SPECIMEN MATERIAL

GCSE
COMPUTER SCIENCE
8520/1
PAPER 1

Mark scheme
Specimen 2015
v1.1
 MARK SCHEME – GCSE COMPUTER SCIENCE – SPECIMEN MATERIAL 2015

Mark schemes are prepared by the Lead Assessment Writer and considered, together with the relevant
questions, by a panel of subject teachers. This mark scheme includes any amendments made at the
standardisation events which all associates participate in and is the scheme which was used by them in
this examination. The standardisation process ensures that the mark scheme covers the students’
responses to questions and that every associate understands and applies it in the same correct way.
As preparation for standardisation each associate analyses a number of students’ scripts. Alternative
answers not already covered by the mark scheme are discussed and legislated for. If, after the
standardisation process, associates encounter unusual answers which have not been raised they are
required to refer these to the Lead Assessment Writer.

It must be stressed that a mark scheme is a working document, in many cases further developed and
expanded on the basis of students’ reactions to a particular paper. Assumptions about future mark
schemes on the basis of one year’s document should be avoided; whilst the guiding principles of
assessment remain constant, details will change, depending on the content of a particular examination
paper.

Further copies of this mark scheme are available from aqa.org.uk

The following annotation is used in the mark scheme:

; - means a single mark

// - means alternative response
/ - means an alternative word or sub-phrase
A - means acceptable creditworthy answer. Also used to denote a valid answer that goes beyond
the expectations of the GCSE syllabus.
R - means reject answer as not creditworthy
NE - means not enough
I - means ignore
DPT - in some questions a specific error made by a candidate, if repeated, could result in the
candidate failing to gain more than one mark. The DPT label indicates that this mistake should
only result in a candidate losing one mark on the first occasion that the error is made. Provided
that the answer remains understandable, subsequent marks should be awarded as if the error
was not being repeated.

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 MARK SCHEME – GCSE COMPUTER SCIENCE – SPECIMEN MATERIAL 2015

Level of response marking instructions

Level of response mark schemes are broken down into levels, each of which has a descriptor. The
descriptor for the level shows the average performance for the level. There are marks in each level.

Before you apply the mark scheme to a student’s answer read through the answer and annotate it (as
instructed) to show the qualities that are being looked for. You can then apply the mark scheme.

Step 1 Determine a level

Start at the lowest level of the mark scheme and use it as a ladder to see whether the answer meets the
descriptor for that level. The descriptor for the level indicates the different qualities that might be seen in
the student’s answer for that level. If it meets the lowest level then go to the next one and decide if it
meets this level, and so on, until you have a match between the level descriptor and the answer. With
practice and familiarity you will find that for better answers you will be able to quickly skip through the
lower levels of the mark scheme.

When assigning a level you should look at the overall quality of the answer and not look to pick holes in
small and specific parts of the answer where the student has not performed quite as well as the rest. If
the answer covers different aspects of different levels of the mark scheme you should use a best fit
approach for defining the level and then use the variability of the response to help decide the mark within
the level, ie if the response is predominantly level 3 with a small amount of level 4 material it would be
placed in level 3 but be awarded a mark near the top of the level because of the level 4 content.

Step 2 Determine a mark

Once you have assigned a level you need to decide on the mark. The descriptors on how to allocate
marks can help with this. The exemplar materials used during standardisation will help. There will be an
answer in the standardising materials which will correspond with each level of the mark scheme. This
answer will have been awarded a mark by the Lead Examiner. You can compare the student’s answer
with the example to determine if it is the same standard, better or worse than the example. You can then
use this to allocate a mark for the answer based on the Lead Examiner’s mark on the example.

You may well need to read back through the answer as you apply the mark scheme to clarify points and
assure yourself that the level and the mark are appropriate.

Indicative content in the mark scheme is provided as a guide for examiners. It is not intended to be
exhaustive and you must credit other valid points. Students do not have to cover all of the points
mentioned in the Indicative content to reach the highest level of the mark scheme.

An answer which contains nothing of relevance to the question must be awarded no marks.

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 MARK SCHEME – GCSE COMPUTER SCIENCE – SPECIMEN MATERIAL 2015

Qu Part Marking guidance Total

marks

01 1 2 marks for AO1 (recall) 2

1 mark for each correct lozenge shaded;

A (It saves the programmer time)
C (Program code written in high-level language is often easier for
humans to understand)
R. if more than two lozenges are shaded.

01 2 Marks are for AO1 (understanding) 2

1 mark for each correct answer to a maximum of two.

Examples include:
Assembly language is easier for humans to read;
A human programmer is less likely to make mistakes in assembly
language;
It is easier to remember the assembly instructions than the binary
codes;
Assembly language instructions can be given labels to help readability;

02 1 3 marks for AO2 (apply) 3

Mark as follows:
1 mark for all correct values in the correct order for column a;
1 mark for all correct values in the correct order for column b;
1 mark for column c having only the value 7;

The completed trace table should have these values although the
candidate may have entered the values on different rows (do not
penalise as long as the order of the values is correct).

a b c
3 4 7
4 0
5 -5
6 -11
7 -18

02 2 2 mark for AO2 (apply) 2

1 mark for each correct answer to a maximum of two.

The value of c is constant/does not change;

(a+b)/a/b may change;
There is a logical error;

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 MARK SCHEME – GCSE COMPUTER SCIENCE – SPECIMEN MATERIAL 2015

02 3 Mark is for AO2 (apply) 1

0;

03 1 Mark is for AO2 (apply) 1

B (0) only;
If more than one lozenge shaded then mark is not awarded

03 2 Mark is for AO2 (apply) 1

C (≤) only;
If more than one lozenge shaded then mark is not awarded

03 3 Mark is for AO2 (apply) 1

C (1) only;
If more than one lozenge shaded then mark is not awarded

03 4 Mark is for AO2 (apply) 1

D (y + 1) only;
If more than one lozenge shaded then mark is not awarded

04 1 5 marks for AO2 (apply) 5

Mark as follows (max 5):
1 mark for only the value 43 in column val;
1 mark for all correct values in the correct order for column left;
1 mark for all correct values in the correct order for column right;
1 mark for all correct values in the correct order for column mid;
1 mark for all correct values in the correct order for column arr[mid]
(the final 4 in mid is already given);

The completed trace table should have these values although the
candidate may have entered the values on different rows (do not
penalise as long as the order of the values is correct).

val left right mid arr[mid]

43 1 6 3 13
4 5 5 655
(4) 4 4 43

04 2 Mark is for AO2 (apply) 1

The array/arr is unsorted/not in order;

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 MARK SCHEME – GCSE COMPUTER SCIENCE – SPECIMEN MATERIAL 2015

04 3 Mark is for AO2 (apply) 1

C WHILE left < right AND left > right only;

If more than one lozenge shaded then mark is not awarded

04 4 4 marks for AO3 (program) 4

Mark as follows:
1 mark for using selection;
1 mark for setting found is assigned the value true and the value false
in two separate places (A. if selection logic is incorrect);
1 mark for using the correct Boolean condition (A. if right has been
used instead of left);
1 mark for overall correctness of the solution;

An example answer is:

IF val = arr[left] THEN
found ← true
ELSE
found ← false
ENDIF
Another example using right instead of left is:

found ← false
IF val = arr[right] THEN
found ← true
ENDIF

05 1 3 marks for AO2 (apply) 3

3 marks if the answer given is 600,000 bits (I. no units);

If the answer is incorrect award then:

1 mark for converting 2 minutes into 120 seconds;

1 mark for showing multiplication of the number of seconds (I. if not
correct) by 1000 by 5 (A. multiplying just by 5000);

05 2 2 marks for AO2 (apply) 2

2 marks if the answer given is 3 KB (I. no units);

If the answer is incorrect award then:

1 mark for for performing a division by 8, evidenced by answer or

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 MARK SCHEME – GCSE COMPUTER SCIENCE – SPECIMEN MATERIAL 2015

method being shown;

1 mark for performing a division 1000, evidenced by answer or method
being shown;

MAX 1 if answer is incorrect.

A. if students have used 1024 instead of 1000.

05 3 4 Marks for AO2 (apply) 4

Mark as follows:
1 mark for each correct frequency-value pair up to a maximum of four;

The correct answer is:

6 0, 7 1, 12 0, 7 1
A. equivalent symbols such as (6,0), (7,1) etc
A. if frequency and value are the other way around, ie 0 6, 1 7, etc

05 4 Mark is for AO1 (understanding) 1

C (It will not lose any of the original data) only;

If more than one lozenge shaded then mark is not awarded

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 MARK SCHEME – GCSE COMPUTER SCIENCE – SPECIMEN MATERIAL 2015

06 7 marks for AO3 (program) 7

Mark as follows:
1 mark if it outputs 12am if the input is 0;
1 mark if it outputs 12pm if the input is 12;
1 mark for selecting just the inputs 1 to 11;
1 mark if it outputs 1am to 11am correctly given the corresponding
inputs 1 to 11;
1 mark for selecting just the inputs 13 to 23;
1 mark for adjusting the value of hour to be 12 less (using subtraction,
modulus or similar);
1 mark if it outputs 1pm to 11pm correctly given the corresponding
inputs 13 to 23;

An example answer is:

IF hour = 0 THEN
OUTPUT 12
OUTPUT 'am'
ELSE
IF hour < 12 THEN
OUTPUT hour
OUTPUT 'am'
ELSE
IF hour = 12 THEN
OUTPUT 12
OUTPUT 'pm'
ELSE
hour ← hour - 12
OUTPUT hour
OUTPUT 'pm'
ENDIF
ENDIF
ENDIF

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 MARK SCHEME – GCSE COMPUTER SCIENCE – SPECIMEN MATERIAL 2015

07 1 Mark is for AO1 (recall) 1

1 mark if all cells are correct;

A B A OR B
0 0 0
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 1

07 2 3 marks for AO2 (apply) 3

Mark as follows:
1 mark for all X correct;
1 mark for all Y correct (allow follow on if X is incorrect but it correctly
shows B AND X);
1 mark for all Z correct (allow follow on if complete negation of Y even
if Y is incorrect);

The correct truth table is:

A B X Y Z
0 0 0 0 1
0 1 0 0 1
1 0 0 0 1
1 1 1 1 0

07 3 3 marks for AO2 (apply) 3

Mark as follows:
1 mark if F and B are both inputs to an OR gate;
1 mark if S and the output of F and B (allowing for earlier errors) are
inputs to an AND gate;
1 mark if the output of the gate that has S as one input, and the output
of F and B as another input, has its output connected to D;

The completed circuit is shown here:

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 MARK SCHEME – GCSE COMPUTER SCIENCE – SPECIMEN MATERIAL 2015

08 1 3 marks for AO2 (apply) 3

Mark as follows:
1 mark for the robot moving to both squares marked A;
1 mark for the robot moving to the square marked B;
1 mark for the robot moving to the square marked C;

B A

08 2 3 marks for AO2 (apply) 3

Mark as follows:
1 mark for the robot moving to the square marked A;
1 mark for the robot moving to the square marked B;
1 mark for the robot moving to the square marked C;

A ↑

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 MARK SCHEME – GCSE COMPUTER SCIENCE – SPECIMEN MATERIAL 2015

08 3 4 marks for AO3 (program) 4

Mark as follows:
1 mark for 1 correct instruction in the correct place;
2 marks for 2 correct instructions in the correct place;
3 marks for 3 correct instructions in the correct place;
4 marks for all 5 correct instructions in the correct place;

The two correct versions are shown below.

The correct instructions are shown in bold:

distance ← 4
WHILE distance > 0
Forward(distance)
TurnLeft()
Forward(distance)
TurnLeft()
distance ← distance – 1
ENDWHILE

OR

distance ← 4
WHILE distance > 0
Forward(distance)
TurnLeft()
Forward(distance)
distance ← distance – 1
TurnLeft()
ENDWHILE

I. Minor spelling mistakes/incorrect case/missing brackets.

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 MARK SCHEME – GCSE COMPUTER SCIENCE – SPECIMEN MATERIAL 2015

09 1 4 marks for AO2 (apply) 4

Mark as follows:
1 mark for num2 changing to 24;
1 mark for num2 changing to 9;
1 mark for num1 changing to 6;
1 mark for both num1 and num2 ending as 3;

The completed trace table is shown here (candidates’ values may

appear on different rows):

num1 num2
15 39
24
9
6
3
3

09 2 Mark is for AO1 (understanding) 1

4;

09 3 Mark is for AO1 (understanding) 1

3;

09 4 Mark is for AO1 (understanding) 1

4;

09 5 2 marks for AO1 (understanding) 2

1 mark for the benefit of using a subroutine;
1 mark for the explanation that matches the benefit;

Examples include:

It allows code reuse;

because the code can be called in different places in the code without
being written out in full;

It is easier to test;
because it can be tested in isolation from the rest of the code;

It is easier to maintain;
because as long as the interface is maintained it can be safely changed
or rewritten;

10 1 Mark is for AO2 (apply) 1

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 MARK SCHEME – GCSE COMPUTER SCIENCE – SPECIMEN MATERIAL 2015

B (bitmappixel) only;

R. if more than one lozenge shaded

10 2 2 marks for AO2 (apply) 2

1 mark for A a[1] = b[1] OR a[1] = c[1];
1 mark for E a[LENGTH(a) – LENGTH(c)] = c[3] ;

If more than two lozenges are shaded then no marks are

awarded

10 3 9 marks for AO3 (program) 9

Mark as follows:
1 mark for comparing the length of the two strings;
1 mark for returning false if the prefix is longer than the word;
1 mark for using iteration to compare characters in turn;
1 mark for using a condition that will compare all characters in the
prefix if needed (ie the condition may have the opposite value if two
characters in word and pre are found to be different);
1 mark for using an index variable to access the individual characters
in the array;
1 mark for using selection to check if the characters of both arrays are
the same (or not the same if the opposite logic is used);
1 mark to record false if pre is not a prefix word;
1 mark to record true if the pre is a prefix word;
1 mark to return the correct value of either true or false;

Two complete pseudo code answers are given below:

SUBROUTINE Prefix(word, pre)

IF LEN(pre) > LEN(word) THEN
RETURN false
ELSE
i ← 1
is_prefix ← true
WHILE i ≤ LEN(pre)
IF word[i] ≠ pre[i] THEN
is_prefix ← false
ENDIF
i ← i + 1
ENDWHILE
RETURN is_prefix
ENDIF
ENDSUBROUTINE

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 MARK SCHEME – GCSE COMPUTER SCIENCE – SPECIMEN MATERIAL 2015

SUBROUTINE Prefix(word, pre)

IF LEN(pre) > LEN(word) THEN
RETURN false
ELSE
i ← 1
WHILE i ≤ LEN(pre)
IF word[i] ≠ pre[i] THEN
RETURN false
ENDIF
i ← i + 1
ENDWHILE
RETURN true
ENDIF
ENDSUBROUTINE

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7 June 2016