AQA A-LEVEL COMPUTER SCIENCE PAPER
1 MASTER EXAM 2026 FULL QUESTIONS
WITH DETAILED SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
◉what is composition. Answer: combining procedures to form
compound procedures
◉what does problem abstraction involve. Answer: removing details
until the problem is represented in a way that is possible to solve as
it reduces to one that has already been solved
◉what does automation deal with. Answer: building and putting
into action models to solve a problem.
◉what are the 2 rules in a fsm. Answer: the machine can only be in
one state at a time
it can change from one state to another in response to an event or
condition this is called a transition
◉what are the different notations in a fsm. Answer:
◉what are elementary data types. Answer: integers, real , boolean
and char
,◉what are composite data types. Answer: strings arrays or lists
◉what type of data structure is a queue. Answer: FIFO
◉explain how a queue works. Answer: new elements are added at
the end of a queue and elements are retreived from the front of the
queue. The sequence of items in a queue is determined by the order
in which they are inserted
◉what are the operations that are used in a queue. Answer:
enqueue(item)
dequeue()
isempty()
isfull()
◉what is a dynamic data structure. Answer: it refers to the
collection of data in memory that has the ability to grow or shrink in
size.
◉what is a heap. Answer: A portion of memory from which space is
automatically allocated or de-allocated as required
, ◉what are dynamic data structures useful in. Answer: dynamic data
structures are useful in implementing data structures such as
queues when the max size of the data structure isnt known in
advance
◉what is a static data structure. Answer: fixed in size and cannot
increase in size or free up memory whilst the program in running
◉what is an example of a static data structure. Answer: an array
◉what is an array suitable for. Answer: storing fixed number of
items like the months in the year or average monthly temperature.
◉what is the disadvantage of using an array to implement a dynamic
data structure. Answer: the size of the arary must be decided in
advance and if the number of items fill up an array no more can be
added.
Another disadvantage is that meomory which has been allocated to
the array cannot be reallocated even if most of it is unused
◉What is an advantage of a static data structure. Answer: no
pointers or other data about the structure needs to be stored unlike
a dynamic data structure
1 MASTER EXAM 2026 FULL QUESTIONS
WITH DETAILED SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
◉what is composition. Answer: combining procedures to form
compound procedures
◉what does problem abstraction involve. Answer: removing details
until the problem is represented in a way that is possible to solve as
it reduces to one that has already been solved
◉what does automation deal with. Answer: building and putting
into action models to solve a problem.
◉what are the 2 rules in a fsm. Answer: the machine can only be in
one state at a time
it can change from one state to another in response to an event or
condition this is called a transition
◉what are the different notations in a fsm. Answer:
◉what are elementary data types. Answer: integers, real , boolean
and char
,◉what are composite data types. Answer: strings arrays or lists
◉what type of data structure is a queue. Answer: FIFO
◉explain how a queue works. Answer: new elements are added at
the end of a queue and elements are retreived from the front of the
queue. The sequence of items in a queue is determined by the order
in which they are inserted
◉what are the operations that are used in a queue. Answer:
enqueue(item)
dequeue()
isempty()
isfull()
◉what is a dynamic data structure. Answer: it refers to the
collection of data in memory that has the ability to grow or shrink in
size.
◉what is a heap. Answer: A portion of memory from which space is
automatically allocated or de-allocated as required
, ◉what are dynamic data structures useful in. Answer: dynamic data
structures are useful in implementing data structures such as
queues when the max size of the data structure isnt known in
advance
◉what is a static data structure. Answer: fixed in size and cannot
increase in size or free up memory whilst the program in running
◉what is an example of a static data structure. Answer: an array
◉what is an array suitable for. Answer: storing fixed number of
items like the months in the year or average monthly temperature.
◉what is the disadvantage of using an array to implement a dynamic
data structure. Answer: the size of the arary must be decided in
advance and if the number of items fill up an array no more can be
added.
Another disadvantage is that meomory which has been allocated to
the array cannot be reallocated even if most of it is unused
◉What is an advantage of a static data structure. Answer: no
pointers or other data about the structure needs to be stored unlike
a dynamic data structure
