IGCSE Information and Communication Technology 0417 · Topic 10

Communication: past paper questions

24 real questionsasked in 3 of the last 10 exam series2019–2025usually: Describe, Explain, State, Give, Define

Real questions on communication

The newest 20 of 24 written questions. Open one to see it on the real paper.

0417/11 · May/June 2025 · Q12a[2]
Explain what is meant by netiquette.
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0417/11 · May/June 2025 · Q12b[6]
One of the rules of netiquette is to avoid sending the same message repeatedly as this is considered to be spam. Describe, giving an example, three other rules used in netiquette. Rule Example Rule Example Rule Example
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0417/12 · October/November 2024 · Q2a[1]
State what is meant by an email group.
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0417/12 · October/November 2024 · Q2b[1]
State what is meant by carbon copy (cc).
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0417/12 · February/March 2024 · Q16a[4]
State four characteristics of spam emails.
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0417/12 · February/March 2024 · Q16b[2]
Give two ways of reducing spam emails.
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0417/12 · October/November 2022 · Q11a[3]
Explain why an email group is used when contacting the villagers.
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0417/11 · May/June 2022 · Q13c[4]
other constraints that may affect the use of email.
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0417/11 · May/June 2022 · Q13d[2]
rules of the use of acceptable language in emails.
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0417/12 · May/June 2022 · Q14a[2]
Explain what is meant by the term spam.
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0417/12 · May/June 2022 · Q14b[6]
Describe the ways that a user can recognise spam and methods to help prevent it.
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0417/12 · February/March 2022 · Q13b[3]
Arjun is a member of the family. He uses the internet to carry out research and send work to his office. Describe three other ways he could make appropriate use of the internet.
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0417/12 · February/March 2022 · Q13c[2]
Arjun uses the internet to carry out research for his work. Describe two drawbacks of Arjun using the internet for research.
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0417/11 · October/November 2021 · Q13a[2]
Define the term social networking.
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0417/11 · October/November 2021 · Q13b[6]
Describe the benefits of using social networking.
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0417/13 · October/November 2021 · Q6[4]
The internet has both moderated and unmoderated forums. Explain what is meant by an unmoderated forum.
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0417/13 · May/June 2021 · Q9[8]
One way of communicating with other people is to use emails. It is very important that when you send and receive emails you are aware of esafety. Evaluate your own use of email in terms of esafety and describe the strategies you will need to minimise the potential esafety risks.
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0417/12 · February/March 2021 · Q5a[2]
Explain what is meant by the term netiquette.
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0417/12 · February/March 2021 · Q5b[4]
The parent is planning to produce a number of rules to ensure that his children follow netiquette when texting other people. Write down four rules that he could include in his list.
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0417/13 · October/November 2020 · Q9a[5]
Describe the advantages of using emails compared with physical faxing. A legal document is sent as a file attachment.
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What examiners said

This part of the question was fairly well answered with candidates explaining what was meant by netiquette. Many candidates gained marks for stating that it was internet etiquette although the Examiners allowed network etiquette and other variations, although this may not be the case in future series. In many cases this was the only mark awarded for this question. Some candidates, mis-read the qu...
— Examiner report, May/June 2025, 0417/11 Q12(a) (Cambridge)

As with part (a) many of the answers did not relate back to the topic of the question, namely sending emails. Candidates were asked to describe with an example three rules used in netiquette when sending emails, one rule ‘sending the same message multiple times’ was given as an example. Some candidates copied this example or a variant of it in their answer and did not gain credit. The Examiners we...
— Examiner report, May/June 2025, 0417/11 Q12(b) (Cambridge)

This part of the question was challenging for candidates with most only gaining a mark. The question related to the characteristics of spam emails. Correct answers related to unwanted emails, emails that were sent in bulk, and emails with lots of spelling and grammar mistakes.
— Examiner report, February/March 2024, 0417/12 Q16(a) (Cambridge)

Practise this topic

Answer these questions online and get each one marked against the official mark scheme, with what you missed and how to fix it.

Practise communication

In the syllabus

1 0417.10.1.01 — Characteristics, uses and constraints of email communication including acceptable language, guidelines set by an employer, the need for secu

Characteristics, uses and constraints of email communication including acceptable language, guidelines set by an employer, the need for security, netiquette, email groups, carbon copy (cc), blind carbon copy (bcc), forward, attachments
Characteristics and effects of spam email including the methods which can be used to help prevent spam

2 0417.10.1.02 — Characteristics and effects of spam email including the methods which can be used to help prevent spam

Characteristics and effects of spam email including the methods which can be used to help prevent spam

3 0417.10.2.01 — Characteristics, uses, advantages and disadvantages of using the internet including the differences between the internet, an intranet, an ex

Characteristics, uses, advantages and disadvantages of using the internet including the differences between the internet, an intranet, an extranet and the World Wide Web (WWW), blog, forum, wiki, social networking Functionality including Internet Service Provider (ISP), structure of a web address, Uniform Resource Locator (URL), hyperlink, web browser
Use of search engine including speed of searching, amount of information, the speed of finding relevant information, ease of finding reliable information Evaluating the information found on the internet including how up to date, reliable, biased and valid this information is Internet protocols including HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), HyperText Transfer Protocol secure variant (HTTPS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Risks of using the internet including inappropriate and criminal material, restricting data through parental, educational and ISP control

4 0417.10.2.02 — Use of search engine including speed of searching, amount of information, the speed of finding relevant information, ease of finding reliabl

Use of search engine including speed of searching, amount of information, the speed of finding relevant information, ease of finding reliable information Evaluating the information found on the internet including how up to date, reliable, biased and valid this information is Internet protocols including HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), HyperText Transfer Protocol secure variant (HTTPS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Risks of using the internet including inappropriate and criminal material, restricting data through parental, educational and ISP control

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