BCS THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE FOR IT
BCS HIGHER EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS
BCS Level 4 Certificate in IT
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Wednesday 19th April 2023 - Morning
Time: TWO hours
Section A and Section B each carry 50% of the marks.
You are advised to spend about 1 hour on Section A (30 minutes per question).
and 1 hour on Section B (12 minutes per question).
Answer any Section A questions you attempt in Answer Book A
Answer any Section B questions you attempt in Answer Book B
The marks given in brackets are indicative of the weight given to each part of the question.
Calculators are NOT allowed in this examination.
Section A
Answer 2 questions (out of 4). Each question carries 30 marks.
A1.
Top Auto is a garage whose primary business is car sales of both new and used cars. Their
current system supports day-to-day operations of the garage including car purchasing,
selling and test drive bookings.
The cars are available for customers to test drive or purchase. If a customer requires a
particular car for a test drive, the booking has to be made in advance. In order to authorise
the test drive, the salesman has to check if the particular car is not sold (a car that has
already been sold is not available for a test drive). The salesman also has to check if the car
is available for the requested time slot and if the customer holds a required driving licence. If
the car is authorised for a test drive, the customer is then asked to confirm the booking and
then the test drive booking is generated.
a) Draw a use case diagram to represent the Top Auto test drive booking system.
(11 marks)
b) Describe FIVE benefits for applying use case modelling at the beginning of object-
oriented analysis.
(10 marks)
c) Explain the difference between the <<include>> and <<extend>> relationships used
in use case modelling.
(9 marks)
A2.
a) List the FIVE main components of the traditional system development life cycle
(SDLC), giving a brief description of each.
(15 marks)
b) It is essential that good information is used in an organisation. List FIVE
characteristics of good information with a simple example for each.
(10 marks)
c) Identify FIVE factors that can impact and cause change to project development.
(5 marks)
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A3.
Good project management is essential for successful systems development.
a) Identify FIVE key responsibilities of an IT project manager.
(5 marks)
b) Explain what is meant by the IT Project Manager’s Eternal Triangle.
(6 marks)
c) Explain the purpose of Risk Analysis and why it is so important. Support your
answer with a relevant example.
(10 marks)
d) Using a simple example, explain the purpose of each of the following terms for a
software project:
(i) Quality assurance;
(ii) Quality planning;
(iii) Quality control.
(9 marks)
A4.
With the advances in technology, innovation and change can bring about many advantages
for organisations and society but they can also bring misuse and unintended outcomes.
a) Describe THREE issues of misuse that might arise in health systems, providing an
example for each issue.
(15 marks)
b) Identify and describe THREE disadvantages for using ‘Cloud’ technology.
(15 marks)
[Turn Over]
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Section B B10.
Answer 5 questions (out of 8). Each question carries 12 marks.
User IDs and passwords are basic methods of validating user identification.
B5.
a) What additional methods would you recommend to ensure a more secure login
Define what is meant by the following data-related terms: process?
(4 marks)
a) Data.
(3 marks) b) What process would you recommend to allow a user to reset their password?
b) Information. (4 marks)
(3 marks)
c) Knowledge. c) Why can you NOT simply delete a user when they leave an organisation?
(3 marks) (4 marks)
d) Wisdom.
(3 marks)
B11.
B6. Describe the type of chart you would use to represent the following, giving your reasons:
a) List and describe FOUR of the elements you would find on a context diagram and a a) Daily takings (money that has been taken for sales in one day).
data flow diagram. (4 marks)
(8 marks) b) Monthly sales figures.
(4 marks)
b) How would you validate that the context diagram and data flow diagram are balanced c) Year-on-year sales comparisons.
and consistent with each other? (4 marks)
(4 marks)
B12.
B7.
An Entity Relationship Model is a logical representation of data storage.
What guidelines would you provide for a developer when building a website in terms of
multimedia considerations? Explain how each component is converted into a physical version in a relational database.
(12 marks) (12 marks)
B8.
END OF EXAMINATION
Describe THREE different techniques for testing the functionality of a computer application.
(12 marks)
B9.
Discuss what elements would typically make up a project that was built using a RAD (Rapid
Application Development) approach.
(12 marks)
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