1 · Information Representation
1.1 Data Representation — binary magnitudes and prefixes, number systems, base conversion, binary addition and subtraction, BCD and hexadecimal, character sets. 1.2 Multimedia — bitmap and vector encoding, file size calculation, sound representation and sampling. 1.3 Compression — the need for compression, lossy vs lossless, how each file type is compressed.
🧩 Jigsaw
168 concepts mapped to the syllabus
🎯 Pack
142 question/answer pairs
| 9618 tested | 9608 only | Untested | From SME | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jigsaw | 103 | 16 | 30 | 15 |
| Pack | 95 | 13 | 21 | 13 |
What to know about this topic
The highest-frequency bullet in the whole paper
1.1.3 converting between bases carries 51 separate 9618 questions — more than any other single syllabus bullet in Paper 1. It is nearly guaranteed marks, and nearly guaranteed to appear.
The three slips that cost the most marks
1. The unit divisor — 1000 for decimal prefixes (kB, MB), 1024 for binary ones (KiB, MiB). Read which the question used. 2. Bit depth given in bytes, not bits — then there is no ÷8 (
9618_s24_qp_13_sc_2.a). 3. “Justify your choice” questions where the mark scheme awards no mark for the choice itself. All the marks are in the reasoning.
Three gaps where no question has ever been set
Hexadecimal applications — bullet 1.1.5 is titled “BCD and Hexadecimal”, yet every question in both series asks only about BCD. The clearest single gap in this topic. Vector graphic compression — named in bullet 1.3.3 alongside text, bitmap and sound; never asked in either series. Quantisation error — credited in six 9618 mark schemes, but no question ever asks you to define it. All three are written up as
!infoentries in the Jigsaw with the content you would need.
Source material
⬅ Paper 1 · ➡ 2 · Communications · 🧩 Architecture