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OCR 2024 Predicted Paper 1

GCSE (9–1) Computer Science
J277/01 Computer Systems
Time allowed: 1 hour 30 minutes

Do not use a calculator

INSTRUCTIONS
• Use black ink. You can use an HB pencil, but only for graphs and
diagrams.
• Write your answer to each question in the space provided. If you need
extra space, use the lined pages at the end of this booklet. The question
numbers must be clearly shown.
• Answer all the questions.
INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 80.
• The marks for each question are shown in brackets [].
• Quality of extended response will be assessed in questions marked with
an asterisk (*).
• This document has 13 pages.
ADVICE
• Read each question carefully before you start your answer.
• This is just a predicted paper based off previous years

The GCSE Computer Science Tutor 1

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The GCSE Computer Science Tutor
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1. Ben has designed a computer using Von Neumann architecture.

(a) Describe the purpose of two registers that are used by Von Neumann architecture.

1 __________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

2 __________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

[4]

(b) State what is meant by a single core 3.5 GHz processor.

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

[2]

The GCSE Computer Science Tutor 2

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The GCSE Computer Science Tutor
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2. Computers represent data in binary form.

(a) Complete the table by writing the missing denary, 8-bit binary or hexadecimal
values.

Denary 8-bit binary Hexadecimal

12

40 28

118 01110110
11111000

[4]

(b) Identify how many unique values can be represented by 5 bits.

__________________________________________________________________ [1]

(c) Perform a binary shift of 3 places right on the binary number 10001110.

__________________________________________________________________ [1]

(d) Tick one box to identify the largest file size.

2 000 000 bytes

2300KB

200MB

0.1GB

[1]

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The GCSE Computer Science Tutor
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(e) Add the following 8-bit binary numbers

1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1
+ 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
[2]

(f) An overflow error can occur when adding two 8-bit binary numbers.
Describe what is meant by an overflow error.

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
[2]

The GCSE Computer Science Tutor 4

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The GCSE Computer Science Tutor
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3. A student is performing a range of actions on the internet using their computer.

(a) Complete the table by identifying the most appropriate protocol for each of the
tasks the student is performing.

Task Protocol

Downloading an email to your computer

Downloading a text document from a web

server
Transmitting a file from a client to a server

Requesting to view a news webpage from a

web server

[4]

(b) Some protocols have layers.

Describe one advantage of using layers to construct network protocols.

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
[2]

The GCSE Computer Science Tutor 5

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The GCSE Computer Science Tutor
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4. A company, GCST Supermarkets, has supermarket stores throughout the country. The
computers for each store connect to the central office using a Wide Area Network
(WAN).

(a) One characteristic of a WAN is that they are set up over a large geographical area.
Give one other characteristic of a WAN.

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

[1]

(b) GCST Supermarkets use a client server network to connect the checkout computers
to the store’s server.
Describe one benefit to GCST Supermarkets of using a client server network instead
of a peer-to-peer network.

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

[2]

(c) The supermarket manager’s computer can access the Internet and the World Wide
Web.
Explain the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web.

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
[2]

(d) The supermarket introduces a WAP (Wireless Access Point) to allow network access
to wireless devices. The manager has noticed that the performance of the network
has recently decreased.
Describe how introducing wireless access could have slowed down the network.

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________[2]

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(e) The IP address 192.134.243.433 is linked to the website with a URL of
https://www.gcsecomputersciencetutor.vercel.app. When the URL is entered into a
browser, the website homepage is loaded.
Describe the relationship between the website URL, the IP address and the
webserver.

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

[5]

The GCSE Computer Science Tutor 7

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The GCSE Computer Science Tutor
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5. Alex is producing images and sound effects for a website.
Part of a bitmap image is shown in Fig. 2:

W W R R R B B
W W R Y R B B
B B R R R B B
B B B LG B DG B
B DG DG LG DG B B
B B DG LG B B B
B B B LG B B B
Fig. 2

The letters represent a colour, as shown in Fig. 3:

Letter Colour
W White
B Blue
R Red
Y Yellow
DG Dark Green
LG Light Green
Fig. 3

(a) Using the example in Fig. 2, explain how a bitmap image is stored on a computer.

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
[3]

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The GCSE Computer Science Tutor
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(b) State what is meant by colour depth and give the colour depth required to store the
image in Fig. 2.

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
[2]

(c) Explain how reducing the number of colours in an image can reduce its file size.

1 __________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
2 __________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
[2]

(d) Alex needs to create an audio recording of himself singing.

(i) Explain how sampling is used to make the recording.

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
[3]
(ii) State the effects of increasing the sample rate of the recording.

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
[2]

The GCSE Computer Science Tutor 9

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The GCSE Computer Science Tutor
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6. Binary numbers can represent different forms of data.

(a) One form of data is characters.

Complete the description of how computers represent characters in binary using the
given list of terms. Not all terms will be used.

2 4 8 9 16 32 256 71 72 74 76
78 80 81 all different identical one repeated
similar some unique

A character set stores ......................................... of the characters that the computer

can represent. Each character is given a ......................................... binary code.
Lower-case and upper-case letters in a character set are given
......................................... binary codes. One example of a character set is ASCII. This
character set uses ......................................... bits for each character. If the code value
for the character ‘F’ is 70 then the code value for the character ‘L’ is
..........................................

[5]

(b) Tick one or more boxes in each row to identify whether each statement applies to
each character set.

ASCII Extended Unicode

ASCII
Can represent European characters

Uses different character codes for

upper-case and lower-case letters
Can represent thousands of
different characters, including
Russian and Chinese symbols

[3]

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The GCSE Computer Science Tutor
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7. Hamish stores confidential documents on his laptop.

(a) Hamish would like to use encryption to add another layer of protection to his
documents.
Explain how encryption helps to protect Hamish’s documents.

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
[2]

(b) Identify and describe one other software-based security method that will help
Hamish protect his computer system and data.

Method_____________________________________________________________
Description__________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
[3]

(c) Hamish’s laptop has both hardware and software. The hardware includes primary
and secondary storage.
Explain why a computer needs both primary and secondary storage.

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
[2]

The GCSE Computer Science Tutor 11

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The GCSE Computer Science Tutor
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8. Security on a computer can be provided directly by the operating system or by using
utility programs.

(a) State two utilities that can be used for security.

1 __________________________________________________________________
2 __________________________________________________________________
[2]

(b) Explain why memory management is necessary.

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
[3]

(c) The computer has Virtual Memory (VM)

The table has four statements about VM. Not all of the statements are correct.
Tick the True column for the statements that are correct.
Rewrite any statement that is incorrect in the False column by changing the
statement to make it true.

Statement True False – rewrite the statement to make

it true.
A section of primary
storage is partitioned to
act as virtual memory
VM is needed when RAM
is full, or nearly full

Data from VM is
transferred back to
secondary storage when
needed
Data from ROM is
transferred into VM
[4]

The GCSE Computer Science Tutor 12

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The GCSE Computer Science Tutor
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9. Layla is a software engineer. She is creating a new version of a computer game she
released three years ago. She is considering selling the game online and not making it
available physically in shops.

(a) Describe the environmental impact of Layla’s decision.

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
[2]
(b) Layla released her game under a proprietary licence.
Explain why a proprietary licence is a more appropriate choice than open source.

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
[2]
(c) Tick one box on each row to identify the legislation that would cover each of the
given events.

Event The Data Computer Copyright

Protection Misuse Designs and
Act (2018) Act (1990) Patents Act
(1988)
A company transmits personal data
to another company without the
individual’s permission.
A school accidentally publishes their
students’ addresses on the school
website.
The interface for a piece of software
is replicated by a rival company.
A user leaves a computer logged on
and another person leaves them a
message on their desktop.
A student guesses their teacher’s
password and accesses their
computer account.
[5]
END OF QUESTION PAPER

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