In 30 seconds
- Three syllabi have been examined since A/L ICT began: the 2009 original, the 2013 revision (examined 2015–2018), and the 2017 "new syllabus" (examined from 2019).
- The 2017 syllabus is still the current one. It named Python, added PHP with MySQL, and brought in a whole new unit on the Internet of Things.
- For revision: use 2019-onwards papers as full mock exams, and older papers for practice by topic.
Download a 2013 A/L ICT paper and you might meet a question on object-oriented programming or XML, topics you will never be examined on today. Download a 2018 paper and there is no Python, no PHP and no Internet of Things at all. The reason is simple: the A/L ICT syllabus has changed twice since the subject began. Knowing its story tells you which past paper questions still matter, and saves you hours of revising the wrong things.
Everything below comes from the official National Institute of Education (NIE) syllabus documents. You can see the full side-by-side details on our A/L ICT syllabus changes page.
Three syllabi in fifteen years
🌱 2009: The original
Exams 2011–2014
The first A/L ICT syllabus, and the deepest in places. It included object-oriented programming, exception handling, web scripting and XML.
✂️ 2013: The revision
Exams 2015–2018
Reviewed in 2013 and examined from 2015. It mainly removed content from the 2009 syllabus and kept the same competency structure.
🚀 2017: The new syllabus
Exams 2019 onwards
Reorganised the subject into 14 units, named Python, added PHP and MySQL, and added a unit on the Internet of Things.
2013: the big trim
The 2013 revision did not add much. Its job was to make the syllabus lighter. The revised syllabus lists exactly what was taken out of the 2009 version, including:
- Computer architecture: instruction set architecture with CISC and RISC, and IEEE 754 floating point representation.
- Programming: creating and importing modules, the whole object-oriented programming competency, and exception handling.
- Databases: the ANSI-SPARC three-level architecture, and DCL and VDL in SQL.
- Web development: scripting for interactive websites, and XML.
Watch out: questions on these topics in 2011–2014 papers are outside the syllabus you are studying. The revision also renumbered competency levels, so matching an old topic to a new one by its number alone is misleading.
2017: the "new syllabus" that arrived in 2019
The current syllabus took effect in 2017. A/L is a two-year course, so its first exam was in 2019, which is why teachers and students call it the "2019 new syllabus". 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".
Compared with the 2015 revised syllabus, here is what changed:
| Area | Before 2017 | 2017 syllabus |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | 14 competencies with numbered competency levels | 14 units, with learning outcomes for each competency level |
| Programming language | No language named | Python, with strings, lists, tuples, 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 | 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 |
The four units that changed most
- Unit 7, System Analysis and Design: agile and prototyping were added to the development models.
- Unit 9, Programming: Python is now the named language. Only sequential search and bubble sort are listed now.
- Unit 10, Web Development: HTML5, CSS selectors, and PHP with MySQL, so forms can save data to a database and read it back.
- Unit 11, Internet of Things: a completely new unit. The NIE Grade 13 teachers' guide covers activities with microcontroller boards such as Arduino, like running a fan when the temperature rises or switching a light over the Internet.
Old numbers, new homes: older papers, books and notes use the old competency numbers. Programming used to be Competency 7 and is now Unit 9; databases moved from 9 to 8; networking from 8 to 6.
Topics that look new but are not
When a recent paper asks about artificial intelligence, software agents or quantum computing, students sometimes assume the syllabus has changed again. It has not. These were already in the 2009 syllabus, along with databases and SQL, networking, Boolean logic and web development. A topic appearing in a paper is not a syllabus change.
What about the 2026 education reforms?
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. As of November 2026, NIE has not published a new A/L ICT syllabus, so the 2017 syllabus is still the one you will be examined on.
Exam note: a reform announcement is not a change to the A/L ICT syllabus until NIE publishes a new syllabus document. Until then, keep studying the 14 units of the current syllabus.
How to use past papers from each syllabus
- 2019 onwards: full mock exams. Set on the current syllabus. Sit them under real exam timing. For 2019 and 2020, use the papers marked "New Syllabus".
- 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 full mock exams.
Every paper on our A/L ICT past papers page is tagged with the syllabus it was set on, so you can see at a glance which era a paper belongs to.
Your syllabus checklist
- I know my exam is set on the 2017 syllabus and its 14 units.
- I use 2019-onwards papers for full timed mock exams.
- I practise Python, PHP with MySQL, and IoT from 2019-onwards papers only.
- I skip OOP, exception handling, XML and the other 2013-removed topics in older papers.
- I check old competency numbers against the new unit numbers before using older notes.
The syllabus has changed twice, but the skills that score marks have not: clear understanding, plenty of practice and exam technique. For the details behind every point here, read the full syllabus changes page. To get started on the new-syllabus topics, try our guides to Python for A/L ICT and Karnaugh maps.
