Databases, tables and keys
A database is an organised store of related data, kept in tables so it can be searched, sorted and updated quickly. Each row is a record; each column is a field. Paper 1 often asks for the field that uniquely identifies each record: the primary key.
By the end of this page you can
- Explain what a database is and what it is for
- Name the table, record and field in a database
- Tell primary, candidate, composite, secondary and foreign keys apart
- Explain how two tables are linked
Goals tick themselves off as you try the activities below.
Photo: Shyamal L., CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped, resized, JPEG q72.
A card index is a database on paper: one card per book is one record.
How often it shows up in past papers
All papers13 of 14 papers
Last 54 of 5 · 2019–2025
Paper 1 counts come from our past-paper bank of CSEC Information Technology Paper 1s. The last-5 row shows how often it came up in the five most recent papers.
Inside this topic
- Tables and recordsLocked
- Five keysLocked
- Key termsLocked
- Test yourselfmarkedLocked
- Practise for real · 3 past questionsLocked