Revision Resources

Everything you need to prepare for the National 5 Computing Science exam.

Exam Hints & Tips (2025 Report)

1. Command Words

Describe/Explain questions need more than a definition. Click for list.

  • State / Identify: Brief answer. No explanation needed. (e.g. "Integer")
  • Describe: Say what something is or how it works. (e.g. "The processor fetches instructions.")
  • Explain: Say why something is the case. Use "because". (e.g. "This is efficient because it uses less RAM.")

2. Evaluation Context

Never give generic definitions. Reference your code! Click for example.

Bad: "My code is readable."

Good: "My code is readable because I used meaningful variable names like totalPrice on line 14 and internal commentary on line 12."

3. Requirements

End-User vs Functional. Don't mix them up!

  • End-User: What the person wants to do.
    "I want to browse products."
  • Functional: What the system must do (Technical).
    "The system must query the database and display results sorted by price."

4. SQL UPDATE

Master the syntax. Missing the WHERE clause updates every record!

UPDATE Pupils
SET Age = 16
WHERE Name = 'John'; Database Design Reference Sheet

5. Input Validation

Always use a Conditional Loop (While), never a single IF.

RECEIVE mark
WHILE mark < 0 OR mark > 100 DO
  SEND "Invalid"
  RECEIVE mark
END WHILE Software Design Reference Sheet

6. Web Dev Details

Addressing and Optimisation tips.

  • Internal vs External: Internal links go to pages on the same site. External links go to a different website.
  • Absolute vs Relative: Absolute addresses use the full URL (e.g. for external links). Relative addresses use the path from the current file (e.g. for internal links/images).
  • Optimisation: Lower Sampling Rate or Bit Depth to reduce audio file size.
Web Design Reference Sheet

7. Algorithms

Standard algorithms you must know.

  1. Input Validation
  2. Traverse an Array (Linear Search, Count, Find Max/Min)
  3. Running Total
Software Design Reference Sheet

8. Concatenation

Joining strings together.

Python: print("Hello " + name)

Pseudocode: SET message TO "Hello " & name

Note: Don't forget the space inside the quotes!

9. Computer Systems

Floating Point & Binary.

  • Mantissa: Stores the digits (Precision).
  • Exponent: Stores the power (Range).
  • Binary Values: 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1.
Computer Systems Reference Sheet

10. RTFQ

The most important rule for exam success.

Read The Full Question

Don't skim! Look for keywords like 'Describe', 'Explain', or specific data types. Check how many marks are available to gauge how much detail is needed.

Common Mistakes

  • Mixing up Requirements

    Functional is what the system does. End-User is what the user does.

  • SQL Syntax Errors

    Forgetting the WHERE clause in an UPDATE statement (updates all rows!).

  • Vague Evaluations

    "It is robust" gets 0 marks. "It is robust because I used a while loop to validate input" gets the mark.

2025 Exam

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Need more practice?

The SQA website has a full archive of past papers and marking instructions. Remember to check the Course Specification if you are using older papers (pre-2019) as some topics may have changed.

Visit SQA Past Paper Finder