Qualification

Accredited

A LEVEL
Level
Exemplar candidate work

COMPUTER
SCIENCE
H446
For first teaching in 2015

H540
H446/01
For Summer
first teaching in 2017 2024 series

Version 1 ocr.org.uk/computerscience
A Level Computer Science - H446/01 - Summer 2024 Exemplar candidate work

Contents
Introduction 3

Question 1 (g) 4

Question 2 (e) 5

Question 3 (a) 7

Question 3 (c) 8

Question 6* (a) 9

Question 7* 12

Question 9 14

Question 10 (a) 15

Question 10 (b) 16

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A Level Computer Science - H446/01 - Summer 2024 Exemplar candidate work

Introduction
These candidate exemplars have been chosen from the Summer 2024 examination series.

OCR is open to a wide variety of approaches and all responses are considered on their merits. These
exemplars should not be seen as the only way to answer questions; they have been chosen because they
show how the mark scheme has been applied.

Please always refer to the specification for full details of the assessment for this qualification. You may find
it useful to read these exemplar responses alongside the appropriate assessment materials (for example
question paper, mark scheme and examiners’/moderators’ report).

It is important to note that approaches to question setting and marking will remain consistent. At the same
time, we review all our qualifications annually and may make small adjustments to improve the performance
of our assessments. We will let you know of any substantive changes.

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A Level
2 Computer Science - H446/01 - Summer 2024 Exemplar candidate work
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Question 1 (g) [2]

(g) The performance of a computer system can be improved by adding more RAM.

Explain why adding more RAM will improve the performance of a computer system.

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..................................................................................................................................................... [3]

Exemplar 1 3 marks

The first line in this response is too

vague for mark point one. They have
not said any of the words in bold
in the mark scheme and have just
‘store more data’. However they then
go on to say it reduces the need
for virtual memory which is slower
because pages need to be loaded
from secondary storage which is full
marks.
© OCR 2024

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A Level Computer Science - H446/01 - Summer 2024 Exemplar candidate work

Question 2 (e)

Exemplar 1 7 marks
The candidate has covered all 3
bullet points of layout, colour and
character set.

They have expanded on their points

and related it to different cultures.

This exemplar continues on the next page.

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A Level Computer Science - H446/01 - Summer 2024 Exemplar candidate work

They have only briefly related it to

the fitness tracker and although they
have an evaluation across the whole
answer space it is a little weak.

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A Level Computer Science - H446/01 - Summer 2024 Exemplar candidate work

Question 3 (a)

Exemplar 1 5 marks
The candidate has recommended the
most appropriate software for each
task. This was a difficult question for
many candidates who were unaware
of the application types in the
specification and instead put brand
names. Publishing software has
been accepted in this case for Desk
Top Publishing (DTP). Candidates
need to have some experience of
using different application types for
different purposes.

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A Level Computer Science - H446/01 - Summer 2024 Exemplar candidate work

Question 3 (c)

Exemplar 1 2 marks

The candidate has shown good

understanding of lossy and lossless
compression and has been credited
with two marks for identifying that
lossy data is permanently lost and
that lossless can be restored in
full. They have said lossy is not
ideal but the question gives text as
an example and the candidate has
missed the opportunity to add why
losing some of the text would make it
unusable.

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A Level Computer Science - H446/01 - Summer 2024 Exemplar candidate work

Question 6* (a)

Exemplar 1 10 marks
The candidate has described search
engine indexing including indexing
words on a page and following links
on the page.

They have given a good description

of PageRank and have discussed
ways the company could improve the
PageRank and why this would get
more customers.

They have applied their response to

the question context and evaluated in
relation to the question.

This exemplar continues on the next page.

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A Level Computer Science - H446/01 - Summer 2024 Exemplar candidate work

Exemplar 2 6 marks
This candidate has mentioned search
engine indexing and identified that
web crawlers follow links from page
to page and add them to the Index
but has missed opportunities to say
what words etc. it collects.

They have discussed PageRank and

the number of pages linked to the
page and the PageRank of those
pages and has briefly mentioned the
damping factor.

This exemplar continues on the next page.

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A Level Computer Science - H446/01 - Summer 2024 Exemplar candidate work

They have made recommendations

for increasing the PageRank but not
the search engine indexing.

There is some application to the

context of the question and some
evaluation but the evaluation is
limited.

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A Level Computer Science - H446/01 - Summer 2024 Exemplar candidate work

Question 7*

Exemplar 1 9 marks
Thorough knowledge of both flat
file and relational database and
drawbacks and advantages are
discussed here.

There is a good application to

scenario and a good evaluation.

This exemplar continues on the next page.

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A Level Computer Science - H446/01 - Summer 2024 Exemplar candidate work

The candidate has applied the

features of both databases to
the scenario really well and has
evaluated well in terms of the
scenario.

Exemplar 2 4 marks
The candidate has given a given
a brief description of a flat file and
a relational database in the first
paragraph.

They have then talked about the

inefficiency of flat file and efficiency
of relational but have not said why.

They have then attempted an

evaluation and application but there
is little about what the features of a
relational database are that make it
more suitable.

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A Level Computer Science - H446/01 - Summer 2024 Exemplar candidate work

Question 9

Exemplar 1 5 marks
The candidate has used pseudocode
effectively and has met all mark
points. They have declared the
attributes as private and the
constructor as public. They have
used good practice by giving the
parameters different identifiers to
the attributes and have assigned the
parameters to the attributes.

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A Level Computer Science - H446/01 - Summer 2024 Exemplar candidate work

Question 10 (a)

Exemplar 1 3 marks
The candidate has given concise
but clear responses to the question.
The responses are detailed enough
to meet the mark points while at the
same time not giving too much detail.

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A Level Computer Science - H446/01 - Summer 2024 Exemplar candidate work

Question 10 (b)

Exemplar 1 3 marks
Again, the answers are concise but
detailed enough to meet the mark
points and show they have good
knowledge of the Data Protection
Act.

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