A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 32, May/June 2026

TYPE Animals =

(Alpaca, Chicken, Donkey, Duck, Goat, Pony, Sheep)

Enumerated

The list is complete / contains all possible values // Cannot change values of list after it is defined/declared // The list is of fixed length

The list is ordinal / ordered / in alphabetical order

Elements are unique / not repeated

four

packets

link

interconnects

correct use of exponent seen

correct conversion method from binary to denary

−37.8125 // −37 13/16

When a calculation is performed on a normalised floating-point number // allow a specific example

… so that the result obtained is less than the lowest possible value that can be stored in the system an underflow will occur // the exponent is too small / too negative for the number of bits in the mantissa, so the result becomes zero

Batch processing tasks / Recording log files / Generating bills/payroll / Backup / A valid example where the data is stored in a specified order

Records are stored in a file one after the other / linearly

… in a given order

… usually based on a key field / unique identifier

Each record in the file is searched, one after the other / linearly // Each record in the file is searched from the physical start of the file

… using the record key

… until the record is found.

… until the value of the record key being searched has been exceeded // … until the end of the file is reached.

A VM is a standalone environment running on a physical computer // A VM is not a physical machine

It can emulate the hardware/software of another system

VM software has all the components of a physical computer system

The host machine provides all the physical resources e.g. RAM/ROM

… and is controlled via a host operating system

The hypervisor runs between the host and guest operating systems

… and creates and runs virtual machines / allocates resources from the host to the guest OS.

A guest OS runs within the VM/host OS

Multiple guest OS can run on the same VM // Multiple VMs can run on the same host OS

The guest operating system controls/accesses the virtual hardware/software.

16 9 7 –

18 6 + / +

(6 + 15) // 6 + 15

- (20 – 3)

/ (27 * 9) and the pair of brackets around the whole numerator

One mark per ring (Max 3)

One mark for the interim totals (60) and (5).

Two marks if no errors present / One mark if one error present

First correct loop (column 01 and 11, across all rows)

Second correct loop (row 01, across all columns)

B + C̄.D // C̄.D + B

(Max 2) for correct working from points shown (De Morgan's laws, Double negation law, Absorption law / Distributive law)

Correct answer: (X =) A + B̄ + C̄ + D̄

Symmetric key encryption uses only one key but asymmetric encryption uses two keys // Asymmetric public and private keys are a mathematically linked pair, whereas symmetric uses the same key.

Asymmetric key encryption uses one key to encrypt and the other key to decrypt, whereas symmetric key encryption uses the same key for both.

Symmetric key encryption suffers from the key distribution problem, which the matched pair of keys for asymmetric has resolved.

Asymmetric keys must be much larger/longer to achieve the same level of security as symmetric key encryption.

Asymmetric key encryption allows verification of the sender, which symmetric key encryption does not.

The organisation generates a matched pair of encryption keys

The organisation makes its public key available to the group of people / via its website

The organisation encrypts its message using its private key

… and sends it to the group of people

Anyone receiving the message can decrypt it using the organisation’s public key

Therefore, verifying the sender // Providing non-repudiation.

Deep learning

The A* algorithm tries to find the shortest path using heuristics / intelligent guesses

The A* algorithm doesn’t necessarily pass through all nodes/paths

Dijkstra’s algorithm finds the shortest path to all nodes // Dijkstra’s algorithm simply checks each vertex looking for the shortest path

Dijkstra’s algorithm always finds the shortest path

The A* algorithm may not find the shortest path if the heuristics are inaccurate.

Initialisation – setting Home to 0

… and the rest of the nodes to ∞

Evidence to show values at nodes being updated

Evidence to show ‘visited node(s)’

Evidence to show a correct calculation of at least one route

Evidence to show more than one route has been calculated for at least one node

Correct Answers: Two marks for all six correct values (A: 6, B: 13, C: 9, D: 20, E: 17, F: 14) / One mark for four or five correct values

The time it takes to execute a linear search will increase linearly as the number of search items increases linearly

Linear search worst case Big O notation is O(n)

The time it takes to execute a binary search will increase logarithmically as the number of search items increases linearly // The time it takes to execute a binary search will increase linearly as the number of search items increases exponentially

Binary search worst case Big O notation is O(log n) / O(log2 n).

Correct completion of FUNCTION header

Correct OPENFILE statement

Correct use of SEEK

Correct use of GETRECORD

Correct complete selection statement(s) structure IF … THEN …. ELSE … ENDIF OR multiple IF … THEN … ENDIF

Correct application of logic between condition and action to produce / return appropriate messages

Correct use of CLOSEFILE – must be after GETRECORD but do NOT award this mark if RETURN statements(s) come before this line

Correct RETURN statement(s) - allow use of other variables in this statement as the question does not specifically ask for Response to be used.

Correct CLASS Node and ENDCLASS statements

Correct attribute declaration section before the constructor

Correct statement to begin and end the constructor as PUBLIC PROCEDURE NEW … ENDPROCEDURE

Two parameters identified in the constructor with appropriate names and data types.

Values passed using the constructer are assigned correctly – allow use of setters.

setter

instance(s) // object(s)

aggregation

inheritance