AQA GCSE COMPUTER SCIENCE FINAL PAPER 2025/2026
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔Clock Speed - ✔✔The clock speed of a CPU is measured in Hertz (Hz). One Hz
means one operation per second.
✔✔Factors which can Influence the Speed of a CPU - ✔✔The speed of other
components, the CPU might be waiting for a hard disk or printer to perform some task
before the next instruction is addressed.
The size of the cache, the larger the cache, the more it scan store, and the faster the
CPU appears to work because it is not waiting as long to receive data or instructions.
The number of cores, each core can fetch, decode and execute. More cores mean a
faster CPU.
✔✔Cache Memory - ✔✔High-speed memory that stores frequently needed instructions
or data. Stores copies of data or instructions from the RAM that are accessed very
regularly.
✔✔RAM - ✔✔Random access memory. The RAM is volatile, when the computer is
turned off or subject to a loss of power, the content of the RAM is lost. When a program
is loaded from a computer hard disk, its data and instructions are loaded into the RAM.
✔✔ROM - ✔✔Read-only memory. Means that the content cannot be edited or deleted.
It stores data or instructions that will not need to be updated.
✔✔Flash Memory - ✔✔Uses electronic chips as storage but, it is non-volatile. This
means it continues to store data without a source of electricity. Flash drives are portable
and are often used to transfer data from one computer to another.
✔✔Virtual Memory - ✔✔Sometimes a computer does not have enough RAM to run
programs as it is required to. In these circumstances, the operating system will treat
some part of secondary storage as if it were the RAM. This is called virtual memory.
✔✔Magnetic Storage Devices - ✔✔Include the internal hard disk as well as floppy disks,
which are no longer widely used.
✔✔Optical Storage Media - ✔✔CDs, DVDs, Blu Ray Disks are written to and read using
lasers. The surface of the disk will have billions of locations where holes can be either
physically burned by a laser, or not burned, to represent either 1 or 0. Capacity: CDs
700MB, DVDs 4.7GB, Blu-Rays 25GB. Speed is highly variable. Small and light but not
as easy to carry as a USB flash drive. Sturdy, although the surface can be scratched
and make the data irretrievable. Useful for posting data from one location to another.
✔✔Solid-State Storage Devices - ✔✔Use electronic circuits and no moving parts to
store data electronically. Ranges from 1GB to 64GB. Transmits data at a rate of 5
, million bits per second. Very small and light, designed to be moved between computers.
Sturdy. Used by students who always need to access work on different computers.
✔✔Cloud Storage - ✔✔Refers to data being stored away from the computer it is
accessed on, typically accessible over the internet. Capacity, virtually unlimited. Speed,
depends on the internet connection speed but it is generally slower than storing data on
the computer which will be used to access it. You can access your data anywhere in the
world. Data is backed up multiple times so durability is not an issue.
✔✔Internal Hard Disk - ✔✔Keeps programs and data stored when the computer is
turned off. Capable of storing more than its main memory. Capacity, variable, data
transfer is usually far quicker than from any external device. Difficult and time
consuming to move an internal drive from one machine to another. Well protected inside
the computer. Most programs are stored on here.
✔✔Units of Data - ✔✔(Size and Example of Storage)
Bit - Single binary digit. Either a '1' or '0'.
Nibble - A sequence of four bits. A whole number between 0 and 15.
Byte - A sequence of eight bits. An individual keyboard character such as 'k' or '#'.
Kilobyte - Approximately 1,000 bytes. A paragraph of text.
Megabyte - Approximately 1,000 kilobytes. Around one minute of MP3 music.
Gigabyte - Approximately 1,000 megabytes. About 90 minutes of video.
Terabyte - Approximately 1,000 gigabytes. Several hundred hours of video.
✔✔ASCII - ✔✔ASCII characters, requiring only seven bits, need less storage space but
can only store 128 different characters.
✔✔How Dates can be Stored - ✔✔As a sequence of ASCII characters, every individual
character can be stored using its ASCII code.
As a series of numbers.
There are more commonly stored as numbers, because this requires less storage space
and two dates can easily be compared to see which is earlier or later.
✔✔Images - ✔✔An image is divided into pixels. A pixel can only be one colour at a
time, and when a picture is saved, the colour of each pixel must be stored in binary. The
more bits that are used to store each pixel, the more colours are potentially available.
✔✔Sound - ✔✔When converting sound to digital format, two things influence how much
storage space is needed:
Sampling rate - Refers to how often the computer takes a measure of the sound,
including the volume and frequency. A higher sampling rate results in better sound
quality, but requires more storage space.
Bit rate - How many bits are used to each sample and this can vary widely. Again,
higher bit rates result in higher quality of sound but also higher storage requirements.
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔Clock Speed - ✔✔The clock speed of a CPU is measured in Hertz (Hz). One Hz
means one operation per second.
✔✔Factors which can Influence the Speed of a CPU - ✔✔The speed of other
components, the CPU might be waiting for a hard disk or printer to perform some task
before the next instruction is addressed.
The size of the cache, the larger the cache, the more it scan store, and the faster the
CPU appears to work because it is not waiting as long to receive data or instructions.
The number of cores, each core can fetch, decode and execute. More cores mean a
faster CPU.
✔✔Cache Memory - ✔✔High-speed memory that stores frequently needed instructions
or data. Stores copies of data or instructions from the RAM that are accessed very
regularly.
✔✔RAM - ✔✔Random access memory. The RAM is volatile, when the computer is
turned off or subject to a loss of power, the content of the RAM is lost. When a program
is loaded from a computer hard disk, its data and instructions are loaded into the RAM.
✔✔ROM - ✔✔Read-only memory. Means that the content cannot be edited or deleted.
It stores data or instructions that will not need to be updated.
✔✔Flash Memory - ✔✔Uses electronic chips as storage but, it is non-volatile. This
means it continues to store data without a source of electricity. Flash drives are portable
and are often used to transfer data from one computer to another.
✔✔Virtual Memory - ✔✔Sometimes a computer does not have enough RAM to run
programs as it is required to. In these circumstances, the operating system will treat
some part of secondary storage as if it were the RAM. This is called virtual memory.
✔✔Magnetic Storage Devices - ✔✔Include the internal hard disk as well as floppy disks,
which are no longer widely used.
✔✔Optical Storage Media - ✔✔CDs, DVDs, Blu Ray Disks are written to and read using
lasers. The surface of the disk will have billions of locations where holes can be either
physically burned by a laser, or not burned, to represent either 1 or 0. Capacity: CDs
700MB, DVDs 4.7GB, Blu-Rays 25GB. Speed is highly variable. Small and light but not
as easy to carry as a USB flash drive. Sturdy, although the surface can be scratched
and make the data irretrievable. Useful for posting data from one location to another.
✔✔Solid-State Storage Devices - ✔✔Use electronic circuits and no moving parts to
store data electronically. Ranges from 1GB to 64GB. Transmits data at a rate of 5
, million bits per second. Very small and light, designed to be moved between computers.
Sturdy. Used by students who always need to access work on different computers.
✔✔Cloud Storage - ✔✔Refers to data being stored away from the computer it is
accessed on, typically accessible over the internet. Capacity, virtually unlimited. Speed,
depends on the internet connection speed but it is generally slower than storing data on
the computer which will be used to access it. You can access your data anywhere in the
world. Data is backed up multiple times so durability is not an issue.
✔✔Internal Hard Disk - ✔✔Keeps programs and data stored when the computer is
turned off. Capable of storing more than its main memory. Capacity, variable, data
transfer is usually far quicker than from any external device. Difficult and time
consuming to move an internal drive from one machine to another. Well protected inside
the computer. Most programs are stored on here.
✔✔Units of Data - ✔✔(Size and Example of Storage)
Bit - Single binary digit. Either a '1' or '0'.
Nibble - A sequence of four bits. A whole number between 0 and 15.
Byte - A sequence of eight bits. An individual keyboard character such as 'k' or '#'.
Kilobyte - Approximately 1,000 bytes. A paragraph of text.
Megabyte - Approximately 1,000 kilobytes. Around one minute of MP3 music.
Gigabyte - Approximately 1,000 megabytes. About 90 minutes of video.
Terabyte - Approximately 1,000 gigabytes. Several hundred hours of video.
✔✔ASCII - ✔✔ASCII characters, requiring only seven bits, need less storage space but
can only store 128 different characters.
✔✔How Dates can be Stored - ✔✔As a sequence of ASCII characters, every individual
character can be stored using its ASCII code.
As a series of numbers.
There are more commonly stored as numbers, because this requires less storage space
and two dates can easily be compared to see which is earlier or later.
✔✔Images - ✔✔An image is divided into pixels. A pixel can only be one colour at a
time, and when a picture is saved, the colour of each pixel must be stored in binary. The
more bits that are used to store each pixel, the more colours are potentially available.
✔✔Sound - ✔✔When converting sound to digital format, two things influence how much
storage space is needed:
Sampling rate - Refers to how often the computer takes a measure of the sound,
including the volume and frequency. A higher sampling rate results in better sound
quality, but requires more storage space.
Bit rate - How many bits are used to each sample and this can vary widely. Again,
higher bit rates result in higher quality of sound but also higher storage requirements.
