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OCR GCSE Computer Science Exam Questions
1.1 Systems Architecture
1.1 question 1
A computer has a Central Processing Unit (CPU).
Describe what happens during the fetch–decode–execute cycle.
Describe what happens during the fetch–decode–execute cycle.
2
MARKS
Mark scheme
Fetch: Instruction/data fetched from memory (RAM/primary storage) using registers.
Decode: Split into opcode and operand.
Execute: Instruction carried out; ALU performs arithmetic/logic as needed.
Decode: Split into opcode and operand.
Execute: Instruction carried out; ALU performs arithmetic/logic as needed.
Exam guidance
Credit the three stages (fetch, decode, execute). Accept references to registers; ignore minor component mix‑ups.
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