Cambridge IGCSE™

COMPUTER SCIENCE 0478/12

Paper 1 Theory May/June 2025
MARK SCHEME
Maximum Mark: 75

Published

This mark scheme is published as an aid to teachers and candidates, to indicate the requirements of the
examination. It shows the basis on which Examiners were instructed to award marks. It does not indicate the
details of the discussions that took place at an Examiners’ meeting before marking began, which would have
considered the acceptability of alternative answers.

Mark schemes should be read in conjunction with the question paper and the Principal Examiner Report f or
Teachers.

Cambridge International will not enter into discussions about these mark schemes.

Cambridge International is publishing the mark schemes f or the May/June 2025 series f or most
Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge International A and AS Level components, and some Cambridge O Level
components.

This document consists of 15 printed pages.

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Generic Marking Principles

These general marking principles must be applied by all examiners when marking candidate answers. They should be applied alon gside the
specific content of the mark scheme or generic level descriptions for a question. Each question paper and mark scheme will also comply with these
marking principles.

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 1:

Marks must be awarded in line with:

• the specific content of the mark scheme or the generic level descriptors for the question
• the specific skills defined in the mark scheme or in the generic level descriptors for the question
• the standard of response required by a candidate as exemplified by the standardisation scripts.

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 2:

Marks awarded are always whole marks (not half marks, or other fractions).

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 3:

Marks must be awarded positively:

• marks are awarded for correct/valid answers, as defined in the mark scheme. However, credit is given for valid answers which go beyond
the scope of the syllabus and mark scheme, referring to your Team Leader as appropriate
• marks are awarded when candidates clearly demonstrate what they know and can do
• marks are not deducted for errors
• marks are not deducted for omissions
• answers should only be judged on the quality of spelling, punctuation and grammar when these features are specifically assess ed by the
question as indicated by the mark scheme. The meaning, however, should be unambiguous.

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 4:

Rules must be applied consistently, e.g. in situations where candidates have not followed instructions or in the application of generic level
descriptors.

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GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 5:

Marks should be awarded using the full range of marks defined in the mark scheme for the question (however; the use of the fu ll mark range may
be limited according to the quality of the candidate responses seen).

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 6:

Marks awarded are based solely on the requirements as defined in the mark scheme. Marks should not be awarded with grade thre sholds or
grade descriptors in mind.

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Annotations guidance for centres

Examiners use a system of annotations as a shorthand for communicating their marking decisions to one another. Examiners are trained during the
standardisation process on how and when to use annotations. The purpose of annotations is to inform the standard isation and monitoring
processes and guide the supervising examiners when they are checking the work of examiners within their team. The meaning of annotations and
how they are used is specific to each component and is understood by all examiners who mark the component.

We publish annotations in our mark schemes to help centres understand the annotations they may see on copies of scripts. Note that there may
not be a direct correlation between the number of annotations on a script and the mark awarded. Similarly, the use of an annotation may not be an
indication of the quality of the response.

The annotations listed below were available to examiners marking this component in this series.

Annotations

Annotation Meaning

Correct point

Incorrect point

Unclear response

Follow through

Repetition

Ignore

Benefit of doubt given

Benefit of doubt not given

Content of response too vague

Not answered question

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Annotation Meaning

Omission

Section not relevant

Section incorrect

Highlighter Information copied from the text

Page or response seen by examiner

Annotation guidance:

/ separates alternative words or phrases within a marking point

// separates alternative answers within a marking point
Underline actual word given must be used by candidate (grammatical variants accepted)
Max indicates the maximum number of marks that can be awarded
() the word / phrase in brackets is not required, but sets the context

Note: No marks are awarded for using brand names of software packages or hardware.

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Question Answer Marks

1(a) Any one from: 1

• ROM
• Cache

1(b) Any one from: 1

• It is volatile storage // Data is lost when the power is turned off.

• It needs to be regularly replaced by other data // The data regularly changes // Data needs to be constantly updated

1(c) • 10011 2
• 11100110

1(d) • 0011 0101 2

• 1000 1010 1101

1(e) One mark for each correct nibble (MAX 2) 3

One mark for a correct method of working e.g. showing carries.

1 1
0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1
+ 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0

1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1

1(f) Any two from: 2

• The result is greater than 255 // The result is too large.

• Cannot be stored in 8 bits // Cannot be stored in the number of bits available for the register

1(g) One mark for a correct working method e.g. flip and add 2
One mark for correct answer

11101010

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Question Answer Marks

2(a) A 1

2(b)(i) 3 1

2(b)(ii) 2 1

2(c)(i) 32 bits are used to represent each/a/one colour in the image // 2 32 (approx. 4.3 billion) different colours can be used/are 1
available for the image

2(c)(ii) Any two from: 2

• The size of the image file increases.

• … as the number of bits used to represent/store a colour has increased

2(d) Any three from: 3

• The size of the file is reduced without permanently removing any data.
• A compression algorithm is used.
• … such as Run length encoding/RLE.
• Repeating pixels are grouped/identified … // Patterns are identified …
• … and stored with the number of times they are repeated.
• … and indexed

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Question Answer Marks

3(a) Any two from: 2

• It is easier to debug.
• Less likely to make errors.
• The program is machine independent/portable

3(b)(i) One mark for each correct term in the correct place. 5

• whole code
• executing
• all
• line by line
• error

A compiler translates the whole code at once before executing it. A compiler produces an error report that displays all
errors.

An interpreter translates and executes the code line by line. An interpreter stops execution when an error is found and
continues once it is corrected.

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Question Answer Marks

3(b)(ii) One mark for each correct function. One mark for each correct matching role description. 4

Examples:

• Code editor
• Allows the programmer to write/change the program.

• Run-time environment
• Allows the user to run the code and see the output.

• Error diagnostics
• Features that can be used to find errors in the code

• Auto-completion
• A programmer starts to type a command word, and the IDE suggests option for completing it.

• Auto-correction
• If a programmer misspells a command word it is changed to the correct spelling

• Prettyprint
• The command words/identifiers are given different colours

3(c)(i) Any one from: 1

• Inkjet
• Laser

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Question Answer Marks

3(c)(ii) One mark from: 6

• Serial
• Parallel

One mark from:

• Half-duplex
• Full-duplex
• Simplex

Any four from (for descriptions matching transmission types given):

serial
• Serial would send bits in order // serial uses only one wire.
• … so won’t be skewed // less likely to have errors
• Serial transmission speed would be adequate.

parallel
• Parallel would transmit data faster.
• … as multiple bits are sent at the same time // … as multiple wires are used.
• For parallel, chance of skewing/errors would be low as short distance transmission only required.

half/full duplex
• To allow data to be sent in both directions
• … so any interrupts/notifications for errors can be sent back to the computer.

simplex
• Data only needs to be sent one direction // Data transmission doesn’t need to be two-way.
• … as the printer may not need to send errors back to the computer

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Question Answer Marks

3(c)(iii) • A parity bit is added to each byte. 4

• … to make the number of 1s/0s even // that will be 1 if the number of 1s/0s is odd // that will be 0 if the number of 1s/0s
is even.
• The number of 1s/0s in each byte is counted after transmission.
• If any bytes have an odd number of 1s/0s an error is detected

Question Answer Marks

4(a) One mark for each correct component or description 6

Component Description

It sends signals to all the components in the CPU to

Control unit // CU
manage the flow of data through the CPU.

It carries out all the arithmetic and logic operations

Arithmetic and logic unit // ALU in the CPU.

Cache It stores frequently used data/instructions

It stores the address of the next instruction to be

Program counter (PC)
fetched

It controls the number of fetch-decode-execute

Clock
(FDE) cycles that are performed per second.

It stores data immediately before it is transmitted to

Memory data register // MDR
RAM and immediately after it is received from RAM.

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Question Answer Marks

4(b) Two from: 2

• An embedded system is designed to perform a dedicated/limited/single function // computer can be used to perform
many different functions.
• An embedded system has dedicated hardware // computer has hardware that can be used by other devices.
• An embedded system has software that is not easily updated/reprogrammed // software can easily be
updated/reprogrammed on the computer.
• An embedded system has a microprocessor // A computer has a CPU.
• An embedded system can be part of/built into a larger device // A computer is normally standalone

Question Answer Marks

5(a) Three from: 3

• The inference engine is used …

• … to decide which questions to ask the user …
• … based on the previous data input.
• Symptoms input are located in/compared to knowledge base.
• … then applies the rule base to the knowledge base (to decide the diagnosis)

5(b)(i) Any two from: 2

Examples:

• Sensors
• Microprocessors
• Actuators

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Question Answer Marks

5(b)(ii) Any four from: 4

Examples:

• a doctor doesn’t need to travel to the hospital to do the surgery.

• … so it can be done by any specialist/doctor in the world.
• … so it can be done immediately without needing to wait for travel time // reduces the waiting time for the patient.
• … so the doctor may be better at the surgery as they won’t be tired from travel.
• … so travel costs are saved.
• Surgery with robots enhances precision/accuracy.
• … so a smaller incision can be made.
• … so the recovery time may be shorter.
• … as the components used to enter the body can be much smaller than a human hand.
• … so the surgery is safer/ more hygienic // by example e.g. can stop the doctor needing to be near an infectious
patient.
• The surgery may have a higher rate of success

5(b)(iii) Two from (one for a point and one for the matching expansion): 2

Examples:

• The internet connection could be lost/delayed …

• … so the surgery may not be able to continue.

• The robot will be expensive to buy/maintain …

• … this money could have been spent on other causes.

• The robot could be hacked ….

• … and endanger the patient’s life.

• Data could be corrupted in transmission …

• … changing the nature of the instruction for the robot.

• The robot’s hardware could malfunction …

• … so the surgery cannot continue
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Question Answer Marks

5(c)(i) One mark for each correct part of the diagram. 6

The diagram:

• Web browser identified as software used to send URL/requests or receives IP address/web page data
• URL/domain sent to DNS
• DNS searches for matching IP address
• If not found sent to another DNS
• IP address sent from DNS to patient’s computer
• Request sent from patient’s computer to web server (for web page)
• Web page/HTML data sent from web server to patient’s computer

If URL not
searches for found, sent to
matching IP another DNS
DNS DNS
URL 1 2

Patient’s IP address
computer

www.cihospital.com Request

Web page
data Web server
URL input into
patient’s computer

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Question Answer Marks

5(c)(ii) Any six from: 6

• Encrypted connection established …

• … using asymmetric encryption
• … to make any data sent meaningless
• The web browser asks the web server to identify itself.
• … by sending its digital certificate.
• The digital certificate is authenticated/validated by the web browser.
• If the certificate is authenticated/valid, the connection is secure/the transaction can begin.
• If the certificate is not authenticated/invalid, the connection is not secure/the transaction is cancelled/rejected/user is
notified

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