A/L ICT syllabus until NIE publishes one.
Timeline
- 2009 syllabus2011–2014 exams
The first A/L ICT syllabus
The original A/L ICT syllabus. It covered more depth in places, including object-oriented programming, exception handling, web scripting and XML, that later revisions removed.
NIE syllabus, implemented from 2009 - 2015 syllabus2015–2018 exams
The 2013 revision
Reviewed in 2013 and examined from 2015. It mainly removed content from the 2009 syllabus and kept the same competency structure.
NIE revised syllabus, for exams from 2015 - New syllabus2019 exams onwards
The current syllabus
Effective from 2017 and first examined in 2019, which is why it is called the “new syllabus”. It reorganised the subject into 14 units, named Python, added PHP and MySQL, and added a unit on the Internet of Things.
NIE syllabus, effective from 2017
What the 2017 new syllabus changed
Compared with the 2015 revised syllabus, the one examined from 2015 to 2018.
| Area | Before 2017 | 2017 syllabus |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | 14 competencies, each with numbered competency levels | 14 units, with learning outcomes for each competency level |
| Programming language | No language named | Python, with strings, lists, tuples and dictionaries, functions and file handling |
| Searching and sorting | Sequential and binary search; selection and bubble sort | Sequential search and bubble sort |
| Web development | HTML, a visual web authoring tool and publishing a site (the 2009 syllabus also had scripting and XML) | HTML5, CSS selectors, and PHP with MySQL, including forms that save to a database |
| System development models | Waterfall, spiral, unified development and RAD | Waterfall, spiral, RAD, agile and prototyping |
| Internet of Things | Not in the syllabus | Unit 11: microcontroller projects with sensors, and controlling a device over the Internet |
Units that changed most
Topics moved to new numbers
Older papers, books and notes use the old competency numbers.
| Topic | Before | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Operating systems | Comp. 6 | Unit 5 |
| Data communication and networking | Comp. 8 | Unit 6 |
| System analysis and design | Comp. 11 | Unit 7 |
| Database management | Comp. 9 | Unit 8 |
| Programming | Comp. 7 | Unit 9 |
| Web development | Comp. 10 | Unit 10 |
What the 2013 revision removed
The revised syllabus for exams from 2015 lists what was taken out of the 2009 syllabus (printed pages 3 and 4). Questions on these topics in 2011–2014 papers are outside the syllabus you are studying, unless a later syllabus brought them back.
Computer architecture and data representation
- Instruction Set Architecture (ISA), and CISC and RISC architectures
- IEEE 754 32-bit single-precision floating point representation
- Early memory organisations, virtual memory management and virtual machines
Programming
- Creating and importing modules (2009 competency level 7.11)
- The object-oriented programming competency: classes, encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism (7.12)
- Exception handling (7.15)
Databases
- The ANSI-SPARC three-level architecture (9.3)
- The database design framework competency (9.5)
- DCL and VDL in SQL (9.10)
Web development
- Writing scripts for interactive web sites, with sessions and stored data (10.6, 10.7)
- XML (10.8)
ICT and society
- Check digits in data validation, ICT in advertising, and ICT in teaching and learning
The 2013 revision also renumbered competency levels, so matching an old topic to a new one by its number alone is misleading.
Topics that look new but are not
These were already in the 2009 syllabus. Seeing them in a recent paper does not mean the syllabus changed.
- Artificial intelligence
- Software agents and multi-agent systems
- Quantum computing
- Databases and SQL
- Networking
- Boolean logic and logic gates
- Web development
Using past papers from each syllabus
How we use them in class. Every past paper on this site is tagged with the syllabus it was set on.
2019 onwards: full mock exams
Set on the current syllabus. Sit them under exam timing. For 2019 and 2020, use the papers marked New Syllabus, which are the ones on this site.
2015–2018: practice by topic
Most questions still fit, but there is no Python, PHP, MySQL or IoT, and some older programming and web questions follow the old syllabus.
2011–2014: a question bank
Useful for theory, but check each question against the current units and skip the topics removed in 2013. Do not use them as a full mock exam.
Python, PHP and MySQL, and the Internet of Things are only examined from 2019, so practise them from those papers. All past papers →
Questions
Which A/L ICT syllabus is used now?
The NIE syllabus effective from 2017, first examined in 2019. As of November 2026 NIE has not published a replacement. The education reforms that started in 2026 begin with the lower grades, and in October 2026 the government said the A/L assessment framework was still being developed.
Why is the 2017 syllabus called the 2019 new syllabus?
Teaching on it started in 2017 and A/L is a two-year course, so the first exam on it was in 2019. In 2019 and 2020 students on both the old and the new syllabus sat the exam, and the new-syllabus papers are marked “New Syllabus”.
Are A/L ICT past papers from before 2019 still useful?
Yes, as practice by topic. Most of the theory is still in the syllabus. Check each question against the current units, and practise Python, PHP and MySQL, and IoT from 2019 onwards papers, because older papers do not cover them.
What did the 2013 revision remove?
Among other things: instruction set architecture with CISC and RISC, IEEE 754 floating point, creating and importing modules, the object-oriented programming competency, exception handling, web scripting, XML, and parts of database architecture and SQL (DCL and VDL).
Official sources
Every point on this page comes from these National Institute of Education documents.
Learn the current syllabus in class
Teran Subasinghe teaches all 14 units of the current syllabus, with hands-on Arduino and IoT work and unit tests along the way.
