Rasad Paper 2

Computer Science (A Level)
Question revision for paper 1 mock jan 2022

UTC Heathrow
Please note that you may see slight differences between
this paper and the original.
Duration: 1 mins
Candidates answer on the Question paper.
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• You may use additional paper, or a specific Answer sheet if one is provided, but you must clearly show your candidate
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INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

• The quality of written communication is assessed in questions marked with either a pencil or an asterisk. In History and
Geography a Quality of extended response question is marked with an asterisk, while a pencil is used for questions in
which Spelling, punctuation and grammar and the use of specialist terminology is assessed.
• The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.
• The total number of marks for this paper is 196.
• The total number of marks may take into account some 'either/or' question choices.
© OCR 2022. You may photocopy this page. 1 of 57 Created in ExamBuilder

1 The office workers of a large company each use a standalone computer.
The finance manager needs to work on some files at home and also to assess new software for use in the
finance department.
State three different storage devices that the finance manager would use and describe what each device would
be used for.
[6]

2 A supermarket uses a stock control system.
Details of products are stored on a stock database.
When details of a product are input to the system, the data must be verified andvalidated.
(i) Verification is done using a double entry system.
Explain what is meant by verification using double entry.
[2]
(ii) The data about the price of a product will need to be validated on input.
Describe two validation checks that can be carried out on the price of a product.
[4]

3(a) Computer software is used in Geography lessons to teachstudents about weather systems.
(i) State the purpose of an input device in a computer system when using this software.
[1]
(ii) State the purpose of an output device in a computer system when using this software.
[1]
(b) Describe how the following forms of output will be used by the software.
(i) Animation
[2]
(ii) Interactive presentation
[2]

4 A processor contains a number of special registers.
Name and describe three buses used to convey information between the special registers.
[6]

5(a) Describe the characteristics of a menu-based interface and give an example of where it would be used.
[4]
(b) State what is meant by a distributed system.
[1]
(c) One facility of a network operating system is to provide security for users.
Explain two other facilities of a network operating system.
[4]

6(a) Intensive Care Units in hospitals are for patients in need of round the clock monitoring and support.
Computerised systems can be used to monitor patients’ vital signs (temperature, heart rate, blood pressure and
breathing). They can then alert medical professionals to any significant changes.
These systems usually run on an embedded, real-time, operating system.
(i) State what is meant by the term real-time.
[1]
(ii) Explain why a real-time operating system would be suitable for Intensive Care Units.
[2]
(b)
(i) Explain two advantages of this monitoring system having its operating system stored in ROM.
[2]
(ii) The monitoring system also has RAM. Describe what happens to the contents of RAM and ROM when
power to the monitoring system is removed.
[2]

7 InterMovie is a service that allows users to stream movies over the Internet.
InterMovie has a relational database of the films it offers. The database has the field Film Title which stores the
name of a film (e.g. ‘Aliens Attack’).
(i) Describe why Film Title is not a suitable primary key.
[2]
(ii) Describe why Film Title would make a suitable secondary key.
[2]

8 The following assembly code in Fig. 1 is written for the Little Man Computer instruction set.
In the line:
(i) State what opcode SUB does.
[1]
(ii) Name the register in which the result of this line is stored.
[1]

9(a) The video table consists of the following fields: VideoID, VideoName, Presenter, Topic.
(i) Describe what is meant by the term primary key.
[2]
(ii) Write an SQL query that finds the name and presenter of all videos on the Topic of “The CPU”.
[4]
(b) The Big Brains exam board has produced a website that allows students to access revision videos.
All pages in the site contain the following tag in the head section.
The exam board wants to use a database to keep track of which videos each student has viewed. The structure
it plans to use is shown below:
(i) Identify one reason why this structure would not be suitable.
[1]
(ii) Draw a new version of the structure to solve this problem.
[3]

10 The program, as shown in Fig.2 below, is written in assembly code using the Little Man Computer instruction set.
It is supposed to take in two numbers and output the higher.
A processor executes this program following the Fetch-Decode-Execute cycle. To do this it needs to make use of
registers.
One of the registers used is the Program Counter (PC). Ordinarily it would be incremented by one each cycle.
(i) Identify an instruction in the Little Man Computer program shown in Fig.2 that would cause the PC to change
in a different way.
[1]
(ii) State which register the contents of the PC would be copied to in order for the processor to access the next
instruction.
[1]

11(a) People burn calories as they move around. ‘FitFeet’ trainers come with an attachable device. This device
estimates the calories burnt by the user whilst wearing the trainers. Users can then upload this information to
their computers.
Describe a sensor that the device might include to help monitor calories burnt.
[2]
(b) The device stores its data on flash memory. Explain why flash storage would be more appropriate than a
magnetic hard drive for this device.
[3]
12 A gaming company decides to release a new video games console. The console will use a modified version of
an operating system called Linux.
Explain two reasons why games designed for other companies’ consoles may not work on this machine.
[4]

13(a) A company releases a utility called RAMStore. The utility creates a virtual storage drive from an area of the
computer's RAM.
Give one advantage of using RAM as storage in this way.
[1]
(b) The utility periodically copies what is in the RAM drive to secondary storage, such as a hard disk. Explain why
this is necessary.
[2]
(c) It is important that enough RAM is left for the operating system to use. Describe a technique that allows
operating systems to overcome a lack of available RAM.
[4]

14(a) A gaming company decides to release a new video games console. The console will use a modified version of
an operating system called Linux.
Describe two functions an operating system might be expected to carry out on the console.
[4]
(b) As well as a CPU the console contains a GPU for 3D graphics. Explain why a GPU is more suitable than a CPU
for this task.
[3]

15 * Modern computers tend to have magnetic or solid state (flash) hard drives. Discuss which hard drive you would
recommend for a keen video games player to use on their desktop PC.
[9]

16 A database stores information about songs on a music streaming service.
One of the tables called Song has the fields.
Explain why none of these fields would be suitable as a primary key.
[2]

17(a) A software development company is building an operating system for a mobile phone that is in the process of
being designed.
Give one reason the phone needs an operating system.
[1]
(b) One of the developers is responsible for writing the code for what happens when the CPU receives an interrupt.
Outline what the code must do.
[6]
(c) Explain how the developers could use virtual machines.
[2]

18 A processor contains a number of special registers.
Explain the need for the following registers.
(i) Program Counter (PC)
[2]
(ii) Memory Address Register (MAR)
[2]
(iii) Memory Data Register (MDR)
[2]

19(a) An operating system uses scheduling. One method of scheduling is first come, first served.
(i) Explain why the first come, first served scheduling method may not be efficient.
[2]
(ii) Describe one other scheduling method.
[2]
(iii) Explain why scheduling is necessary.
[4]

(b) Explain why memory management is necessary.
[3]
(c) Paging may be used in memory management.
Describe paging.
[3]

20 The memory of a computer system contains both RAM and ROM.
(i) State two differences between RAM and ROM in a typical PC computer system.
[2]
(ii) State one item that needs to be stored in RAM and give a reason why RAM is used.
[2]
(iii) State one item of software that is stored in ROM and give a reason why ROM is necessary.
[2]

21 A tank of water contains tropical fish. The water must be maintained at a constant temperature. A computer
system is used to maintain the required temperature of the water.
(i) State one input device that will be used in the system and give its purpose.
[2]
(ii) State one output device that will be used in the system and give its purpose.
[2]
(iii) State a storage device that will be used with the system and identify the data that it will hold.
[2]
(iv) Explain the need for real-time processing in this application.
[2]

22(a)
(i) Compare a Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC) architecture with a Reduced Instruction Set Computer
(RISC) architecture.
[4]
(ii) Explain one advantage, other than cost, of RISC compared with CISC.
[2]

(b) Some computer systems use co-processors.
Explain the effect of using a co-processor system for each of the following applications.
(i) Complex calculations for scientific research.
[2]
(ii) Printing personalised letters to customers for an advertising campaign.
[2]

23(a) Von Neumann and array processor are different types of computer architecture.
One feature of Von Neumann architecture is that instructions are executed in a linear sequence.
(i) Give three other features.
[3]
(ii) Describe what is meant by array processor architecture.
[2]
(iii) Give one advantage and one disadvantage, other than cost, of using Von Neumann compared with array
processor architectures.
Advantage
Disdvantage
[2]

(b) Processors use special registers.
(i) Explain why special registers are needed in addition to primary memory.
[2]
(ii) One register holds the address of the next instruction to be processed.
Explain two reasons why the value held may change.
[4]
24 A computer uses a Von Neumann processor.
Describe the fetch-decode-execute cycle that this architecture uses.
Fetch _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Decode _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Execute _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[3]

25 A processor uses a number of different registers. One of these is the Current Instruction Register.
Describe the use of special registers and their functions during the fetch-decode-execute cycle, including jump
instructions, reading from and writing to memory.
The quality of written communication will be assessed in your answer to this question.
[8]

26 A programmer needs to design a database to hold details about customers and their orders for an online
company.
Describe the differences between a flat file and a relational database.
[4]

27 Describe how each of these improves a processor's performance:
(i) fast clock speed
[2]
(ii) large cache memory
[2]

28 Asim is the head of a chess club. One of his jobs is to send out a monthly newsletter.
For the newsletter, club members send in descriptions of games they play using chess notation, which consist of
a sequence of symbols, letters and numbers. It is important that these descriptions are accurate.
Asim decides to create a questionnaire about the newsletter to send to the club members. He then collates their
responses using Optical Mark Recognition (OMR).
Describe four factors Asim must consider when designing the questionnaire.
[4]

29 A Little Man Computer (LMC) assembly language program is stored in memory as shown in Fig. 3.1.
In this variant of LMC the symbols & and # are used to denote different modes of addressing.
Explain how pipelining would help a CPU execute the code in Fig. 3.1 more quickly.
[3]

30 *Some problems require a large amount of computing power that goes well beyond a single CPU.
Discuss the different approaches that can be taken to provide increasingly larger amounts of computing power
and the types of problem they are suited to.
[12]
END OF QUESTION PAPER

Mark Scheme
Question Answer/Indicative content Marks Guidance
1 Hard drive… 6 Mark as three pairs of marks. Second mark

…to store files and software is dependent on getting the first
Removable hard drive… Uses are all examples, other sensible uses
…to store archive of files should be credited.
CDROM/DVDROM reader… Uses can be generic, but if specific they
…for the importation of software need to be about the finance manager
Memory stick / solid state device…
…to allow transport of materials Not: USB on its own
between office and home Only allow the same reason once e.g. ‘to
CD(R)/DVD(R) (reader / writer…) / store files’
optical disk
…to store back-up of files / software / Examiner's Comments
portability of files
Cloud storage… The intention of the question was to make
…to make files available to others in candidates consider hardware choices in a
the dept / from anywhere / on any simple scenario. The list of accepted
device / backup answers is shown in the published
markscheme. Almost any device was
accepted if the candidate could come up
with a sensible reason for its use, although
devices like floppy disk drives were not
sensible devices for use by a finance
manager in a firm. ‘Magnetic tape’ was a
relatively popular response which was not
accepted on the basis that it did not
describe a device, but a ‘magnetic tape
drive’ to store archive material was
considered sensible.
Total 6
2 i Data input twice 2

The two inputs are compared by Examiner's Comments
computer
Most candidates were able to indicate that
the data was input twice, but then implied
that the data was compared by the person
doing the data input rather than making it
clear that the comparison is done by the
computer.

Mark Scheme
ii Range check… 4 1 per bullet, max 2 per type, max two types
…Parameters imposed beyond which
the data cannot go Second point does not need the correct
…eg Tin of beans must be between name to be given mark, but it must not
0.10 and 1.50 contradict
Length check…
…The maximum number of characters Not: Presence check / existence check /
is specified checksum / check digit
…Price of a tin of beans must be three
characters Examiner's Comments
Type check / character check…
…data matches the data type specified The data is entered into the computer so a
…eg characters must be digits presence check is not appropriate because
Format check / input mask… the data has been entered. An existence
…the form that the data must take is check is not appropriate because the data
specified being input is the price of the product to the
…eg price must contain two places of database and so it will not exist on the
decimals computer already. Candidates who were
able to give correct validation types were
often unable to earn the second mark
which required them to be able to explain
how that validation rule would be applied to
a price in a supermarket, not simply a
generic description.
Total 6

Mark Scheme
3 a i Allows data to be given / entered (into 1 Allow specific inputs like answers to
the computer) questions or allows user to interact with
software / hardware
Not: a piece of hardware
ii Reports the results of processing (to 1 Allow: Lets hard copy be produced
the user )/ shows state of software (to
user) Examiner's Comments
Well answered except for those candidates

who described devices rather than the
process.
b i Movement of images on the screen 2 Two mark points are: Movement and
Used to illustrate weather systems weather systems
which would otherwise not be possible
Examiner's Comments
Some good answers but many simply

rewrote the words in the question on the
linesof ‘An animation is when images are
animated.’ Responses needed to refer to
the scenario to earn full marks. Nothing
complicated was expected, for example
‘moving images to show how a weather
system develops’ would earn two marks.
ii The next image / stage presented is 2 Two mark points are: Output determined
determined by the input determined by by student input and an example (eg
the user question asked and answered or hyperlink
Questions may be asked about one / hot button chosen)
stage and the software will move to a
next stage determined by the response Examiner's Comments
to the question given
It was important to indicate that the output
from the software would be influenced by
the input from the student even if it was
only indicating whether answers to
questions were correct or not.
Total 6

Mark Scheme
4 Control bus… 6 These are the expected responses as they

…transmits control signals from the are the buses listed in the specification,
control unit (to other parts of the however, other responses are acceptable,
processor) for example named buses like ‘EIDE, a
Data bus… local bus’ and ‘Video bus to maintain
…carries the data (from one place to screen display’. Serial and parallel buses
another) are not acceptable because they are not
Address bus… named. Not a memory bus.
…carries the location address Control bus does not send program
(register) where the data is going (to or instructions. Examples would include
from) interrupt signals / read / write operation
carried out
Examiner's Comments
Understanding of the purpose of the three

bus types named in the specification
continues to improve although there is still
the desire among candidates to imbuethem
with rather more power than they have got.
Typical is the desire to say that the bus
‘stores’ something rather than acting as a
conduit. On a base level candidates can
picture data being sent around the
processor in the data bus and the details of
where it is being sent to are carried in the
address bus. The control bus simply
passes the control signals to the registers
from the control unit.
Total 6

Mark Scheme
5 a The software necessary to allow the 4 Watch for dropdown boxes or icons or any
system to be used without an other indication that this is a GUI or a
understanding of the underlying WIMP.
hardware / operating system Probably scores 0
A series of choices are offered to the
user 3 marks maximum for description, 1 mark
No other options are available to the for example
user
Different choices lead to different follow Any reasonable example. Be generous
on choices
There are options to go back one level Examiner's Comments
or to return to the home screen
Suitable example eg online banking This was well answered.
application
b A system which shares processing 1

(between the processors on a network) Examiner's Comments
/ shares the data between different
systems (on a network in order to This was a definition which many
reduce bottlenecks). candidates did not know and answered as
though it was a simple network.
c File handling… 4 Max 2 facilities

…allowing Access to, and manipulation
of, files dependent on the identity of the Examiner's Comments
user
Handling communication… Most candidates are able to state two
…controls the movement of data facilities offered by a NOS, but the
around the network (by use of agreed descriptions are less well done.
protocol)
Resource sharing / resource
management…
…ensure fair allocation of resources /
volume of printout allowed / etc
Automatic backup…
…so that data is not lost if it is
corrupted
Total 9

Mark Scheme
6 a i The system gives a response within a 1 For 1 mark.

guaranteed time frame (1).
ii If something happens to a patient, a 2 Up to 2 marks for a valid explanation that

response must be immediate (1). demonstrates application of knowledge
Other types of system may have and understanding to given context.
delays in response (1).
This could result in a patient not
receiving treatment in time (1).
b i ROM is quick to start up so the system 2 Up to 2 marks for valid identification and
can be started up quickly (in an description that demonstrates application
emergency) (1). of knowledge and understanding to given
ROM cannot be altered so there is no context.
chance of the OS being accidentally or
maliciously changed (on what is a
safety critical system) (1).
ii The contents of RAM are wiped (1) 2 Up to 2 marks for a valid description.
whereas the contents of ROM remain
the same (1).
Total 7
7 i A primary key must have a unique 2 One mark (AO 1.2) for identification of
value for each record (1 – AO1.2) - appropriate reason.
however it is possible for two films to
have the same name (1 – AO2.1). One mark (AO 2.1) for applying knowledge
to given context.
ii A secondary key is indexed allowing 2 One mark (AO 1.2) for identification of
for faster searching (1 – AO1.2) and appropriate reason.
users are likely to want to search by
film (1 – AO2.1). One mark (AO 2.1) for applying knowledge
to given context.
Total 4
8 i Performs subtraction (1). 1 For 1 mark.
ii The accumulator (1). 1 For 1 mark.
Total 2

Mark Scheme
9 a i A field that has a unique value / a 2 Up to 2 marks for a valid description.

unique identifier (1) for every record in
that table (1) – in this case VideoID (1).
ii SELECT VideoName, Presenter (1) 4 For 4 marks.

FROM Video (1) WHERE Topic (1)
=“The CPU” (1). Do not award first mark if any other field or
SELECT *
SELECT VideoName, Presenter FROM

Video WHERE Topic=“The CPU”
b i Many to Many relationships are not 1 For 1 mark.

allowed / in 3NF (1).
ii Table added between student and 3 For 3 marks.

video (1).
Student to middle table 1:M
relationship (1).
Middle table to video M:1 relationship
(1).
Total 10
10 i BRA (1) / BRP (1). 1 For 1 mark.
Accept ‘Branch’ or ‘Branch if Positive’.
ii Memory Address Register (MAR) (1). 1 For 1 mark.
Accept MAR on its own.
Total 2

Mark Scheme
11 a Altimeter (1 – AO1.2) when the wearer 2 Up to 2 marks for a valid description.

is ascending / descending (1 – AO2.1).
Accelerometer (1 – AO1.2) measure Maximum 1 mark for demonstrating
forces on device when it moves (1 – understanding (AO1.2).
AO2.1).
Gyroscope (1 – AO1.2) to measure if Maximum 1 mark for applying knowledge
wearer turns (1 – AO2.1). and understanding (AO2.1).
Do not accept ‘movement sensor’ or

‘motion sensor’.
b Device is likely to undergo lots of 3 Up to 3 marks for a valid explanation.

sudden movement (1 – AO1.2)
magnetic hard drives can be Allow maximum 1 mark for mention that
susceptible to damage if moved quickly little data is needed and so large capacity
(1 – AO3.3) due to the head coming of magnetic storage not needed.
into contact with the platter (1 – AO3.3)
whereas flash memory has no moving Maximum 1 mark for demonstrating
parts and so is not affected (1 – understanding (AO1.2).
AO3.3).
The device is likely to be small (1 – Up to 2 marks for evaluation (AO3.3).
AO1.2) – hard drives require enough
space for their moving parts (1 –
AO3.3) whereas flash memory, having
no moving parts, requires much less
space (1 – AO3.3).
Total 5
12 Different console makers will use 4 Up to two marks for identifications (AO1.2).
Digital Rights Management (DRM) (1 –
AO1.2) to protect games from being Up to two marks for valid explanations
able to be run on anything other than (AO2.1).
their machines (1 – AO2.1).
Different consoles will have different
processors (1 – AO1.2) each with their
own instruction sets (1 – AO2.1) and
word sizes (1 – AO2.1).
Different consoles have different
operating systems (1 – AO1.2) and so
games may be dependent on libraries
in one operating system that don’t exist
in another (1 – AO2.1) or may make
different system calls (1 – AO2.1).
Games might be on a different media
(1 – AO1.2), for example, might be on
Blu-ray when console may only have a
DVD player (1 – AO2.1).
Total 4

Mark Scheme
13 a Faster read / write speed than secondary 1

storage media.
b – RAM is volatile meaning it loses 2

contents when power is off …
– … so must be copied to secondary
storage in case of unexpected power
failure
(1 per –,)
c – Memory contents are divided into 4

pages
– Pages not needed get moved to virtual
memory
– Which is an area on a secondary
storage device
– When required the pages are moved
from virtual memory back into RAM.
(1 per –)
Total 7

Mark Scheme
14 a Provide a user interface (1 – AO1.1) for 4 1 mark for each correct identification
the user to load games etc. (1 – (AO1.1) up to a maximum of 2 marks.
AO1.2).
Control hardware (1 – AO1.1) such as 1 mark for each valid description (AO1.2)
graphics card, games controllers etc. up to a maximum of 2 marks.
(1 – AO1.2).
Act as a platform from which software
can be run (1 – AO1.1) such as games
and apps (1 – AO1.2).
Control access (1 – AO1.1) so that
different users can access the system
(1 – AO1.2) and have their own data
such as scores and achievements (1 –
AO1.2).
b CPUs are general purpose processors 3 Up to 3 marks for a valid explanation.

(1) whereas GPUs are designed
specifically for graphics (1). And so
likely to have built in circuitry /
instructions for common graphics
operations (1). GPUs are able to
perform an instruction on multiple
pieces of data at one time (1) often we
want to do this when processing
graphics (e.g. transforming points in a
polygon or shading pixels) (1) which
means it can perform transformations
to onscreen graphics quicker than a
CPU (1).
Total 7

Mark Scheme
15 Mark Band 3–High Level (7–9 marks) 9 AO1: Knowledge and Understanding
The candidate demonstrates a thorough
knowledge and understanding of Magnetic The following is indicative of possible
and Flash storage. The material is factors / evidence that candidates may
generally accurate and detailed. refer to but is not prescriptive or
exhaustive:
The candidate is able to apply their – Magnetic hard drives work by magnetic
knowledge and understanding directly and patterns being read off platters that
consistently to the context provided. mechanically spin at high speeds.
Evidence / examples will be explicitly – Flash hard drives use memory chips.
relevant to the explanation. These can have their contents erased and
subsequently overwritten when an
The candidate provides a thorough electrical charge is applied.
discussion which is well balanced. – Magnetic hard drives are cheaper per GB
Evaluative comments are consistently and tend to be sold in much higher
relevant and well-considered. capacities than flash hard drives.
– Flash hard drives tend to have much
There is a well-developed line of reasoning higher read / write speeds than magnetic
which is clear and logically structured. The hard disks.
information presented is relevant and – Flash hard disks have no moving parts
substantiated. and therefore tend to have lower power
consumption and are not affected by their
Mark Band 2–Mid Level (4–6 marks) device moving.
The candidate demonstrates reasonable
knowledge and understanding of a
Magnetic and Flash based storage; the AO2.1: Application
material is generally accurate but at times
underdeveloped. The selected knowledge / examples should
be directly related to the specific question.
The candidate is able to apply their The following is indicative of possible
knowledge and understanding directly to factors / evidence that candidates may
the context provided although one or two refer to but is not prescriptive or
opportunities are missed. Evidence / exhaustive:
examples are for the most part implicitly
relevant to the explanation. – Many games tend to incorporate a lot of
media and as such a keen gamer is likely
The candidate provides a sound to need a lot of storage space.
discussion, the majority of which is – Games are fast paced and often
focused. Evaluative comments are for the competitive. High loading speeds can be
most part appropriate, although one or two beneficial.
opportunities for development are missed. – High performance is often important to
gamers and as such will pick highest
There is a line of reasoning presented with performing components.
some structure. The information presented – Hybrid approaches exist which offer ‘the
is in the most part relevant and supported best of both worlds’.
by some evidence. – Magnetic hard drives can be noisy (due
to parts moving at high speed), this can be
Mark Band 1–Low Level (1–3 marks) undesirable and distracting whilst gaming.
The candidate demonstrates a basic Conversely flash drives operate silently.

Mark Scheme
knowledge of Magnetic and Flash based

storage with limited understanding shown;
the material is basic and contains some AO3.3: Evaluation
inaccuracies. The candidate makes a
limited attempt to apply acquired Candidates will need to consider a variety
knowledge and understanding to the of issues in relation to the question and will
context provided. make some evaluative comments about
the issues and solutions they are
The candidate provides a limited discussing. The following is indicative of
discussion which is narrow in focus. possible factors / evidence that candidates
Judgements if made are weak and may refer to but is not prescriptive or
unsubstantiated. exhaustive:
The information is basic and

communicated in an unstructured way. The – Due to their high storage capacity
information is supported by limited magnetic hard disks are the best choice. A
evidence and the relationship to the gamer could have many games installed at
evidence may not be clear. one time. Whilst performance is not quite
that of flash drives, to have a similarly
0 marks sized flash drive would be prohibitively
No attempt to answer the question or expensive. A high quality magnetic drive
response is not worthy of credit. will provide good enough performance
leaving money to be spent elsewhere. As it
is being installed on a desktop there is no
need to worry about power consumption or
issues with the computer moving.
– Gamers need high performance and that
includes large amounts of data being
loaded quickly. The read / write speed of a
solid state drive means this is the natural
choice for the gamer's desktop.
Total 9
16 – A primary key must have a unique 2

value for every record
– The values for all these fields could
repeat.
(1 per –)
Total 2

Mark Scheme
17 a To control the hardware 1
b – Complete the current FDE Cycle 6

– Check the priority of the incoming
interrupt.
– If its of a higher priority than the current
task.
– Contents of registers stored in
memory..
– … in a stack.
– The relevant interrupt service routine is
loaded …
– ..by loading the relevant value into the
program counter.
– When the ISR is complete the previous
state is popped from the stack
– And are loaded back into the registers.
(1 per –, max 6)
c – Developers can run their operating 2

system on a software implementation of
the phone …
– … Until the physical machine is ready.
(1 per –)
Total 9

Mark Scheme
18 i –Is needed to store the address of the next 2

instruction (to be processed) Examiner's Comments
–Value is then sent to the MAR
–After sending the value the PC is Few candidates gained full marks for this
incremented / changed to address held in question. Some candidates demonstrating
CIR if the operation is a Jump confusion between which registers hold the
actual instruction/data and which hold the
memory location address of the
instruction/data.
ii – Contains the address of the instruction 2

(to be accessed in memory)… Examiner's Comments
– …address of instruction sent from PC
– Contains the address of the data (to be Again, some candidates demonstrated
accessed in memory)… confusion between registers. A common
– …address of data sent from CIR error was ‘address of next instruction’.
iii – Contains the instruction which has been 2

accessed from memory Examiner's Comments
– Contains the data which has been
accessed from memory Although most candidates did state that
– That is referenced by the MAR / this register holds data/instructions there
Instruction sent to CIR was a lack of clarity about where the
– acts as a buffer data/instruction was coming from/going to,
hence not clearly explaining the need for
the register.
Total 6

Mark Scheme
19 a i Once a job starts it prevents other jobs 2

from being processed Examiner's Comments
A job using a slow resource (eg printer)
wastes processor time This question seemed to baffle a lot of
candidates who decided to answer a
question about priorities instead. Those
who answered the question properly
generally managed to get one mark, there
were relatively few who got full marks for
this.
ii Round robin 2 One method only - marks in pairs

Time slice to each user in turn Accept other examples, including
Or Priorities
Length of job Highest priority first
Shortest job first
Examiner's Comments
This question was well answered by most

candidates with “round robin” being the
clear favourite response.
iii Process as many jobs as possible… 4

…in least possible time / quicker Examiner's Comments
Ensure all jobs are processed (fairly)
Maximise number of interactive users… In general, this was well answered with the
…with fast response times / real time whole range of expected responses from
Efficient use of resources / processor time the mark scheme being used.
b Organise the use of (main) memory… 3

…by converting logical addresses to Examiner's Comments
physical addresses
Allows programs to share memory / Most candidates gave correct responses to
allocate memory… this, with the majority of those gaining two
…& protect programs / data from each marks, the most popular answers for this
other were ‘allocates memory’ and ‘protect
Allows programs larger than main memory programs from each other’.
to run
c Partitioning memory 3 cao

Pages are fixed size
Pages are physical divisions Examiner's Comments
Used for virtual memory
A lot of candidates had problems with this
question and a significant few thought that
this was concerning saving to secondary
memory. Very few mentioned “partitioning”
and it was thought that this should be fairly
standard when referring to paging.

Mark Scheme
Total 14
20 i –RAM is volatile / ROM is not volatile 2

–RAM is editable / ROM cannot be altered Examiner's Comments
–RAM is larger / ROM is smaller
This question was well answered; most
candidates could give two differences
(1 per –, max 2) between RAM and ROM.
ii –User files / software / OS currently in use 2 1 mark per item, one mark per reason
–User must be able to alter contents of file
/ computer needs access to software but Examiner's Comments
needs to be able to replace it
– RAM offers direct access. Most candidates could state a valid item
– RAM operates at a much faster speed that is stored in RAM but did not go on to
than most secondary storage devices. say ‘currently in use’ therefore did not gain
full credit.
iii –Boot file / program / BIOS 2 1 mark per item, one mark per reason
–Must be available when computer
switched on ( therefore must be stored on Examiner's Comments
medium which is non–volatile)
– The boot program / BIOS must not be Common answers were BIOS and
deleted / unintentionally amended (and Bootstrap, with some candidates
therefore is best stored on a read–only incorrectly stating that data files are held in
medium.) ROM.
Total 6

Mark Scheme
21 i –Temperature sensor / Heat sensor / 2 Note: Other answers are possible and are
Thermistor acceptable if a sensible use is given to
– to read the water temperature (in to the justify their use.
processor). NOT Thermometer
–Keypad / Keyboard
– to allow the user to change the required Examiner's Comments
temperature.
Most candidates were able to name and
give the purpose of an appropriate input
(1 per –, max 1 pair, max 2) device. Many lost credit for citing a (digital)
thermometer.
ii –Heater 2
–To increase the temperature of the water Examiner's Comments
–Actuator
– to switch heater on / off A good range of output devices and
–Screen / Monitor purposes were given here with most
–to show current temperature candidates gaining full credit.
(1 per –, max 1 pair, max 2)
iii –Solid state storage / flash memory card / 2 NOT storing temperature readings
hard disk…
–to store program to run system / to store Examiner's Comments
parameter(s)
A range of storage devices were given but
many candidates suggested the purpose
was to store temperature logs.
iv –Real–time should be used as the 2 NOT simply "Fish may die"

processor will (make decisions and) take
action immediately. Examiner's Comments
–Fish may be harmed if temperature is
outside parameters (for too long). Most candidates achieved credit for
describing real time processing, although
some did use the term in their response.
Many did not extend the need beyond ‘fish
may die’.
Total 8

Mark Scheme
22 a i CISC: 4 Max 3 marks for either CISC or RISC, total

Each instruction may take multiple cycles max 4
Single register set
Instructions have variable format Examiner's Comments
Many instructions are available
Many addressing modes are available There were a wide variety of answers to
Complicated processor design this question, ranging from the very
Integrated circuit is expensive accurate to the very vague. A significant
RISC: number of candidates said that RISC is
An instruction performs a simple task used in mobile phones, if the question had
Limited number of instructions available asked for an example this would probably
Complex tasks can only be performed by have been a good one. Those that missed
combining multiple instructions marks here generally talked about the
Simple processor design programming and its relative difficulty on
either type of processor rather than the
processor itself.
ii Programs run faster… 2

…due to simpler instructions Examiner's Comments
Most candidates got the first mark, the

more able candidates managed to get the
second, again, here the most common
erroneous answer was about the
merits/drawbacks of programming.
b i Calculations are done by the maths co- 2

processor… Examiner's Comments
…so processing is faster
…when using floating point arithmetic Both this and the next question were well
answered by candidates who knew that a
co-processor is for floating point
calculations.
ii No increase in speed… 2
…as co-processor not suitable for task / as Examiner's Comments
there are no calculations
For this part there was a wide variety of
inventions as to how a co-processor could
control a print queue, not answered well by
those who did not grasp the first part of the
question.
Total 10

Mark Scheme
23 a i Single control unit 3 Accept single ALU

One instruction at a time
Uses fetch execute cycle Allow FDE
Program & data stored together / Location TV
program & data in same format
Examiner's Comments
A significant amount of candidates gave a

single processor as a response to this
question which was judged to not be
sufficient for this level of examination.
ii Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) 2 Examiner's Comments

Allows same instruction to operate
simultaneously on multiple data Well answered by most candidates with
locations / many ALU's almost all getting at least one mark and a
large proportion getting both marks.
iii Advantage 2
Simpler operating system / easier to

program
Disadvantage
Slower than array processing on large Disadvantage must be a comparison to an

sets of data array processor Accept SIMD for array
processing
Examiner's Comments
A large number of candidates were of the

opinion that “Slower” or “Not as fast” was
sufficient for this. It was not.
b i Allow fast access to data which is 2 Just fast access / faster TV

needed frequently / for a specific
purpose Examiner's Comments
Faster than accessing RAM / data bus
/ primary memory Again there were a significant number of
answers that were vague, saying “faster”;
at this level it really is expected that
candidates can back up their assertions.

Mark Scheme
ii Program Counter increments… 4 Accept PC

…during f-e cycle
A jump instruction from the Current Accept CIR
Instruction Register / operand…
… program Counter changes to Examiner's Comments
address given
A small minority didn't have a clue which
register this was meant to be, some were
vague and didn't mention it. Most
candidates managed to get middle marks
which was pleasing to see.
Total 13
24 Fetch- The next instruction is fetched 3

from main memory/address
Decode- The instruction is interpreted /
translated / split into opcode and Fetch they may describe the whole cycle
operand (in the CIR) Not translated in MDR
Execute- The appropriate
instruction/opcode is carried out on the Examiner's Comments
operand.
A lot of candidates are unsure as to what
actually happens in the fetch decode
execute cycle and some very vague
answers were provided. However, there
were a few excellent responses that did
show a good understanding of the
processes.
Total 3

Mark Scheme
25 Mark band 6-8. High level response. 8

Candidate has given a comprehensive
response stating most of the bullets for all
three points and has used appropriate
technical language throughout their
answer. There are few, if any, spelling or
grammatical errors.
Mark band 3-5. Medium level response.
Candidate has given an adequate
response stating some of the bullets for all
three points or has explained two
comprehensively. The candidate has used
some appropriate technical language in
their answer. There may be a few spelling
or grammatical errors.
Mark band 0-2. Low level response.
Candidate has given an adequate
response stating some of the bullets for
two points or has explained one
comprehensively. The candidate may have accept: Memory Buffer Register
used some appropriate technical language
in their answer. There are some spelling or Examiner's Comments
grammatical errors.
As was expected for the banded response
question all candidates could write
Registers something about the registers and almost
all of those could write something about a
Mentions CIR MDR MAR PC and jump instruction. There were some good
ACC write-ups about the use of the accumulator
Jump instruction CIR sends and the ALU, some mentioned the use of
address to PC buses, but Control Unit and Interrupt
PC incremented register were a rare find. Saving was a bit
MDR copies data to CIR patchy with some rather vague
CIR holds the data to be decoded.. descriptions although there were still the
…into opcode and operand occasional gems to be found. A good
Saving spread of responses overall.
CIR sends address to MAR..
…sends data to MDR
All data to be saved uses the ACC
Other relevant points
All arithmetic and logical operations
use the ACC
Mention of buses (Address Data or
Control)
Control unit for synchronisation
Mention of Interrupt Register
ALU performs calculations
Total 8

Mark Scheme
26 Flat file 4
May have redundant data

Flat file harder to update
No specialist knowledge needed to
operate
Allow for opposites eg RD has no repeated
Relational database data. Only one mark per bullet
Examiner's Comments
Data Integrity
Linked tables Mostly well answered
Easier to change format
Provides security features
Total 4
27 i Gives more cycles per second 2 Do not accept ‘…data is processed

More instructions can be executed per quickly…’ as BP3
second
So the program takes less time to run Examiner's Comments
(1 per -, Max 2)
Many candidates achieved some credit on
this question but candidates did not
achieve full marks due to lack of attention
to detail in their description. Many
candidates used phrases such as
‘processor will run quicker / faster’ without
describing how a fast clock speed would
enable this.
ii More space for data / instructions in 2

cache memory Examiner's Comments
RAM needs to be accessed less
frequently Similarly, the lack of detailed responses
Accessing cache is quicker than limited credit achieved on this question.
accessing the RAM (1 per -, Max 2) Many candidates used phrases such as
‘large cache means faster processing’
without describing how a large cache
would enable this.
Total 4

Mark Scheme
28 Four of: 4
Examiner's Comments
Format that OMR can detect (e.g. Many candidates did not address the
lozenges). [1] question appropriately. Many responses
Primarily use closed questions / related to designing questionnaires in
multiple choice. [1] general rather than designing
Consistent format for answers (e.g. if 1 questionnaires for OMR input. Candidates
is not agree at all and 5 is agree should be reminded to read the question
entirely not switching round) [1] thoroughly.
Logical ordering of questions. [1]
Sensible use of space [1]
Total 4
29 Pipelining would allow one instruction to be 3 Accept any valid example from the given
fetched as the previous one is being code.
decoded and the one before that is being
executed.(1)
For example OUT could be fetched (1). As
there are no jump/branch instructions it
pipelines well (as there is no need to flush
the pipeline). (1)
Total 3

Mark Scheme
30 Mark Band 3–High Level (9–12 marks) 2 Answers may include, but are not limited
to, some of the points below.
The candidate demonstrates a thorough 2 AO1: Knowledge and Understanding

knowledge and understanding of methods
of utilising large amounts of computing
power. The material is generally accurate
and detailed.
3 Processors have increasingly large clock

speeds and can be overclocked.
The candidate is able to apply their 5 Processors can have multiple cores.
knowledge and understanding directly and Super computers can have multiple
consistently to the context provided. processors (and GPUs).
Evidence/examples will be explicitly GPUs can be applied to problems other
relevant to the explanation. than graphics processing.
Problems can be distributed across a
The candidate is able to weigh up both number of computers working together.
sides of the argument which results in a
supported and realistic judgment as to AO2.1: Application
which approaches to provide increasingly Having multiple cores can speed up
larger amounts of computing power are smaller problems but this will not be
best. enough for larger problems.
There is a well–developed line of reasoning Supercomputers are prohibitively
which is clear and logically structured. The exceptionally expensive to buy and run for
information presented is relevant and all but large organisations.
substantiated. GPUs are becoming a cost efficient way of
tackling problems. GPUs tend to have
Mark Band 2–Mid Level (5–8 marks) large number of cores so can run on highly
The candidate demonstrates reasonable paralleliseable problems... …but only
knowledge and understanding of methods where the same instruction is being applied
of utilising large amounts of computing to multiple pieces of data (SIMD)
power; the material is generally accurate
but at times underdeveloped.
AO3.3: Evaluation
The candidate is able to apply their Increased clock speed is limited to smaller
knowledge and understanding directly to problems. Even doubling the clock speed
the context provided although one or two would only halve the time taken.
opportunities are missed. Parallel processing isn’t suited to all
Evidence/examples are for the most part problems. Most problems are only partially
implicitly relevant to the explanation. parallelisable. Writing algorithms for
parallel processing is more challenging
The candidate makes a reasonable than
attempt to come to a conclusion showing GPUs suited to a subset of science/
some recognition of which approaches to engineering problems where the same
provide increasingly larger amounts of calculation is repeated on multiple data
computing power are best. sets.

Mark Scheme
There is a line of reasoning presented with

some structure. The information presented
is in the most part relevant and supported
by some evidence.
Mark Band 1–Low Level (1–4 marks)

The candidate demonstrates a basic
knowledge of methods of utilising large
amounts of computing power; the material
is basic and contains some inaccuracies.
The candidate makes a limited attempt to
apply acquired knowledge and
understanding to the context provided.
The candidate provides nothing more than

an unsupported assertion.
The information is basic and

communicated in an unstructured way. The
information is supported by limited
evidence and the relationship to the
evidence may not be clear.
0 marks
No attempt to answer the question or
response is not worthy of credit.
Total 12
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Computer Science (A Level)

Question revision for paper 1 mock jan 2022

OCR supplied materials:

Other materials required:

Centre number Candidate number

INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

© OCR 2022. You may photocopy this page. 1 of 57 Created in ExamBuilder

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Details of products are stored on a stock database.

(i) Verification is done using a double entry system.

Explain what is meant by verification using double entry.

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(ii) Interactive presentation

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Explain two other facilities of a network operating system.

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These systems usually run on an embedded, real-time, operating system.

(i) State what is meant by the term real-time.

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(i) Describe why Film Title is not a suitable primary key.

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(i) State what opcode SUB does.

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(i) Describe what is meant by the term primary key.

(ii) Draw a new version of the structure to solve this problem.

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Give one advantage of using RAM as storage in this way.

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One of the tables called Song has the fields.

Explain why none of these fields would be suitable as a primary key.

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Give one reason the phone needs an operating system.

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Explain the need for the following registers.

(i) Program Counter (PC)

(ii) Memory Address Register (MAR)

(iii) Memory Data Register (MDR)

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(ii) Describe one other scheduling method.

(iii) Explain why scheduling is necessary.

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(iv) Explain the need for real-time processing in this application.

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(i) Complex calculations for scientific research.

(ii) Printing personalised letters to customers for an advertising campaign.

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(i) Give three other features.

(ii) Describe what is meant by array processor architecture.

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Explain two reasons why the value held may change.

24 A computer uses a Von Neumann processor.

Describe the fetch-decode-execute cycle that this architecture uses.

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Describe the differences between a flat file and a relational database.

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