100+ Free Higher Computing Science Practice Questions

Software Design Notations and Constructs

Structure diagrams, flowcharts, pseudocode, stepwise refinement, data flow diagrams, modular design; selection (nested IF, CASE) and iteration (FOR with step, WHILE, REPEAT-UNTIL, nested loops) in Python or Visual Basic

Data Types, Structures and Operators

Integer, real, character, string, boolean; 1D and 2D arrays — declaring, accessing, traversing; records as collections of related fields of different types; MOD and DIV operators; string concatenation, substring/slicing, length, ASCII/Unicode codes

Sub-programs, Parameters and Scope

Procedures vs functions, parameters passed by value vs by reference, local vs global variables, scope, return values, library/built-in functions (random, modulus, square root, round), string handling functions

Testing and Debugging

Static vs dynamic testing, normal/extreme/exceptional test data, test plans, component vs comprehensive testing; syntax, runtime/execution and logic errors; breakpoints, watch points, trace tables; commenting code for readability

Binary, Numbers and Text Representation

Positive whole numbers in 8/16/32-bit, conversion to/from decimal, two's complement for negatives, floating-point with mantissa and exponent; ASCII vs Unicode (UTF-8/UTF-16) and storage cost

Image, Sound, Compression and Metadata

Bitmap vs vector, colour/bit depth, resolution, file size = w×h×bd÷8; sound sample rate, bit depth, mono vs stereo, file size = SR × BD × t × channels / 8; lossy (JPEG, MP3) vs lossless (PNG, ZIP); MP3 perceptual coding; metadata

Relational Databases and ER Modelling

Entities, attributes, relationships (1:1, 1:M, M:M), entity relationship diagrams, primary and foreign keys, referential integrity, normalisation to 1NF/2NF/3NF, compound keys, link tables for many-to-many relationships

SQL — Query, DML and DDL

CREATE TABLE with data types; INSERT INTO, UPDATE, DELETE; SELECT with WHERE/AND/OR/NOT/LIKE/BETWEEN/IN, ORDER BY, JOIN across tables; aggregate functions COUNT/SUM/AVG/MIN/MAX with GROUP BY; aliases

Web Design — HTML5, CSS and JavaScript

Semantic HTML5 (header, nav, main, article, section, aside, footer) plus h1-h6, p, lists, tables, forms, img with alt/src/width/height, a, video, audio; CSS selectors (element/class/id), the box model, flex/grid; client-side JavaScript with getElementById and onclick event handlers

Usability, Accessibility and Navigation

WCAG principles, colour contrast, alt text, keyboard navigation, ARIA basics, font size, responsive/mobile-first design, clear navigation structure and consistent user interface

Computer Architecture and Networks

CPU components (control unit, ALU, registers, cache), main memory RAM vs ROM, virtual memory, secondary storage, fetch-decode-execute cycle; LAN vs WAN; protocols HTTP/HTTPS, FTP, SMTP/POP3/IMAP, TCP/IP

Security, Legal and Environmental Impact

Symmetric vs asymmetric encryption, public-key cryptography, digital signatures, firewalls, anti-malware, GDPR; environmental and economic impact of IT — sustainability, e-waste, energy consumption, recycling components