This international comparison will examine policy making and pedagogical practices in two countries where new ‘computing curricula’ are being introduced. How do policy makers and schools plan and deliver these new programmes, especially as they prepare students for future employability, including how issues of inclusion related to class and gender are addressed?

A mixed-methods approach will be adopted to address theoretical and empirical gaps in Singapore and UK. The comparative aspect will explore how, possibly contrasting, national planning agenda produce more or less effective learning.

The study will address the following principal research questions:

• What are key policy makers and secondary teachers’ perceptions of the status of computing in the curriculum?
• How are policy makers planning, and how are schools experiencing, training to meet this new statutory curriculum requirement?
• How is the ‘computing curriculum’ being implemented and linked to knowledge acquisition in preparing students for future employability?
• How effective are current pedagogical practices operating within the delivery of the ‘computing curriculum’ to ensure issues of inclusion, particularly class and gender, are properly addressed to avoid a possible ‘digital divide’?