AQA GCSE COMPUTER SCIENCE TEST PAPER 2025/2026
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔Virtual Memory - ✔✔Process of splitting a large program into blocks when RAM
cannot store an entire program. Blocks are loaded when needed.
✔✔Magnetic Media - ✔✔Components include magnetic medium, read/write head, and
actuator
✔✔Optical Media - ✔✔Read and written using a Laser, e.g. CDs
✔✔Solid State - ✔✔Type of chip called EEPROM, used in phones and tablets
✔✔Network - ✔✔Collection of connected computers and devices, categorized as LAN,
WAN, or PAN
✔✔Topologies - ✔✔Arrangement of devices in a network, e.g. Bus or Star
✔✔Protocol - ✔✔Set of rules used to govern data transmission
✔✔TCP/IP Suite - ✔✔Set of protocols used over the internet, including Application,
Transport, Internet, and Link layers
✔✔IP Addresses - ✔✔Uniquely identify computers on the internet
✔✔Network Security - ✔✔Includes Authentication, Firewalls, and MAC Address Filtering
✔✔Penetration Testing - ✔✔Process of attempting to gain access to resources without
normal means of access
✔✔Social Engineering - ✔✔Art of manipulating people to give up confidential
information
✔✔Blagging - ✔✔Creating an invented scenario to engage a targeted victim to divulge
information
✔✔Phishing - ✔✔Fraudulently obtaining private information, often using email or SMS
✔✔Pharming - ✔✔Cyber attack intended to redirect a website's traffic to another, fake
site
✔✔Malware - ✔✔Software that poses a malicious threat to a computer system
, ✔✔Virus - ✔✔Malware that attaches itself to other files and causes damage to a
system, and is self-replicating
✔✔Trojan - ✔✔Malware which gets into a system by pretending to be a legitimate piece
of software. When inside can cause damage or give a hacker access to a system
✔✔Levels of access - ✔✔The rights that you have over network files.
✔✔MAC address - ✔✔Unique address embedded in network connected devices -
coded by the device manufacturer and cannot be changed
✔✔Shouldering - ✔✔Used to obtain information such as personal identification numbers
(PINs), passwords and other confidential data by looking over the victim's shoulder.
✔✔for loop - ✔✔Iteration where the number of times the loop will run is predetermined
✔✔while loop - ✔✔Iteration where the loop continues to repeat while a condition is true.
✔✔Indexing - ✔✔Where position values are assigned to elements in a string or array,
enabling them to be directly accessed
✔✔list - ✔✔Python's implementation of an 'array'
✔✔float - ✔✔A Python data type which stores numbers with a fractional part
✔✔int - ✔✔A Python data type that holds positive and negative whole numbers
✔✔bool - ✔✔Python type for storing true and false values
✔✔str - ✔✔A Python data type that holds a sequence of characters.
✔✔len() - ✔✔a Python function that returns the length of a string or list
✔✔print() - ✔✔Python function to output information to the screen
✔✔Variable - ✔✔A container used to store a value in a program that can change
✔✔Constant - ✔✔A container used in a program to store a value that will not change
once the program has been run
✔✔Recursion - ✔✔When a function calls itself.
✔✔Function - ✔✔Subroutine in a program which returns a value(s)
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔Virtual Memory - ✔✔Process of splitting a large program into blocks when RAM
cannot store an entire program. Blocks are loaded when needed.
✔✔Magnetic Media - ✔✔Components include magnetic medium, read/write head, and
actuator
✔✔Optical Media - ✔✔Read and written using a Laser, e.g. CDs
✔✔Solid State - ✔✔Type of chip called EEPROM, used in phones and tablets
✔✔Network - ✔✔Collection of connected computers and devices, categorized as LAN,
WAN, or PAN
✔✔Topologies - ✔✔Arrangement of devices in a network, e.g. Bus or Star
✔✔Protocol - ✔✔Set of rules used to govern data transmission
✔✔TCP/IP Suite - ✔✔Set of protocols used over the internet, including Application,
Transport, Internet, and Link layers
✔✔IP Addresses - ✔✔Uniquely identify computers on the internet
✔✔Network Security - ✔✔Includes Authentication, Firewalls, and MAC Address Filtering
✔✔Penetration Testing - ✔✔Process of attempting to gain access to resources without
normal means of access
✔✔Social Engineering - ✔✔Art of manipulating people to give up confidential
information
✔✔Blagging - ✔✔Creating an invented scenario to engage a targeted victim to divulge
information
✔✔Phishing - ✔✔Fraudulently obtaining private information, often using email or SMS
✔✔Pharming - ✔✔Cyber attack intended to redirect a website's traffic to another, fake
site
✔✔Malware - ✔✔Software that poses a malicious threat to a computer system
, ✔✔Virus - ✔✔Malware that attaches itself to other files and causes damage to a
system, and is self-replicating
✔✔Trojan - ✔✔Malware which gets into a system by pretending to be a legitimate piece
of software. When inside can cause damage or give a hacker access to a system
✔✔Levels of access - ✔✔The rights that you have over network files.
✔✔MAC address - ✔✔Unique address embedded in network connected devices -
coded by the device manufacturer and cannot be changed
✔✔Shouldering - ✔✔Used to obtain information such as personal identification numbers
(PINs), passwords and other confidential data by looking over the victim's shoulder.
✔✔for loop - ✔✔Iteration where the number of times the loop will run is predetermined
✔✔while loop - ✔✔Iteration where the loop continues to repeat while a condition is true.
✔✔Indexing - ✔✔Where position values are assigned to elements in a string or array,
enabling them to be directly accessed
✔✔list - ✔✔Python's implementation of an 'array'
✔✔float - ✔✔A Python data type which stores numbers with a fractional part
✔✔int - ✔✔A Python data type that holds positive and negative whole numbers
✔✔bool - ✔✔Python type for storing true and false values
✔✔str - ✔✔A Python data type that holds a sequence of characters.
✔✔len() - ✔✔a Python function that returns the length of a string or list
✔✔print() - ✔✔Python function to output information to the screen
✔✔Variable - ✔✔A container used to store a value in a program that can change
✔✔Constant - ✔✔A container used in a program to store a value that will not change
once the program has been run
✔✔Recursion - ✔✔When a function calls itself.
✔✔Function - ✔✔Subroutine in a program which returns a value(s)
