Computing Science is the term used commonly for the study of computers and their processes, usage and technology. Below, you will find a list of things that you could use to learn more about Computing Science, or to improve a future application to university.
Books; There are a range of different areas in Computing, from building them to hacking, coding and security and this list hopefully offers something for everyone;
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy
The Chip: How Two American Invented the Microchip and Launched a Revolution by T.R. Reid
Upgrading and Repairing Computers by Scott Mueller
Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick
Don't Make Me Think! by Steve Krug (web design)
The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Genuises, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution, and Steve Jobs both by Walter Isaacson
Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths
The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture by John Batelle
The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee
Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold
Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies by Nick Bostrom
Podcasts; BBC Radio 4 Computing Britain; BBC Radio 4 Codes that Changed the World; Oxford University Computer Science Podcast; National Centre for Computer Education Teach Computing Podcast; TWiT - This Week in Tech (award winning US podcast); Wall Street Journal Tech News Briefing
YouTube Channels; Computerphile (perhaps the best know Computing Channel on YouTube); CS50 comes from Harvard University; The New Boston (Computing tutorials); Google Developers (updates from the world of Google); Code.Org (Programming Charity); Ben Eater (Computing Science including hardware)
Other Video; BBC Click is a regular technology show from the national broadcaster; Khan Academy offer a range of video courses useful to Computer Science; Ted (Computer search) offer a range of talks on the topic of Computers; As do Gresham College (Computing search) who produce lectures freely available to the public.
Competitions, Events and Activities; There are loads of events out there for people interested in taking Computing Science further; The National Cyber Security Centre from the UK Government offer a range of online events based on your age; The Inspire Digital Enterprise Award (iDEA) is an award that will give you skills that help you to stand out based on courses that you take in your own time; Cyber Discovery is an online Cyber Security Training Game for 13 - 18 year olds in which you complete achievements to progress to more difficult cyber security challenges; The British Informatics Olympiad is extremely difficult;
Courses; There are a range of different courses available which can help you to improve areas of your Computing Science skills; Code Academy has a free section and some free resources to help you learn coding; Learn Python is entirely free and offers resources to teach you Python coding language; SQL Zoo will teach you the basics of Structured Query Language for databases; W3Schools is a web developer resource with courses to teach you web design; Harvard University offer some Computing Science short courses many of which are free. Datacamp offer a range of courses, whilst many are paid for, there are some excellent free courses, such as introductions to Python, SQL, and Data Engineering - you can find more on their website.
In Your School; A good way to show that you are passionate about Computer Science, or one aspect of it, is to create a club for younger pupils. You can teach them things which you think they will find interesting and which take them beyond the Computing course at school. This can help you to stand out as someone who is motivated in Computing but that can also work well with other people.