OCR GCSE Computer Science Complete Practice Exam 2026

The step of the instruction cycle that involves breaking down and interpreting the instruction for the computer to understand is the decode phase. During this phase, the control unit takes the instruction fetched from memory and translates it into a form that the CPU can process. This often includes determining the operation to be performed and identifying the operands involved.

In this context, decoding is crucial because it transforms the raw binary code of the instruction into a specific command or action that the CPU can execute. Without this step, the computer would not be able to understand what the instruction is asking it to do.

In contrast, the fetch stage is responsible for retrieving the instruction from memory, while the execute phase involves carrying out the decoded instruction. The store step typically involves writing data back into memory after it has been processed. Each of these stages plays a distinct role in the overall instruction cycle, but decode is specifically focused on interpretation and understanding, making it the correct answer.