Where the marks sit
The externally examined half of A2 Digital Technology is a single paper, Assessment Unit A2 1: Information Systems (ADT11), 150 marks in 150 minutes. The other A2 unit, Application Development, is an internally assessed case study rather than a written exam, so it is not part of this breakdown. Within A2 1, Networks is the single largest content area in recent papers, ahead of Databases, with Expert systems and Legislation next and Robotics, Artificial intelligence, Mobile technologies and Cloud computing making up smaller shares.
Paper structure and timing
All six questions are compulsory, and at 150 marks in 150 minutes you have almost exactly one minute per mark, so timing a question against its mark allocation is a reliable guide. The paper mixes short technical definitions, multi-part descriptive and explanatory questions, practical database design and SQL coding, and four 6 mark QWC evaluation questions, roughly a sixth of the paper's marks. No calculating aid of any kind is permitted, so any arithmetic, converting a data rate or checking a subnet figure, has to be done by hand.
The techniques worth the most practice
Database normalisation questions want the notation as much as the structure. Underline primary keys and mark foreign keys clearly at every stage, 1NF, 2NF and 3NF, and never leave an intermediate table without them. When a relationship resolves to many-to-many in an ER diagram, introduce an associative entity to break it into two one-to-many relationships rather than drawing the many-to-many link directly.
SQL questions are graded on exact syntax. Text literals need quotation marks, an UPDATE statement uses SET rather than the VALUES syntax that belongs to INSERT INTO, and a DELETE statement needs a WHERE clause or it deletes every row in the table. Write the clause structure out in full rather than shortcutting it from memory.
For network hardware and protocols, a vague description costs marks that a precise one would keep. A repeater does not just "boost a signal", it amplifies and regenerates it to counter attenuation over distance. CRC error detection is not just "a check", it divides the data by a fixed polynomial to generate a remainder as a checksum, which is recalculated at the destination and compared. Learn the mechanism, not just the name.
CCEA conventions to know
The four QWC questions on this paper are marked on a three tier banded scheme, and every one of them asks for a comparison or an evaluation, not a one-sided description. If a question asks about cloud storage, cover the security drawbacks as well as the convenience; if it asks about a network topology, cover the failure modes as well as the advantages. An answer that only argues one side is capped in the middle band no matter how detailed it is.
A2 papers include synoptic assessment, meaning questions can expect you to draw on AS content as well as A2 content and to make connections across the specification rather than treating each topic in isolation. A networks question might expect you to bring in data representation ideas from AS, so do not revise A2 topics as though AS content is behind you.
Exam day plan
Read all six questions before you start writing, since the paper is compulsory and there is no choice to make, only a running order. Do the SQL and normalisation questions while your hand is steady and your attention is sharpest, since these are marked on precise syntax and notation. Leave real time for the QWC questions and write both sides of each argument before you develop either one in detail.