Mark Scheme (Provisional)

Summer 2021

Pearson Edexcel International GCSE

in Computer Science (4CP0_01)
Paper 1: Principles of Computer Science
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Summer 2021
Question Paper Log Number P66489A
Publications Code 4CP0_01_2106_MS
All the material in this publication is copyright
© Pearson Education Ltd 2021
General Marking Guidance

• All candidates must receive the same treatment. Examiners must mark the first
candidate in exactly the same way as they mark the last.
• Mark schemes should be applied positively. Candidates must be rewarded for
what they have shown they can do rather than penalised for omissions.
• Examiners should mark according to the mark scheme not according to their
perception of where the grade boundaries may lie.
• There is no ceiling on achievement. All marks on the mark scheme should be
used appropriately.
• All the marks on the mark scheme are designed to be awarded. Examiners
should always award full marks if deserved, i.e. if the answer matches the mark
scheme. Examiners should also be prepared to award zero marks if the
candidate’s response is not worthy of credit according to the mark scheme.
• Where some judgement is required, mark schemes will provide the principles
by which marks will be awarded and exemplification may be limited.
• When examiners are in doubt regarding the application of the mark scheme to
a candidate’s response, the team leader must be consulted.
• Crossed out work should be marked UNLESS the candidate has replaced it with
an alternative response.
Question Answer Additional Guidance Mark
Number
1(a) The only correct answer is B

A is not correct because computers only understand

binary

C is not correct because Hex values will be held as

binary so take up the same space

D is not correct because Hex values are held as

binary and so take the same time to execute 1

Question Answer Additional Guidance Mark

Number
1(b) Award one mark for each of: Must be in the
• 5 correct order
• A 2

Question Answer Additional Guidance

Number Mark
1(c) The only correct answer is B

A is incorrect because this is the number of binary

patterns that can be represented by 7 bits

C is not correct because this is the number of binary

patterns that can be represented by 9 bits

D is not correct because this is the number of

binary patterns that can be represented by 10 bits 1

Question Answer Additional Guidance Mark

Number
1(d) Award one mark for each nibble

0110 0101 2

Question Answer Additional Guidance Mark

Number
1(e) Award one mark from:

• 01000 (1)
• 1000 (1) 1
Question Answer Additional Guidance Mark
Number
1(f) 7
1

Question Answer Additional Guidance Mark

Number
1(g)(i) Award one mark from:

• The smallest block (of colour) in an image

(1)
• A single dot in a picture (1)
• A picture element (1)
1
1(g)(ii) Award one mark from: Accept 72

• 8 x 9 (1)
• 9 x 8 (1) 1
1(g)(iii) 4 1

Question Answer Additional Guidance Mark

Number
2(a) Award one mark from:

• share peripherals/devices (e.g. printers,

scanners) (1)
• communicate (e.g. email, instant
messaging, play games) (1)
• share data (e.g. files/music/videos/backups
on servers) (1)
• deploy/update applications/software(1)
• administrative purposes (e.g. remote
access/desktop) 1

Question Answer Additional Guidance Mark

Number
2(b) Award one mark from: Accept any other
response indicating
• to allow (connected) machines to protocols enable
communicate (1) communication
• to provide the rules of communication between devices
between (networked) devices (1) 1
Question Answer Additional Guidance Mark
Number
2(c)(i) The only correct answer is A

B is not correct because FTP is an application

protocol, which is added in the application layer

C is not correct because FTP is an application

protocol, which is added in the application layer

D is not correct because FTP is an application

protocol, which is added in the application layer 1
2(c)(ii) Award one mark from:

• Adds the source/destination IP address (1)

• Establishes sockets (an IP address followed
by a port number) (1)
• Moves packets onto the next network
node (1)
• Strips the source/destination IP addresses
(when it arrives at its destination) (1)
• Passes the packet to the transport/next
layer (when it arrives at its destination) (1)
• Adds/removes packet headers (1) 1

Question Answer Additional Guidance Mark

Number
2(d) Award one mark for each of:

Domain IP URL
Name Address

3
Question Answer Additional Mark
Number Guidance
2(e)(i) Bus 1
2(e)(ii) Award one mark from:

Easy to connect/remove devices/computers

•
(in a network) (1)
• Cable cost less / fewer cables needed
(compared to mesh/star topology) (1)
• Easier to plan/setup/maintain (1) 1
2(e)(iii) Award one mark from:

• If the main cable fails or gets damaged the

whole network will fail (1)
• The more workstations the slower it gets (1)
• The more workstations the more collisions
(1)
• Every device ‘sees’ all of the data on the
network (1)

Question Answer Additional Mark

Number Guidance
2(f)(i) Award two marks from:

Reduces time taken to upload/download (1)

•
Reduces the bandwidth required/cost of
•
data to upload/download (1)
• (Usually) produces smaller file/reduces
storage (on the web server/device) (1)
• People have a limited hearing range / can’t
tell the difference (1)
• People’s brains will ‘fill in the blanks’ (1) 2
2(f)(ii) The only correct answer is C

A is not correct because it is not compressed

B is not correct because it uses lossless compression

D is not correct because it uses lossless compression 1

2(f)(iii) Award one mark from:

• 3c3w2c6w3c (1)
• c3w3c2w6c3 (1) 1
Question Answer Additional Guidance Mark
Number
2(g) Award four marks for a correct expression or • Units are not
correct answer required
• Equivalent
Examples of correct expressions: expressions are
6 x 1000 x 1000 x 1000 x 8 (4) accepted
54 x 1000 x 1000 • Allow follow
through for
1000 x 8 (4) incorrect or
9 partial
expressions
888.9 (4)

For an incorrect or partial expression award one

mark for each of:

• Bits to transfer
o 6 x 10003 (1)
o x 8 (or equivalent) (1)

• Speed in bits per second

o 54 x 10002 (1)

• Their bits divided by their speed (1)

4
Question Answer Additional Mark
Number Guidance
3(a) Award two marks for an explanation that includes
hardware and software.

• The laptop is/contains the hardware (1) and the

software allows the user to interact with it (1)

• Software allows instructions to be passed to the

hardware (1) so that it can carry out tasks (1)

• Software is the set of instructions (1) that controls

the hardware (1) 2

Question Answer Additional Mark

Number Guidance
3(b)(i) Award two marks from:

• Lighter/thinner (1)
• Less heat generated (1)
• Faster access speed / faster booting of operating
system / faster data transfer/read/write speeds (1)
• Silent operation (1)
• Less power required / longer battery life (1)
• More robust (due to no moving parts) (1) 2
3(b)(ii) Award two marks for a linked explanation such as:

• Flash memory is non-volatile (1) whereas RAM is

volatile (1)
• Flash memory persists even when power is lost (1)
whereas RAM clears its data whenever power is
lost (1)
• Flash memory is used for storage (1) whereas
RAM is used in performing operations on data
taken from storage (1) 2
Question Answer Additional Mark
Number Guidance
3(c) Award two marks for a linked explanation such as:

• Cache memory stores active/commonly used

instructions / cache is a temporary storage (1)
and is used to speed up processing. (1)

Question Answer Additional Mark

Number Guidance
3(d) Award one mark for two correct rows.
Award two marks for four correct rows.

Device Input Output Both

Headset 
Mouse 
Printer 
Touch screen 

Question Answer Additional Mark

Number Guidance
3(e) Award two marks from: Do not award
tradenames
• Antivirus (1)
• Anti-spyware (1)
• (Software) firewall (1) 2

Question Answer Additional Mark

Number Guidance
4(a) Award one mark from:

• Predict/model outcomes (1)

• Investigate hypotheses (1)
• Run experiments that cannot be run / are
dangerous in real life (1)
• Simulations can be speeded up/slowed down (1) 1
Question Answer Additional
Number Guidance
Mark
4(b) Award two marks from:

• Simulations (may) use/collect large amounts of

data (1)
• Simulations (may) involve a large number of
calculations (1)
• Simulations may need more CPU cycles as the
amount of data grows (1)
• To be of value, the results must be calculated as
quickly as possible (1)
• Calculations may grow exponentially / become
more complex as the simulation runs/is modified
(1)
• Simulation may output complex graphics (e.g.
virtual world) (1) 2

Question Answer Additional Mark

Number Guidance
4(c) Allow follow
NOT S R AND W (NOT S) OR through for
(R AND W) incorrect mark
1 0 1 point 1 and/or
1 0 1 mark point 2
0 0 0
0 0 0
1 0 1
1 1 1
0 0 0
0 1 1

Award one mark for each of:

• Correct values in NOT S column (1)

• Correct values in R AND W column (1)
• Correct values in final column (1)
3
Question Answer Additional Mark
Number Guidance
4(d)(i) Award two marks for a linked description such as: Must include
storage and
• Instructions (and data) are stored in (main) execution for 2
memory (1) marks
• Instructions (and data) are fetched, decoded, and
executed (in a sequence by the CPU) (1) 2
4(d)(ii) Award two marks from:

• Program counter / PC (1)

• Current instruction (register) / CIR (1)
• Memory address (register) / MAR (1)
• Memory buffer/data (register) /MBR/MDR (1)
• Accumulator/ACC (1) 2
4(d)(iii) Award two marks for a linked description such as:

Address of instruction carried on address bus (to main

memory) (1) contents at that address carried back (to the
CPU) on the data bus (1) 2
4(d)(iv) Award two marks from: Do not accept
increases
Change made Effect bandwidth
Increasing the width Increases the number of without further
of the data bus bits/data/ size of word that explanation
can be transferred at one
time / increases rate of
data transfer (1)
Increasing the width Increases the number of
of the address bus memory addresses /
increases the maximum
amount of memory that
can be addressed (1)

2
Question Answer Additional Mark
Number Guidance
5(a)(i) Award five marks for: Ignore any
numbers
• Count column correct (1) that are
• Temp column correct (1) greyed out
• Row 2 Numbers[Count value from row above]
swapped with Temp value (1)
• Row 3 Numbers[Count value from row above]
swapped with Temp value (1)
• All correct (1)

Count Length Midpoint Temp 0

0 4 2 0 10
1 10 3
2 6

Count Length Midpoint Temp 0

0 4 2 0 10
1 4 2 10 3
2 4 2 6 3

5
5(a)(ii) Award one mark from:

• To reverse the contents of the array (1)

• To reverse the order of the numbers (1) 1
5(a)(iii) Award two marks for a linked explanation such as:

• You need to swap the contents of array values (1) and

without Temp one of the values would be lost (1)
2
Question Answer Additional Mark
Number Guidance
5(b)(i) Award two marks for a linked explanation such as:

• Isaac has included the -1 as a number in the addition

(1) but the number has not been added to the count
(1)
• Isaac has misunderstood the WHILE loop (1) as it
should not execute after the -1 has been input (1)
• Isaac is expecting the wrong result (1) it should be 3
(1)
• The count is 1 too many as the -1 is counted as a
number (1) and the total is incorrect as 1 is
subtracted from the total (1) 2
5(b)(ii) Line 3 (1)
Line 10 (1)
1
5(b)(iii) SET count TO -1 (1) Ignore
SET average TO (total + 1) / (count – 1) brackets if
the meaning
is clear 1

Question Answer Additional Mark

Number Guidance
5(c) Award two marks from:

• Compiler produces object code to distribute that is

difficult to reverse engineer / no need to distribute
the source code (1)
• Compiler optimises the code / object code (1)
• Program runs faster (as it does not need
translating) (1)
• The target computer has no need to have the
original compiler / does not need an interpreter (1)
• Compiled code is smaller than the original code (1),
which may not fit on the DVD (1) 2
Question Answer Additional Mark
Number Guidance
6(a)(i) Award two marks for a linked explanation such as:

• Uses DNA/biomolecular components (1) rather

that standard hardware/silicon chips (1)
• DNA uses four-character genetic alphabet (1)
rather than binary digits (1)
• DNA uses chemical reactions (1) rather than
electrical states/properties (1)
• DNA computing uses massive parallel
processing/strands (1) to solve problems that
otherwise would take impossible amounts of time
(1) 2
6(a)(ii) Award one mark from:

• The ability of a system to be in multiple states at

the same time (1)
• Multiple probabilities at the same time (1)
• One state combines all possibilities (1)
• The state is not known until it is measured (1) 1
Question Answer Additional Mark
Number Guidance
6(b) Award two marks from:

• Some people may not want to use technology (1)

• Some people may not be able to afford to use
technology (1)
• Some people may not have access to the
technology/infrastructure (1)
• Some people may not be allowed access to
technology (1)
• Some people may not be able to use it
(disabilities etc.) (1) 2

Question Answer Additional Mark

Number Guidance
6(c) Indicative content

Impacts
• Pollution (water, air, noise) resulting from the manufacturing
process
• High energy and water volumes needed for the manufacturing
process
• Mineral mining contaminates ground water
• Mineral (copper, gold, silver, lithium) resource depletion
• High energy use to keep machines cool with air conditioning or
fans
• Contain toxic components which means computing devices are
hazardous waste
• Batteries (laptop, lithium cells) disposal is hazardous and needs
specialised disposal facilities
• Computing devices sent to landfills contaminate ground and water
resources

Actions
• Check national and local legislation
• Some countries/states/regions require sellers to recycle own waste
• Research recycling facilities to see if e-waste is acceptable
• Find if local/national/regional government agencies charge for
collection and disposal of e-waste
• Find sellers offering exchange old for new + cost purchase options
• Find charities (local, regional) which take donations of old devices
• Turn off machines when not in use to save energy 6
Level Mark Descriptor
0 No rewardable content
Level 1 1-2 Basic independent points are made showing elements of knowledge and
understanding of key concepts/principles of computer science
 The discussion will contain basic information with little linkage between
points made.
Level 2 3-4 Demonstrates adequate knowledge and understanding of key
concepts/principles of computer science.

The discussion shows some linkages and lines of reasoning with some
structure.
Level 3 5-6 Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge and understanding by selecting
relevant knowledge and understanding of key concepts/principles of
computer science to support the discussion being presented.

The discussion shows a well-developed, sustained line of reasoning which is

clear, coherent and logically structured.
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