I attended a launch meeting for the new AQA ICT A Level at the start of the week. An update is long overdue and the proposed changes address most of the shorcomings of the present A Level.
A nice feature of the AS is that there is no longer an assessed coursework module (which was a turn off for the more academically inclined students) and instead a short project report is to be brought into one of the two exam modules. The practical nature of the new specification will allow for better engagement while still allowing plenty of scope for deep levels of understanding of “ICT as a subject”.