AQA GCSE Paper 1

Wednesday 8 June 2016

1h 30mins

It is your responsibility to make sure you regularly revisit this knowledge outside of class.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise

Topics for paper 1

1. Fundamentals of algorithms
• Understand and explain the term algorithm.
• Understand and explain the term decomposition
• Understand and explain the term abstraction.
• Use a systematic approach to problem solving and algorithm creation representing those
algorithms using pseudo-code and flowcharts.
• Explain simple algorithms in terms of their inputs, processing and outputs.
• Determine the purpose of simple algorithms
• Understand that more than one algorithm can be used to solve the same problem.
• Compare the efficiency of algorithms explaining how some algorithms are more efficient than
others in solving the same problem
• Understand and explain how the linear search algorithm works.
with exam questions.

• Understand and explain how the binary search algorithm works.

• Compare and contrast linear and binary search algorithms.
• Understand and explain how the merge sort algorithm works.
• Understand and explain how the bubble sort algorithm works.
• Compare and contrast merge sort and bubble sort algorithms.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
2. Programming
• Understand the concept of a data type.
• Understand and use the following appropriately:
o integer
o real
o Boolean
o character
o string.
• Use, understand and know how the following statement types can be combined
in programs:
o variable declaration
o constant declaration
o assignment
o iteration
with exam questions.

o selection
o subroutine (procedure/function).
• Use definite and indefinite iteration, including indefinite iteration with the
condition(s) at the start or the end of the iterative structure.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
• Use nested selection and nested iteration structures.
• Use meaningful identifier names and know why it is important to use them.
• Be familiar with and be able to use:
• addition
o subtraction
o multiplication
o real division
o integer division, including remainders.
• Be familiar with and be able to use:
o equal to
o not equal to
o less than
o greater than
o less than or equal to
with exam questions.

o greater than or equal to.

Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
• Be familiar with and be able to use:
o NOT
o AND
o OR.
• Understand the concept of data structures.
• Use arrays (or equivalent) in the design of solutions to simple problems.
• Use records (or equivalent) in the design of solutions to simple problems.
• Be able to obtain user input from the keyboard.
• Be able to output data and information from a program to the computer display.
• Be able to read/write from/to a text file.
• Understand and be able to use:
o length
o position
o substring
with exam questions.

o concatenation
o convert character to character code
o convert character code to character
o string conversion operations.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
• Be able to use random number generation.
• Understand the concept of subroutines.
• Explain the advantages of using subroutines in programs.
• Describe the use of parameters to pass data within programs.
• Use subroutines that return values to the calling routine.
• Know that subroutines may declare their own variables, called local variables,
and that local variables usually:
o only exist while the subroutine is executing
o are only accessible within the subroutine.
• Use local variables and explain why it is good practice to do so.
• Describe the structured approach to programming.
• Explain the advantages of the structured approach.
• Be able to write simple data validation routines.
• Be able to write simple authentication routines.
with exam questions.

• Be able to select suitable test data that covers normal (typical), boundary
(extreme) and erroneous data.
• Be able to justify the choice of test data.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
• Know that there are different levels of programming language:
o low-level language
o high-level language.
• Explain the main differences between low-level and high-level languages.
• Know that machine code and assembly language are considered to be low-level
languages and explain the differences between them.
• Understand that ultimately all programming code written in high-level or
assembly languages must be translated into machine code.

• Understand that machine code is expressed in binary and is specific to a

processor or family of processors.
• Understand the advantages and disadvantages of low-level language
programming compared with high-level language programming.
• Understand that there are three common types of program translator:
o interpreter
with exam questions.

o compiler
o assembler.
• Explain the main differences between these three types of translator.
• Understand when it would be appropriate to use each type of translator.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
3. Fundamentals of data representation
• Understand the following number bases:
• decimal (base 10)
• binary (base 2)
• hexadecimal (base 16).
• Understand that computers use binary to represent all data and instructions.
• Explain why hexadecimal is often used in computer science.
• Understand how binary can be used to represent whole numbers.
• Understand how hexadecimal can be used to represent whole numbers.
• Be able to convert in both directions between:
o binary and decimal
o binary and hexadecimal
o decimal and hexadecimal.
• Know that:
o a bit is the fundamental unit of information
o a byte is a group of 8 bits.
with exam questions.

• Know that quantities of bytes can be described using prefixes.

• Know the names, symbols and corresponding values for the decimal prefixes:
o kilo, 1 kB is 1,000 bytes
o mega, 1 MB is 1,000 kilobytes
o giga, 1 GB is 1,000 Megabytes
o tera, 1 TB is 1,000 Gigabytes.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
• Be able to add together up to three binary numbers.
• Be able to apply a binary shift to a binary number.
• Describe situations where binary shifts can be used.
• Understand what a character set is and be able to describe the following
character encoding methods:
• 7-bit ASCII
• Unicode.
• Understand that character codes are commonly grouped and run in sequence
within encoding tables.
• Describe the purpose of Unicode and the advantages of Unicode over ASCII.
• Know that Unicode uses the same codes as ASCII up to 127.
• Understand what a pixel is and be able to describe how pixels relate to an image
and the way images are displayed.
• Describe the following for bitmaps:
• size in pixels
with exam questions.

• colour depth.
• Know that the size of a bitmap image in pixels (width x height) is known as the
image resolution.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
• Describe how a bitmap represents an image using pixels and colour depth.
• Describe using examples how the number of pixels and colour depth can affect the file
size of a bitmap image.
• Calculate bitmap image file sizes based on the number of pixels and colour depth.
• Convert binary data into a black and white image.
• Convert a black and white image into binary data.
• Understand that sound is analogue and that it must be converted to a digital form for
storage and processing in a computer.
• Understand that sound waves are sampled to create the digital version of sound.
• Describe the digital representation of sound in terms of:
• sampling rate
• sample resolution.
• Calculate sound file sizes based on the sampling rate and the sample resolution.
• Explain what data compression is.
• Understand why data may be compressed and that there are different ways to
with exam questions.

compress data.
• Explain how data can be compressed using Huffman coding.
• Be able to interpret/create Huffman trees.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
• Be able to calculate the number of bits required to store a piece of data
compressed using Huffman coding.
• Be able to calculate the number of bits required to store a piece of
uncompressed data in ASCII.
• Explain how data can be compressed using run length encoding (RLE).
• Represent data in RLE frequency/data pairs.
with exam questions.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
4. Computer systems
• Define the terms hardware and software and understand the relationship
between them.
• Construct truth tables for the following logic gates:
o NOT
o AND
o OR.
• Construct truth tables for simple logic circuits.
• Interpret the results of simple truth tables.
• Create, modify and interpret simple logic circuit diagrams.
• Explain what is meant by:
o system software
o application software.
• Give examples of both types of software.
with exam questions.

• Understand the need for, and functions of, operating systems (OS) and utility
programs.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
• Understand that the OS handles management of the:
o processor(s)
o memory
o I/O devices
o applications
o security.
• Explain the Von Neumann architecture.
• Explain the role and operation of main memory and the following major
components of a central processing unit (CPU):
• arithmetic logic unit
• control unit
• clock
• bus.
• Explain the effect of the following on the performance of the CPU:
with exam questions.

• clock speed
• number of processor cores
• cache size
• cache type.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
• Understand and explain the Fetch-Execute cycle.
• Understand the differences between main memory and secondary storage.
• Understand the differences between RAM and ROM.
• Understand why secondary storage is required.
• Be aware of different types of secondary storage (solid state, optical and
magnetic).
• Explain the operation of solid state, optical and magnetic storage.
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of solid state, optical and magnetic
storage.
• Explain the term 'cloud storage’.
• Explain the advantages and disadvantages of cloud storage when compared to
local storage.
• Understand the term 'embedded system' and explain how an embedded system
differs from a non-embedded system.
with exam questions.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.

101 0111
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.

 Paper 1 – June 2016

Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.

1100 1110
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.

2
1
3
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.

5
24 = 16 (not enough)
25 = 32 (more than enough)
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.

(within a data structure);

The day, month and year;
could each be stored as separate values
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise

It has a larger storage capacity / it can hold more

data;

It has a higher read/write speed; It is smaller;

with exam questions.

It is more robust; It generates less heat;

It has a lower power consumption; It is lighter;
It is quieter;
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise

Information is data with context // meaning;

A. Information is data that has been processed;

1 and 0 could represent true and false // A bit and a

Boolean data type both have only two values;
with exam questions.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.

7
8 as 28 = 256 different representations (values 0-255)
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.

E
C

A
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.


Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.

They test the boundaries;

Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise

They do not have a minimum length//they can be blank;

They do not have to have a mixture of alphabetic and
numeric characters;
They may have consecutive numbers within them;
They may be easily guessable names;
with exam questions.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise

Star (or switched ethernet)

It allows each client to use full transmission over the

network // no data collisions;
Easy to connect new devices;
with exam questions.

The failure of one client will not affect the others;

Packets are only sent to intended device;
Improved performance; (compared to non-switched networks)
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.

2
3
1
4
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise

The testing was not exhaustive // did not cover all paths
through the program;
The action taken after testing was incorrect // contained
other errors;
The error only occurs very infrequently;
with exam questions.

Software updates may introduce new errors;

Badly designed test strategy; Code very complex;
Poor understanding of system requirements.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.

Vehicle braking;
Nuclear reactors;

Air traffic control;

Transport signalling;
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.


Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.

A function returns a value (whereas a procedure does not);

Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.



Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.

4
3
2
1

6
4
2
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.

1 mark for starting at 3;

1 mark for outputting 6 and nothing further (except 3);
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise

They can be tested in isolation;

They only need to be tested once;
They can be more easily updated;
They make code easier to understand (to a human);
Likely to reduce number of lines of code in a program;
with exam questions.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise

Description of a syntax error

• When a program cannot be understood because it does not follow the rules of the language.
Description of a run-time error
• Errors that occur during the execution of a program as a result of mistakes in the program (or other external
factors).
Potential comparisons between syntax and run-time errors:
• Syntax errors are errors in the program code which break the rules of the language whereas runtime errors are
written as syntactically correct code.
• Syntax errors are normally picked up early in development whereas run-time errors may only appear late (or never)
with exam questions.

in testing.
• IDE tools will help to identify syntax errors but are less useful in identifying run-time errors. Syntax errors are usually
easier to locate and fix.
• Syntax errors will mean that a program cannot run whereas a run-time error will cause a running program to crash.
• Run-time errors may not occur every time the program is run whereas syntax errors will prevent a program running
until they are fixed.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise

Explanation of clock speed

Instructions are fetched from memory; Decoded//Executed by the processor;
The speed at which this cycle happens; Is directly related to the clock speed;
So, a higher clock speed means more instructions can be executed (per unit time).
Description of other characteristics may include:
Cache memory
Frequently used instructions/data; Instructions/data which is predicted to be used;
Are pre-loaded into cache; Which is faster to access than RAM/main memory; Is located on or close
with exam questions.

to the processor; Reduces the time to fetch data/instructions;

Number of cores
One processor/CPU has multiple cores; Each core can process instructions independently of the
other;
Allow more than one instruction/process to be processed in parallel;
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.


Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.

Array // list;


Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
Marks awarded as follows:
A. 1 mark for using selection that ‘divides’ the code for a draw from the code for when
it is not a draw. This would probably be either two IF statements or an IF-ELSE;
B. 1 mark for the correct Boolean condition(s) with the selection statements in mark A;
C. 1 mark for outputting 'draw';
D. 1 mark if the output from mark C is within the correct part of the selection
statement;
E. 1 mark for using selection with the correct condition(s) to ascertain which player
won (I. if this and subsequent lines
of code are not within the correct part of the selection from mark A);
F. 1 mark for ensuring the winning player’s choice will output first (even if the output
is incorrect);
G. 1 mark for outputting the player’s choice (even if this is not the winning player);
with exam questions.

H. 1 mark for outputting the string 'beats';

I. 1 mark for outputting the choice of the other player from that used in mark F;
Objectives: To consolidate gained knowledge on paper 1 topics and familiarise
with exam questions.