Mark Scheme

Additional Sample Assessment Materials

Pearson Edexcel International Advanced Level in

Information Technology

Unit 3 (WIT13)
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January 2019
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General Marking Guidance

 All candidates must receive the same treatment. Examiners must

mark the first candidate in exactly the same way as they mark the
last.
 Mark schemes should be applied positively. Candidates must be
rewarded for what they have shown they can do rather than
penalised for omissions.
 Examiners should mark according to the mark scheme not
according to their perception of where the grade boundaries may
lie.
 There is no ceiling on achievement. All marks on the mark scheme
should be used appropriately.
 All the marks on the mark scheme are designed to be awarded.
Examiners should always award full marks if deserved, i.e. if the
answer matches the mark scheme. Examiners should also be
prepared to award zero marks if the candidate’s response is not
worthy of credit according to the mark scheme.
 Where some judgement is required, mark schemes will provide the
principles by which marks will be awarded and exemplification may
be limited.
 When examiners are in doubt regarding the application of the mark
scheme to a candidate’s response, the team leader must be
consulted.
 Crossed out work should be marked UNLESS the candidate has
replaced it with an alternative response.
Unit 3 AddSAM – Mark Scheme

Question Answer Additional guidance Mark

number
1 (a) Award one mark for each method. Do not allow named 2
 symmetric encryption encryption algorithms
 asymmetric (public-key) encryption

Question Answer Additional guidance Mark

number
1 (b) Award up to two marks for each linked explanation. Must be a linked 4
Such as: explanation to award
 embedded systems are much smaller than general purpose computers (1) so two marks in each
they will fit into small objects/devices (1) case.
 embedded systems do not have to ‘boot up’ from a storage device (1) so are
faster loading/start up more quickly (1)
 embedded systems use less resources than general purpose computers (1) so do
not need connections to resources / can be smaller (1)
 embedded systems use less power than general purpose computers (1) so can
operate in battery powered/low powered situations (1)
 embedded systems are much less complex than general purpose computers (1)
so are easier to mass produce (1)
Question Answer Additional Mark
number guidance
1 (c) Award one mark for each point up to a maximum of four marks for a linked explanation. 4
Answers may include:

 learns noise types

 to filter them out
 learns human / voice characteristics / frequencies
 to enhance them
 so can ignore everything else
 learns (characteristics of) key / command words
 so can pick them out (of background)
 so can ignore other words / speech
 can improve/adapt over time / with more practice

Example answers
The software learns to separate out human speech (1) from background noise (1) and can
enhance the voice signal to make it clearer (1). It would adapt over time (1) (to the
environment it is in).

The software learns background noise types (1) so that it can ignore them (1) allowing it to
pick out human speech (1) and enhance it (1).

With continual practice (1) the software will learn the characteristics of the human voice
(1) and other noises (1) so that it can differentiate between speech and background noise
(1).
Question Answer Mark
number
1 (d) Award one mark each for: 6
 sound sensor / microphone (1)
 touch sensor / touchscreen (1)
 Bluetooth (1)
 Wi-Fi (1)
 completing all links (ignore arrows) (1)
 all arrows correct (1)

Total for question 1 16

Question Answer Mark
number
2 (a) BCP deals with ‘what could go wrong’ and identifies alternative ways of keeping essential / critical parts of the 6
business going

 deals with the physical aspects, e.g. loss of the IT centre

 plans for extra staff / third party requirements for emergencies e.g. widespread illness, severe weather
preventing staff movement
 deals with digital aspects, e.g. data loss, communications loss
 anticipates wide range of scenarios e.g. fire, flood, cyber attack, power loss
 defines priorities for a range of possible events
 sets timescales and objectives for recovery from a range of possible events
 includes a disaster recovery plan dealing with restoration of services and operations, e.g. IT, communications,
power

Level Mark Descriptor

0 Norewardable material.
Level 1 1–2  Demonstrates limited knowledge and understanding, some of which may be inaccurate.
 Applies understanding with limited coherence to produce a superficial and unbalanced discussion.
Level 2 3–4  Demonstrates knowledge and understanding which is mostly relevant but may include some inaccuracies.
 Applies understanding to make some coherent connections, leading to a discussion that shows some development,
but may be unbalanced.
Level 3 5–6  Demonstrates accurate and relevant knowledge and understanding throughout.
 Applies understanding coherently to produce a balanced and fully developed discussion.

Question Answer Additional Mark

number guidance
2 (b) Award one mark for 2 factors Do not award a 3
Award two marks for 4 factors mark for how
Award three marks for 6 factors much data needs
to be backed up /
Answers may include:
storage space
 backup medium
needed.
 backup location
 timings
 which data / files need to be backed up
 who is responsible for running backup / automation system
 data transfer speed available
 security of store
 security of transfer
 available hardware / cost of new hardware
 method for testing the backups / system
Question Answer Mark
number
2 (c) Gantt chart. 6
Award one mark for:
 dates / calendar
 plausible time scales for all 7 tasks. Tasks 3 & 6 may start later than 6th June
 at least two dependencies. May be start - start or finish - start
 at least two constraints
 four constraints
 chart gives a clear overview of the project

Total for question 2 15

Question Indicative content Mark
number
3 Responses should be in the context of the web page as evidenced in the image and brief. 12
Problems
 page size, too wide to view on standard monitor/screen without scrolling
 navigation bar, not visible without sideways scroll or viewing screen at 50% or less
 cycling colours on title, distracting and annoying
 10 GIFs run on page load, slowing load time, distracting and annoying
 GIFS and title are overuse of colour and movement (too much on one screen)
 popups can be annoying and may not work correctly, many browsers have anti-popup settings
 method of changing the music is likely to cause accessibility problems. Also more unwanted movement on the
screen causing distraction
 there does not seem to be any way of muting the music
 over busy screen, too much happening at once

Solutions
 Page size
o consider target device
o have active pages that change width
o use page size that is small enough / sized for most common devices

 Navigation bar
o place bar top left or top of page
o have bar in floating panel that is always visible

 Colours
o avoid having too many colours, recommended maximum is 4 per page for non-image material
o avoid flashing / cycling colours. These are attention seeking techniques and should only be used for
one, important item per page
o avoid having too great/small an intensity range

 Page loading
o takes too long if everything loads at once, consider using static thumbnails for GIFs and only load them
on-click

 Music
o do not use the animated bee as a default method for controlling the music. Users with motor control
problems may not be able to use it.
o provide a method for stopping the music
  GIFs
o do not load them all when page loads, use static images or icons
o run GIFs within the page to prevent popups, or alert the user that the GIFs will require a popup
o ensure GIFs return to static image / icon when they have finished running

 Screen too busy

o mainly covered by previous items

Conclusion.
 Comparison of solutions / suggest best solutions

Level Mark Descriptor

0 No rewardable material.
Level 1 1–4 • Demonstrates limited knowledge and understanding, some of which may be inaccurate.
• Applies understanding with limited coherence to produce a response that lacks development.
• Demonstrates limited awareness of competing arguments.
• Conclusion, if present, is generic or unsupported.
Level 2 5–8 • Demonstrates knowledge and understanding, which is mostly relevant and may include some inaccuracies.
• Applies understanding to make some coherent connections and a partially developed response.
• Demonstrates some awareness of competing arguments, but this may be unbalanced, and partially supports
conclusion with evidence.
Level 3 9–12 • Demonstrates accurate and relevant knowledge and understanding throughout.
• Applies understanding coherently to produce a fully developed response.
• Demonstrates an awareness of competing arguments and supports conclusion with evidence.
Total for question 3 12
Question Answer Mark
number
4(a) Award one mark for: 12
 Product table
 Manufacturer table
 Product_detail table
 Size table
 Colour table
 Gender table
 Indication of primary keys (Product, Manufacturer)
 Indication of primary keys (Size, Colour, Gender)
 Indication of foreign key (Manufacturer_ID in Product)
 Indication of composite key in Product_detail (or equivalent)
 Indication of foreign keys in Product_detail (or equivalent table)
 Fully normalised.

Product
Product_ID Product_name Manufacturer_ID *

Manufacturer
Manufacturer_ID Manufacturer

Product_detail
Product_ID * Size_ID * Colour_ID * Gender_ID *

Size
Size_ID Size

Colour
Colour_ID Colour

Gender
Gender_ID Gender

Alternative answer using parenthetical format

Product(ProductID, ProductName, ManufacturerID*)
Manufacturer(ManufacturerID, ManufacturerName)
Colour(ColourID, ColourName)
Size(SizeID, SizeDescription)
Gender(GenderID, GenderDescription)
Garment(GarmentID, ProductID*, ManufacturerID*, ColourID*, SizeID*, GenderID*)
Question Answer Additional Mark
number guidance
4(b) Award up to two marks for each of two linked explanations. 4

Explanations may include:

 to identify customers that are likely to purchase a product/specified item of clothing (1)
so that they can be given incentives (to buy matching items/accessories) (1)
 to predict peak demand periods / fluctuations in demand (times of the year)(1) to
improve stock control/customer service (1)
 to predict changes to purchasing patterns (changes in popularity/fashion)(1) so that stock
levels can be adjusted (1)
 to predict demand for goods, so that just in time stock control can be practised (1)
resulting in less cash being tied up in stock (1)

Total for question 4 16

Question Answer Mark
number
5(a) Award one mark for each point up to a maximum of three marks for a linked explanation. 3
Such as:
 has a clear structure / defined steps (1) each step must be completed before moving on (1) so problems
have to be dealt with / cannot be pushed aside for later (1)
 has an end goal from the start (1) so team has a focus from the start (1) so are less likely to deviate/be
sidetracked (1)
 methodical with good documentation of information/data/project details between steps (1)
enabling/allowing team/personnel changes between steps (1) without needing people to
redo/review/experience previous steps (1)

Question Indicative content Mark

number
5(b) Responses should be in the context of the waterfall project management technique being used for developing a 6
specification document for a website.
 this is Stage 1 of the Waterfall method, requirements,
 stakeholders; people who will run and/or maintain the website, people commissioning the website,
potential users / customers
 methodologies; interviews, briefing documents, focus groups, investigating similar sites
 getting details / requirements of the required website (what it will do)
 constraints; financial, time, personnel
 analysing requirements
 resolving conflicts of requirements
 finding system requirements, min and recommended system to work on the project.
 design the specification document

Level Mark Descriptor

0 No rewardable material.
Level 1 1–2  Demonstrates limited knowledge and understanding, some of which may be inaccurate.
 Applies understanding with limited coherence to produce a superficial and unbalanced discussion.
Level 2 3–4  Demonstrates knowledge and understanding which is mostly relevant but may include some inaccuracies.
 Applies understanding to make some coherent connections, leading to a discussion that shows some development,
but may be unbalanced.
Level 3 5–6  Demonstrates accurate and relevant knowledge and understanding throughout.
 Applies understanding coherently to produce a balanced and fully developed discussion.
Total for question 5 9
Question Answer Mark
number
6 Responses should be in the context of a distributed database for a power company. 12
Advantages.
Costs:
 distribution involves a number of relatively cheap, extra machines
 the alternative is upgrading the original hardware, this is likely to be more expensive
 upgrading faces diminishing returns and it may be impossible / impractical to purchase better hardware
Reliability:
 distributed systems are inherently more reliable, if one machine / cluster / data centre is damaged, the rest of the
system will still function
 less latency, queries will be directed to the nearest machine, decreasing response times
Convenience
 easy scaling. Simple to add / subtract machines in response to workload
 availability, no downtime as machines can be taken out of the system for maintenance, etc. without affecting the
system as a whole.
Disadvantages.
Problems and pitfalls
 CAP. Consistency, availability, partition tolerance. Pick any two. Usually partition tolerance plus one. (partition tolerance
means that the system must be able to survive loss of connection / messages between its parts)
 weak consistency means updates made on one machine take time to propagate, resulting in potential errors on queries
at other machines
 choosing high consistency will slow response time, may paralyse the system as changes must propagate before responses
can be made.
Conclusion
 balance of consistency with cost, reliability, availability
 expansion plans indicate that further upgrades to server system may be infeasible within a few years
 distributed database can be scaled more easily but will always have data consistency problems
Level Mark Descriptor
0 No rewardable material.
Level 1 1–4 • Demonstrates limited knowledge and understanding, some of which may be inaccurate.
• Applies understanding with limited coherence to produce a response that lacks development.
• Demonstrates limited awareness of competing arguments.
• Conclusion, if present, is generic or unsupported.
Level 2 5–8 • Demonstrates knowledge and understanding, which is mostly relevant and may include some inaccuracies.
• Applies understanding to make some coherent connections and a partially developed response.
• Demonstrates some awareness of competing arguments, but this may be unbalanced, and partially supports conclusion with
evidence.
Level 3 9–12 • Demonstrates accurate and relevant knowledge and understanding throughout.
• Applies understanding coherently to produce a fully developed response.
• Demonstrates an awareness of competing arguments and supports conclusion with evidence.
Total for question 6 12
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