Practice Paper 2023 - GCSE (9–1) Computer Science J277/02 - Computational thinking, algorithms and programming

Q: What topics are assessed in this practice paper?

It assesses computational thinking, algorithms and programming, including operators, algorithm tracing, searching/counting in arrays, and sorting with insertion sort. It also includes understanding high-level languages and IDE translator roles.

Q: How are marks allocated and how much time is suggested?

The total mark is 80, with marks for each question shown in brackets. Guidance suggests about 50 minutes for Section A and about 40 minutes for Section B.

Q: What is included under Section A?

Section A contains questions on identifying comparison vs arithmetic operators, finding outputs of algorithms, searching an array and refining it to count word occurrences, and explaining insertion sort’s two-section diagram plus its sorting steps.

Sep 5, 2026

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Practice questions for GCSE (9–1) Computer Science focusing on computational thinking, algorithms, and programming. The paper covers operator identification, interpreting algorithm output, array searching and counting occurrences, and insertion sort with analysis of partially sorted data. It also tests completion of computational thinking definitions using key terms such as decomposition, abstraction, algorithmic evaluation, and pseudocode, alongside advantages of high-level languages and compiler versus interpreter behaviour. Total marks: 80.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Instructions and information

Section A

Section B

Question 1

Operator classification

Question 2

Algorithm output

Question 3

Searching and insertion sort

Question 4

Computational thinking completion

Question 5

High-level vs low-level languages and IDE components

Practice Paper 2023 GCSE (9–1) Computer Science J277/02 Computational thinking, algorithms and programming Time allowed: 1 hour 30 minutes Do not use: • a calculator | Please write clearly in black ink. Do not write in the barcodes. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Centre number | | Candidate number | | | First name(s) Last name | | | | INSTRUCTIONS • Use black ink. • Write your answer to each question in the space provided. If you need extra space use the lined pages at the end of this booklet. The question numbers must be clearly shown. • Answer all the questions. INFORMATION • The total mark for this paper is 80. • The marks for each question are shown in brackets [] . • This document has 24 pages. ADVICE • Read each question carefully before you start to answer. • We advise you to spend approximately 50 minutes on Section A and approximately 40 minutes on Section B. © OCR 2023 OCR is an exempt Charity Turn over THIS PAGE IS BLANK PLEASE DO NOT WRITE ON THIS PAGE SECTION A We advise you to spend approximately 50 minutes on Section A. 1 Tick (✓) one box in each row to identify if each operator is a comparison operator or an arithmetic operator. | Operator | Comparison | Arithmetic | | --- | --- | --- | | == | | | | + | | | | DIV | | | | > | | | 2 Give the output of each algorithm. (a) temp = 7 if temp < 10 then print(temp) endif (b) value = 3 value = value - 1 print(value * 2) (c) scores = [3, 6, 6, 9, 2, 8] number = scores[2] print(number) [4] [1] [1] [1] (d) day = "Monday" x = day.length print(x) [1] 3 An array stores a collection of words. The array has the identifier data. data = [ "or", "and", "it", "when", "and", "or", "and", "it"] A searching algorithm is used to find a word in the array data. The algorithm used to search fora word is shown. word = input("Enter a word to find") found = False for i = 0 to 7 if data [i] == word then found = True endif next i print(found) (a) State the name of this searching algorithm. [1] (b) Some words appear in the array more than once. Refine the algorithm to: • count the number of times a word appears in the array • output this number. For example, the algorithm should output 3 if the input is "and". . ..….……………………………………………………………………………………. ..…………………. . . ..….……………………………………………………………………………………. ..…………………. . . ..….……………………………………………………………………………………. ..…………………. . . ..….……………………………………………………………………………………. ..…………………. . . ..….……………………………………………………………………………………. ..…………………. . . ..….……………………………………………………………………………………. ..…………………. . . ..….……………………………………………………………………………………. ..…………………. . . ..….……………………………………………………………………………………. ..…………………. . . ..….……………………………………………………………………………………. ..…………………. . . ..….……………………………………………………………………………………. ..…………………. . . ..….……………………………………………………………………………………. ..…………………. . ...….……………………………………………………………………………………...………………….. ...….……………………..………………………..…..………………………………………...………. [4] (c) An insertion sort is used to put the array with the identifier data into alphabetical order. The diagram shows the array when the insertion sort is almost complete. | and | and | and | it | or | when | or | it | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | Section A Section B (i) Explain why the array is shown with two sections. .... ...…. .….……………….….………………………………………………………………………………. .…...……. .... .………….…………………………………………………………………………..………… ........…..….….………….…………………………………………………………………………………… ..……........….…………….…………………………………………………………………………..…. [2] (ii) Describe the steps an insertion sort takes to complete sorting the array data . ………………….…….…………….….………………………………………………………………..…… ………………….…….…………….….………………………………………………………………..…… ………………….…….…………….….………………………………………………………………..…… ………………….…….…………….….………………………………………………………………..…… ………………….…….…………….….………………………………………………………………..…… …………………….….………………….……………………….…………………………

FAQs

What topics are assessed in this practice paper?

It assesses computational thinking, algorithms and programming, including operators, algorithm tracing, searching/counting in arrays, and sorting with insertion sort. It also includes understanding high-level languages and IDE translator roles.

How are marks allocated and how much time is suggested?

The total mark is 80, with marks for each question shown in brackets. Guidance suggests about 50 minutes for Section A and about 40 minutes for Section B.

What is included under Section A?

Section A contains questions on identifying comparison vs arithmetic operators, finding outputs of algorithms, searching an array and refining it to count word occurrences, and explaining insertion sort’s two-section diagram plus its sorting steps.

Sep 5, 2026

Upload by Quinn