GCSE Computer Science mock paper: a short timed mock every day

What today's computer science mock paper is

A new paper appears every day, with 8 questions and 25 to 35 marks. The suggested time is about 1.1 minutes a mark, so 30 to 40 minutes. The questions are original, written in the style of AQA, Edexcel and OCR, not taken from their papers. You answer on screen, from multiple choice to trace tables and longer written answers.

Anyone can sit the paper for free. With a Uni-Sine plan, pressing Finish marks every part straight away against its mark scheme, and you can print the paper with its mark scheme to sit it at a desk.

How it compares with the real GCSE Computer Science papers

Each real paper is worth 50% of the GCSE, so a daily paper is about a third of one. Its pace is a little brisker: OCR allows 90 minutes for 80 marks and AQA up to 2 hours for 90. Everyone sits the same papers, which award grades 9 to 1 from the total mark (Edexcel specification).

What the computer science mock covers

Each paper mixes both halves of the course. One half is algorithms, flowcharts, searching and sorting, programming and data types, which AQA tests in Paper 1. The other is binary and hexadecimal, images and sound, Boolean logic, the CPU, networks, cyber security, databases and SQL, and ethical, legal and environmental issues, which AQA tests in Paper 2. OCR splits them the other way round.

How to sit it as a computer science mock exam

1. Clear the desk: a pen and nothing else. The paper has an on-screen calculator, but leave it closed: OCR's papers and Edexcel's written Paper 1 don't allow one.
2. Start the clock and work straight through. It turns red once you pass the suggested time.
3. Trace code line by line in a table of variables, and show every step of a conversion.
4. Mark it, then read the mark scheme for every part where you lost marks, and note the topic.
5. Fix one topic before tomorrow's paper with the Binary, Hexadecimal and Decimal, Search Algorithms or Databases course, or practise with the Number Base Converter, Logic Gate Simulator and Algorithm Visualiser.

Free GCSE Computer Science past papers

Past papers and mark schemes are free from AQA, Edexcel and OCR. Pearson keeps its newest papers for teachers, so that schools have at least one paper to use as a mock, and releases most papers to students once they are nine months old.

For exam dates, grade boundaries and worked questions, read our GCSE Computer Science guide. For when mocks happen and whether they count, see the GCSE mocks guide.

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