"Excel and computer skills" isn't CS - it's "ICT" which does not pretend to be computer science. When ICT as part of the curriculum in the early 1990s I think the country was doing the right thing - computer skills beyond using Facebook are essential and too many people still don't understand how spreadsheets work.
In the UK you can do proper Computer Science in high-school at A-Level (ages 16-18), I did it myself - I'd describe it as a somewhat cut-down version of my undergraduate computer-science degree: we did briefly cover the basics of fundamental computer architecture, formal logic and logic-gates, database theory, and software development - the problem is that very few schools actually offer the subject (like 90% of schools offer ICT at A-Level, but I reckon less than 50% offer Computer Science) - and that's due to the staffing: if you can teach Computer Science for A-Level then you're going to be qualified to work as a software developer for a multiple of a typical teacher's salary. My only real criticism of A-Level Computer Science (at least when I did it) was that schools could choose between Pascal/Delphi, VB6, and Java - my school chose VB6 - possibly the worst possible choice considering both how antiquated it was (this was in the mid-2000s so VB.NET/C# were already well-established) but also, more importantly, how it's a poor tool for computer science because VB6 lacks class inheritance and instills bad habits (e.g. SQL concatenation).
When I worked at Microsoft in the US, they took part in a programme called "TEALS" where professional software engineers employed by MS and other companies (Amazon, Facebook, Google all have Seattle offices) are invited to teach high-school AP class computer science classes part time, and I understand it's proving to be quite successful. I think this system should be expanded to allow other industries to take part - I'd sure love to have given chemical engineering or architecture a try in high-school - and kids often need decent exposure to industry if they've yet to decide what they'll do at university and beyond.
In the UK you can do proper Computer Science in high-school at A-Level (ages 16-18), I did it myself - I'd describe it as a somewhat cut-down version of my undergraduate computer-science degree: we did briefly cover the basics of fundamental computer architecture, formal logic and logic-gates, database theory, and software development - the problem is that very few schools actually offer the subject (like 90% of schools offer ICT at A-Level, but I reckon less than 50% offer Computer Science) - and that's due to the staffing: if you can teach Computer Science for A-Level then you're going to be qualified to work as a software developer for a multiple of a typical teacher's salary. My only real criticism of A-Level Computer Science (at least when I did it) was that schools could choose between Pascal/Delphi, VB6, and Java - my school chose VB6 - possibly the worst possible choice considering both how antiquated it was (this was in the mid-2000s so VB.NET/C# were already well-established) but also, more importantly, how it's a poor tool for computer science because VB6 lacks class inheritance and instills bad habits (e.g. SQL concatenation).
When I worked at Microsoft in the US, they took part in a programme called "TEALS" where professional software engineers employed by MS and other companies (Amazon, Facebook, Google all have Seattle offices) are invited to teach high-school AP class computer science classes part time, and I understand it's proving to be quite successful. I think this system should be expanded to allow other industries to take part - I'd sure love to have given chemical engineering or architecture a try in high-school - and kids often need decent exposure to industry if they've yet to decide what they'll do at university and beyond.