A-level computer science questions, papers and 2027 exam dates

A-level Computer Science papers

AQA's Paper 1 is taken on screen, answering in an Electronic Answer Document in the programming language your school uses (AQA specification). Schools must send project marks to the boards by 15 May 2027 (JCQ), so your school's own deadline for the NEA will be earlier.

A-level Computer Science exam dates 2027

From the timetables of AQA and OCR. Results day is Thursday 12 August 2027.

Grade boundaries

AQA's total of 375 comes from scaling each 100 mark paper to 150 and adding the 75 mark project (AQA, OCR). Boundaries change each year.

A-level computer science questions, worked through

We wrote these questions for this guide.

1. Two's complement

Question: write −37 in 8-bit two's complement. Answer: 37 is 00100101. Flip every bit to get 11011010, then add 1: 11011011. Check: −128 + 64 + 16 + 8 + 2 + 1 = −37. Try more in the Two's Complement Calculator.

2. Binary search and Big O

Question: what is the most comparisons a binary search needs on a sorted list of 1,000 items, and what is its time complexity? Answer: each comparison halves the list, and 2¹⁰ = 1,024 is the first power of 2 above 1,000, so at most 10 comparisons. Its time complexity is O(log n). A linear search could need all 1,000, which is O(n). Try a halving question from our Search Algorithms course and press Mark.

3. Boolean algebra

Question: simplify A·B + A·¬B. Answer: take out A: A·(B + ¬B). Since B + ¬B = 1, the expression is A·1 = A. Write each law you use, because method marks follow the steps. The Boolean Algebra Calculator checks your result.

4. SQL

Question: a table Student has fields StudentID, Name and Year. Write a query listing the names of Year 13 students in alphabetical order.

SELECT Name
FROM Student
WHERE Year = 13
ORDER BY Name;

5. Tracing recursion

Question: what does Total(4) return for this function?

FUNCTION Total(n)
  IF n = 0 THEN
    RETURN 0
  ELSE
    RETURN n + Total(n - 1)
  ENDIF
ENDFUNCTION

Answer: Total(4) = 4 + Total(3) = 4 + 3 + Total(2) = 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 + Total(0) = 10. The base case, n = 0, stops the recursion. Without one, the calls would carry on until the stack overflowed.

Common mistakes

• Two's complement range. 8 bits hold −128 to 127, not −127 to 128.
• Big O constants. O(2n) is written O(n): drop constants and lower terms.
• Missing the base case when writing a recursive function.
• SQL without WHERE. Check the query only returns the rows asked for.
• Vague definitions. Learn exact wording for terms like abstraction and encapsulation.

Use a daily paper as a short timed mock

For more A-level computer science questions, sit today's A-level Computer Science paper. For mock dates and whether mocks count, see the A-level mocks guide.

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