Mock exam

1. 1 mark

Which action BEST reduces bias in an ML hiring tool?

1. Use diverse, representative training data and regularly audit outcomes
2. Remove all testing to save time
3. Hide how the model works
4. Train it only on past hires

2. 1 mark

Which is the BEST way to reduce the risk of an API exposing more data than intended?

1. Return only the fields the client needs and require authentication and authorisation on each endpoint
2. Return the entire database record for every request
3. Disable error logging
4. Allow unlimited anonymous requests

3. 1 mark

Tables. Students(StudentID, Name, Year, House): (1,Ava,12,Red) (2,Ben,11,Blue) (3,Cleo,12,Blue) (4,Dan,12,Red) (5,Eli,11,Red). Scores(StudentID, Subject, Mark): (1,SE,80) (1,Maths,70) (2,SE,60) (3,SE,90) (4,SE,50) (5,Maths,75).

What does this query return?

SELECT House, COUNT(*) FROM Students GROUP BY House ORDER BY House;

1. Blue 2, Red 3
2. Blue 3, Red 2
3. Red 5
4. Blue 1, Red 1

4. 1 mark

Binary search can only be used when the list is:

1. Shorter than 10 items
2. Made of strings
3. Sorted
4. Unsorted

5. 1 mark

Which action is an example of hardening a system?

1. Disabling unused services and changing default passwords
2. Adding extra advertising banners
3. Installing more games on the server
4. Increasing screen brightness

6. 1 mark

Metadata is best described as:

1. Data about other data, such as the time and location a photo was taken
2. Very large data sets
3. Data stored only in the cloud
4. Data that has been encrypted

7. 1 mark

An app collects only the data it needs and deletes location history after 30 days. Which privacy-by-design idea does this BEST show?

1. Maximising data collection for future uses
2. Reacting to a breach after it occurs
3. Embedding privacy into the design (data minimisation and retention limits)
4. Making privacy an optional extra

8. 1 mark

Which protocol is used to send an email from a mail client to a mail server?

1. IMAP
2. POP3
3. SMTP
4. DNS

9. 1 mark

A team member reads through a colleague's source code looking for logic and security flaws before it is merged. This is:

1. Load testing
2. Code review
3. Dynamic application security testing
4. Penetration testing

10. 1 mark

Identify ALL the items that are the goals of regulatory compliance in relation to software development.

1. Limiting the need for software updates
2. Protecting sensitive data from unauthorised access
3. Allowing developers to bypass security features when needed
4. Reducing the testing time required during software development
5. Ensuring software applications meet legal and industry standards

11. 1 mark

Which set of test data is MOST useful for the rule 'accept ages from 13 to 18 inclusive'?

1. 12, 13, 18, 19
2. 1, 2, 3, 4
3. 13, 14, 15, 16
4. 20, 30, 40, 50

12. 1 mark

Which technology allows a progressive web app (PWA) to work offline?

1. Image maps
2. Service workers that cache resources
3. Frames
4. Server-side session variables

13. 1 mark

(Tick the scenarios marked TRUE in the NESA answer. Original stem not published; the task is reconstructed from the marking guideline: which scenarios suit logistic regression?)

1. Identifying whether a received email is spam
2. Determining the outcome of a two-party election
3. Calculating house prices based on land size
4. Investigating the relationship between height and weight
5. Estimating the rate at which a contagious illness will spread
6. Working out if someone will be admitted to a university course

14. 1 mark

In public-key (asymmetric) encryption, how is a message sent confidentially to Sam?

1. Encrypt it with Sam's public key; only Sam's private key can decrypt it
2. Encrypt it with Sam's private key so everyone can read it
3. Encrypt and decrypt with the same shared secret key
4. Hash it so that Sam can reverse the hash

15. 1 mark

What does this Python code display?

values = [3, 8, 5] values.append(1) values.sort() print(values[-1], len(values))

1. 8 4
2. 5 4
3. 1 4
4. 8 3

16. 1 mark

An HTML element has id="intro" and class="note". The CSS has p {color:red;} .note {color:blue;} #intro {color:green;}. What colour is the text?

1. Red
2. Green
3. Black
4. Blue

17. 1 mark

Which of these is an example of BROKEN authentication?

1. Storing passwords as salted hashes
2. Locking the account after five failed attempts
3. Allowing the password '1234' and unlimited login attempts
4. Requiring multi-factor authentication

18. 1 mark

Consider the algorithm fragment. REPEAT DoThis UNTIL x<=5 OR y=8 Which of the following is logically equivalent?

1. DoThis WHILE x>5 AND Y< >8 DoThis ENDWHILE
2. DoThis WHILE x<=5 AND y=8 DoThis ENDWHILE
3. DoThis WHILE x<=5 OR y=8 DoThis ENDWHILE
4. DoThis WHILE x>5 OR Y< >8 DoThis ENDWHILE

19. 1 mark

In a class diagram, a hollow-headed (triangle) arrow between two classes shows:

1. Inheritance (generalisation): the subclass is a kind of the superclass
2. A data store
3. Ownership of a database table
4. A loop

20. 1 mark

Which OOP concept is shown when a class keeps its data private and exposes it only through methods?

1. Polymorphism
2. Inheritance
3. Abstraction
4. Encapsulation

21. 1 marks Short answer

Which of the following should take place during the requirements definition step when developing a software solution? A. Identifying algorithms to be used B. Documenting security vulnerabilities C. Identifying potential security threats in the software D. Documenting the needs and constraints of the software

22. 1 marks Short answer

Match each characteristic to ORM, SQL, or both: (1) Code is focused on object manipulation; (2) Tables can be joined to enhance searching; (3) Programmers can choose the language used to access the database. [Characteristics as printed in the MG answer table; the question's introductory wording is not published.]

23. 1 marks Short answer

[Exact question wording is not published as a paper (online exam). Task as shown by the NESA marking guidelines/mapping grid: web protocols (authentication)]

24. 1 marks Short answer

[Exact question wording is not published as a paper (online exam). Task as shown by the NESA marking guidelines/mapping grid: data structures, dropdowns]

25. 1 marks Short answer

[Exact question wording is not published as a paper (online exam). Task as shown by the NESA marking guidelines/mapping grid: software development approaches, two dropdowns]

26. 2 marks Short answer

The strategies below can be used to test the security of a web application that contains a database. Classify each as EITHER SAST OR DAST: (1) Simulate attacks on the web application; (2) Check the way SQL queries are constructed; (3) Test the database's web interface for vulnerabilities; (4) Test the web application used to interact with the database when it is running; (5) Analyse the code for connecting to the database to identify security vulnerabilities.

27. 3 marks Extended response

The following storyboard shows the navigation for a simple menu structure. | 3 MENU Screen 1 | Screen 1 | Screen 2 | Screen 2 Done | Done Screen 3 | Screen 4 Screen 3 | Screen 4 Quit Done | Done Quit A click on a button on the menu screen generates an appropriate number (from 1 to 4, or 9 if Quit is clicked) which is stored in the variable ButtonClick. A click anywhere else on the screen generates a 0. Write an algorithm for the menu screen that allows a user to access the other screens, exiting when the Quit button is clicked. Do NOT include the logic for any of the other screens.

28. 3 marks Short answer

A food delivery service offers prepackaged meals tailored to different dietary preferences, for example, vegetarian and gluten-free. It has developed a website for customers to place orders. The website is ready for testing and feedback. The website includes: a menu that dynamically updates based on meal availability; user accounts where customers can track deliveries and manage subscriptions; a backend that processes orders and payments, updates stock and communicates with the delivery team. (a) Outline potential social and ethical issues associated with the use of this website. (3 marks)

29. 3 marks Short answer

How can the effects of human bias be minimised when training machine learning algorithms? (3 marks, max 75 words)

30. 3 marks Short answer

[Exact question wording is not published as a paper (online exam). Task as shown by the NESA marking guidelines/mapping grid: complete a data dictionary using dropdowns]

31. 3 marks Short answer

Explain how the load time of a web page can be improved using a progressive web app (PWA). (3 marks, max 75 words)

32. 3 marks Pseudocode

PseudoPizza sells custom-designed pizzas. The price of a small pizza is $10. Added costs: Medium size $2; Large size $4; each topping $1.50. An algorithm is needed to calculate the cost of pizzas ordered for a customer. The algorithm should calculate and display: the cost of each pizza; the total cost of the order. Write the algorithm using pseudocode. Include at least one subroutine in your answer. You may assume that all inputs are valid. (3 marks)

33. 3 marks Extended response

A palindrome is a word that reads the same forward and backward, such as the words | 3 ‘refer’ and ‘noon’. The following code fragment checks whether a word is a palindrome. 1 | BEGIN PalindromeCheck(word, palindrome) 2 | palindrome = TRUE 3 | F=1 4 | N = number of letters in word 5 | L=N 6 | REPEAT th | th 7 | IF F letter of word is not equal to L letter of word THEN 8 | palindrome = FALSE 9 | END IF 10 | L = L–1 11 | F = F+1 12 | UNTIL F > N 13 | RETURN palindrome 14 | END PalindromeCheck There are no errors in the code fragment. Explain the effect of changing line 12 to the following code. 12 | UNTIL F > N/2 OR palindrome = FALSE

34. 4 marks SQL

Below is the Issues table for a technical support company. FixTime, in minutes, is the time taken to complete each job. [table image not extractable: columns include JobID, Category, Status, FixTime] Construct a SQL query that displays: the number of pending software jobs; the number of pending hardware jobs; the number of escalated software jobs; the number of escalated hardware jobs. List the results in order from the highest to lowest, based on the number of jobs. (4 marks)

35. 4 marks Extended response

A software company is developing a system that will require a large development | 4 team. They have decided to use their own developers, and hire additional contract programmers when necessary. Explain how various types of documentation can be used by the contract programmers to enable them to quickly contribute to the project.

36. 5 marks Extended response

An online medical database stores the medical history of patients. It is updated each time a person seeks medical treatment. (a) | Give TWO reasons why security is important for this database. | 2 (b) | To provide increased security for the database, two-step authentication is | 3 implemented which requires a user to: • provide a valid username and password • enter an automatically generated six-digit verification code which is sent to their mobile phone. Complete the system flowchart for this two-step authentication process. UserID and password

37. 5 marks Python / code

[Exact question wording is not published as a paper (online exam). Task as shown by the NESA marking guidelines/mapping grid: Python program: generate 15 unique random numbers from 1 to 25 and print a 5 by 5 grid, with an X in each grid position whose number is in the list and a blank otherwise. Task inferred from the MG sample answer; the exact stem is not published as text]

38. 6 marks Extended response

An algorithm was designed to remove repeating consecutive characters in a phrase, replacing them with a single character. The algorithm: • allows input of a phrase • removes repeated characters • displays the shortened phrase. For example, if the input is ‘aaaabbbaa’ the output will be ‘aba’. Note: The function right (m, n) gets the last n characters of m. There are errors in the algorithm. 1 BEGIN Shorten 2 | input phrase 3 | phrase = phrase + “X” | ‘Adds an X to the end of phrase 4 | Len = number of characters in phrase 5 | NewPhrase = “ ” 6 | REPEAT 7 | done = FALSE 8 | NewPhrase = NewPhrase + 1st character of phrase 9 | REPEAT 10 | IF 1st character of phrase does not equal 2nd character of phrase THEN 11 | done = TRUE 12 | ENDIF 13 | Len = Len - 1 14 | phrase = right (phrase, Len) 15 | UNTIL done = TRUE 16 | UNTIL Len < 1 17 | output phrase 18 | phrase = NewPhrase 19 END Shorten (a) | Perform a desk check of the algorithm using dddg as input. | 3 (b) | Identify and correct any logic errors in the algorithm. You may refer to line | 3 numbers in your response.

39. 10 marks Extended response

In some areas, drivers need to use an app on their phone to pay for parking. This app allows the driver to: • create an account using their car registration number and banking details • start and end each parking session by pressing START and END buttons • pay for parking using the stored banking details. For each parking session, the app records the start and end times, calculates the cost of parking, accepts payment and stores the details remotely. The cost of parking is calculated using the hourly rate and the time spent. The hourly rate is determined by the location of the car. (a) | Construct an IPO diagram for the module that calculates the cost of parking. | 3 (b) | Construct a data flow diagram (DFD) to document the complete app as | 4 described. (c) | Describe how the developer might have addressed ONE inclusivity concern and | 3 ONE privacy concern associated with the use of this app.