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GCSE
COMPUTER SCIENCE
Paper 1 Computational thinking and programming skills – VB.NET

Friday 19 May 2023 Afternoon Time allowed: 2 hours

Materials
• There are no additional materials required for this paper. For Examiner’s Use
• You must not use a calculator.
Question Mark
Instructions 1
• Use black ink or black ball-point pen. Use pencil only for drawing.
2–3
• Answer all questions.
• You must answer the questions in the spaces provided. 4–5
• If you need extra space for your answer(s), use the lined pages at the end of 6–7
this book. Write the question number against your answer(s).
• Do all rough work in this book. Cross through any work you do not want 8–9
to be marked. 10–11
• Questions that require a coded solution must be answered in VB.NET. 12
• You should assume that all indexing in code starts at 0 unless stated otherwise.
13–14
15
Information
The total number of marks available for this paper is 90. 16

TOTAL
Advice
For the multiple-choice questions, completely fill in the lozenge alongside the appropriate answer.
CORRECT METHOD WRONG METHODS

If you want to change your answer you must cross out your original answer as shown.
If you wish to return to an answer previously crossed out, ring the answer you now wish to select as
shown.

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Answer all questions. box

0 1 Figure 1 shows an algorithm, represented using pseudo-code, which assigns a

different value to four variables.

Figure 1

country  'United States of America'

state  'California'
city  'San Francisco'
landmark  'Alcatraz Island'

0 1 . 1 Define the term algorithm.

[2 marks]

0 1 . 2 The variable x is assigned a value using the statement:

x  LEN(state)

Using Figure 1, what is the value of x?

Shade one lozenge.

[1 mark]

A 1

B 5

C 10

D 12

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0 1 . 3 What is the result of concatenating the contents of the variables city and box

landmark in Figure 1?

Shade one lozenge.

[1 mark]

A San Francisco Alcatraz Island

B San Francisco,Alcatraz Island

C San Francisco, Alcatraz Island

D San FranciscoAlcatraz Island

0 1 . 4 The subroutine SUBSTRING extracts characters from a given string.

For example, SUBSTRING(3, 5, 'Computing') would return put

The variable y is assigned a value using the statement:

y  SUBSTRING(4, 7, landmark)

Using Figure 1, what is the value of y?

Shade one lozenge.

[1 mark]

A Alca

B Atra

C land

D traz

Question 1 continues on the next page

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Figure 1 has been included again below. box

Figure 1

country  'United States of America'

state  'California'
city  'San Francisco'
landmark  'Alcatraz Island'

0 1 . 5 The subroutine POSITION finds the first position of a character in a string.

For example, POSITION('Computing', 'p') would return 3

The variable z is assigned a value using the statement:

z  POSITION(landmark, 't')

Using Figure 1, what value is assigned to z?

Shade one lozenge.

[1 mark]

A –1

B 3

C 4

D 5 6

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ANSWER IN THE SPACES PROVIDED

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0 2 Figure 2 shows an algorithm that uses integer division which has been represented box

using pseudo-code.

• Line numbers are included but are not part of the algorithm.

Figure 2

1 again  True
2 WHILE again = True
3 a  USERINPUT
4 IF a > 0 THEN
5 counter  0
6 WHILE a > 0
7 a  a DIV 3
8 counter  counter + 1
9 ENDWHILE
10 ELSE
11 again  False
12 ENDIF
13 OUTPUT a
14 ENDWHILE

Integer division is the number of times one integer divides into another, with the
remainder ignored.

For example:
• 14 DIV 5 evaluates to 2
• 25 DIV 3 evaluates to 8

0 2 . 1 Where is iteration first used in the algorithm in Figure 2?

Shade one lozenge.

[1 mark]

A Line number 2

B Line number 4

C Line number 6

D Line number 11

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0 2 . 2 In the algorithm in Figure 2, what will be output when the user input is 10? box

Shade one lozenge.

[1 mark]

A 0

B 1

C 2

D 4

0 2 . 3 In the algorithm in Figure 2, what is the largest possible value of the variable
counter when the user input is 36?

Shade one lozenge.

[1 mark]

A 0

B 2

C 4

D 5

0 3 Explain one advantage of the structured approach to programming.

[2 marks]

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0 4 Figure 3 shows a program written in VB.NET that calculates the area of a rectangle or box

the volume of a box from the user inputs.

Figure 3

Function calculate(width As Integer, length As Integer,

height As Integer) As Integer
If height = -1 Then
Return width * length
Else
Return width * length * height
End If
End Function

Sub Main()
Dim numOne, numTwo, numThree, answer As Integer
Console.Write("Enter width: ")
numOne = Console.ReadLine()
Console.Write("Enter length: ")
numTwo = Console.ReadLine()
Console.Write("Enter height, -1 to ignore:")
numThree = Console.ReadLine()

answer = calculate(numOne, numTwo, numThree)

If numThree = -1 Then
Console.WriteLine($"Area {answer}")
Else
Console.WriteLine($"Volume {answer}")
End If
End Sub

0 4 . 1 Complete the trace table using the program in Figure 3.

[3 marks]

numOne numTwo numThree Final output

5 6 –1

10 4 0

3 5 10

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0 4 . 2 Describe one way that the program in Figure 3 could be made more robust. box

[1 mark]

Turn over for the next question

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0 5 Figure 4 shows an algorithm presented as a flowchart. box

Figure 4

Complete the trace table for the algorithm in Figure 4.

You may not need to use all the rows in the table.
[3 marks]

a b c

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ANSWER IN THE SPACES PROVIDED

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0 6 Figure 5 shows an algorithm represented using pseudo-code. box

The algorithm is for a simple authentication routine.

The pseudo-code uses a subroutine getPassword to check a username:

• If the username exists, the subroutine returns the password stored for that user.
• If the username does not exist, the subroutine returns an empty string.

Parts of the algorithm are missing and have been replaced with the labels to .

Figure 5

login  False
REPEAT
username  ''
WHILE username = ''
OUTPUT 'Enter username: '
username 
ENDWHILE
password  ''
WHILE password = ''
OUTPUT 'Enter password: '
password  USERINPUT
ENDWHILE
storedPassword  getPassword( )
IF storedPassword = THEN
OUTPUT ' '
ELSE
IF password = storedPassword THEN
login  True
ELSE
OUTPUT 'Try again.'
ENDIF
ENDIF
UNTIL login = True
OUTPUT 'You are now logged in.'

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Figure 6

-1 OUTPUT 0

username True SUBROUTINE

1 User not found ''

USERINPUT password Wrong password

State the items from Figure 6 that should be written in place of the labels in the
algorithm in Figure 5.

You will not need to use all the items in Figure 6.

[4 marks]

Turn over for the next question

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0 7 A theme park charges £15 per person for a daily ticket. If there are six or more box

people in a group, the group is given a £5 discount.

Write a VB.NET program to calculate the total charge for a group of people visiting the
theme park.

The program must:

• get the user to enter the number of people in a group
• calculate the total charge by:
o charging £15 per person
o reducing the total charge by £5 if there are six or more people
• output the total charge.

You should use meaningful variable name(s) and VB.NET syntax in your answer.

The answer grid below contains vertical lines to help you indent your code.
[6 marks]

10

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0 8 Figure 7 shows a merge sort being carried out on a list. box

Figure 7

Explain how the merge sort algorithm works.

[4 marks]

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0 9 Figure 8 shows an algorithm, written using pseudo-code, that uses a RECORD data box

structure for storing information about a film.

Each record stores four pieces of information about a film:

• film title
• certificate (eg 12A, PG)
• year the film was made
• if the film is currently being shown at a cinema.

There are records for three films and these films are stored alphabetically in an array
called filmCollection.

The pseudo-code outputs the title of the newest of the three films.

• Part of the algorithm has been replaced by the label .

Figure 8

RECORD Film
title : String
certificate : String
year : Integer
beingShown : Boolean
ENDRECORD

hulk  Film('Hulk', '12A', 2005, False)

ironMan  Film('Iron Man', '12A', 2008, False)
antMan  Film('Ant-Man', '12A', 2015, False)
filmCollection  [antMan, hulk, ironMan]
year  0
position  0

FOR i  0 TO
IF filmCollection[i].year > year THEN
year  filmCollection[i].year
position  i
ENDIF
ENDFOR

OUTPUT filmCollection[position].title, ' is the

newest film'

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0 9 . 1 How many different values can the field beingShown have? box

Shade one lozenge.

[1 mark]
A 2

B 3

C 128

D 256

0 9 . 2 Which assignment statement changes the year the film Hulk was made to 2003?

Shade one lozenge.

[1 mark]
A hulk.year  2003

B filmCollection[0].year  2003

C Film(year)  2003

D hulk(year)  2003

0 9 . 3 What should the label in Figure 8 be replaced by?

Shade one lozenge.

[1 mark]
A 3

B LEN(filmCollection)

C LEN(filmCollection) – 1

D Position

0 9 . 4 Write a pseudo-code statement that updates the antMan record to show that the film
is currently being shown at the cinema.
[1 mark]
8

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1 0 Figure 9 shows an algorithm, represented in pseudo-code, used to display students’ box

test scores. The algorithm does not work as expected and the teacher wants to find
the error.

The algorithm should display three test scores for each student:
• Natalie has results of 78, 81 and 72
• Alex has results of 27, 51 and 54
• Roshana has results of 52, 55 and 59.

• Line numbers are included but are not part of the algorithm.

Figure 9

1 names  ['Natalie', 'Alex', 'Roshana']

2 scores  [78, 81, 72, 27, 51, 54, 52, 55, 59]
3 count  0
4 FOR i  0 TO 2
5 person  names[i]
6 OUTPUT 'Student: ', person
7 FOR j  0 TO 1
8 OUTPUT j + 1
9 result  scores[i * 3 + j]
10 OUTPUT result
11 count  count + 1
12 ENDFOR
13 ENDFOR

1 0 . 1 Complete the trace table for the algorithm shown in Figure 9.

You may not need to use all the rows in the table.
[5 marks]

count i person j result

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1 0 . 2 How could the error in the algorithm in Figure 9 be corrected? box

Shade one lozenge.

[1 mark]

A Change line number 3 to: count  -1

B Change line number 4 to: FOR i  1 TO 4

C Change line number 7 to: FOR j  0 TO 2

D Change line number 9 to: result  scores[j * 3 + i]

Turn over for the next question

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1 1 Figure 10 shows part of an algorithm that has been written in pseudo-code. box

There is an error in the algorithm.

The algorithm should:

• get the start year and end year from the user
• check that the start year is before the end year
• check that the start year is before 2000
• calculate the difference between the two years after a valid start year has been
entered.

• Line numbers are included but are not part of the algorithm.

Figure 10

1 validChoice  False
2 REPEAT
3 difference  –1
4 OUTPUT 'Enter a start year '
5 startYear  USERINPUT
6 OUTPUT 'Enter an end year '
7 endYear  USERINPUT
8 IF startYear ≥ endYear THEN
9 OUTPUT 'Start year must be before end year'
10 ELSE
11 IF startYear < 2000 THEN
12 OUTPUT 'Start year must be before 2000'
13 ELSE
14 validChoice  True
15 ENDIF
16 ENDIF
17 UNTIL validChoice = True
18 difference  endYear - startYear
19 OUTPUT difference

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1 1 . 1 Table 1 shows three tests used to check the algorithm in Figure 10. box

Complete the table to show what the values of the validChoice and
difference variables would be for the given test data.
[4 marks]

Table 1

Test type Test data validChoice difference

startYear 1995
Normal
endYear 2010

startYear 2015
Erroneous
endYear 2000

startYear 2000
Boundary
endYear 2023

1 1 . 2 The algorithm in Figure 10 contains a logic error on line 11.

Describe how the error on line 11 can be corrected.

[1 mark]

11

Turn over for the next question

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1 2 . 1 Figure 11 shows a binary search algorithm that has been programmed in VB.NET. box

Figure 11

Dim animals As string() = {"cat", "dog", "hippo",

"llama", "ox", "rat", "tiger", "wolf"}
Console.Write("What animal would you like to find? ")
Dim animalToFind As string = Console.ReadLine()
Dim validAnimal As Boolean = False
Dim start As Integer = 0
Dim finish As Integer = animals.Length - 1
While validAnimal = False And start <= finish
Dim mid As Integer = (start + finish) \ 2
If animals(mid) = animalToFind Then
validAnimal = True
ElseIf animalToFind > animals(mid) Then
start = mid + 1
Else
finish = mid - 1
End If
End While
Console.WriteLine(validAnimal)

Complete the trace table for the program in Figure 11 if the user input is wolf

Part of the table has already been filled in.

You may not need to use all the rows in the table.
[4 marks]

animalToFind validAnimal start finish mid

wolf False 0 7 3

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1 2 . 2 Figure 12 shows a line of VB.NET code that creates an array of fruit names. box

Figure 12

Dim fruits() As String = {"banana", "apple", "orange",

"pear", "grape", "pineapple"}

Extend the program in Figure 12. Your answer must be written in VB.NET.

The program should get the user to enter a word and perform a linear search on the
array fruits to find if the word is in the array or not.

The program should:

• ask the user what word they would like to find
• output the message True if the word is found
• output the message False if the word is not found.

You must write your own linear search routine and not use any built-in search
function available in VB.NET.

You should use meaningful variable name(s) and VB.NET syntax in your answer.

The answer grid below contains vertical lines to help you indent your code.
[7 marks]

Dim fruits() As String = {"banana", "apple", "orange",

"pear", "grape", "pineapple"}

Question 12 continues on the next page

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1 2 . 3 State why a binary search cannot be used on the array fruits

[1 mark]

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1 2 . 4 Figure 13 shows an algorithm, represented using pseudo-code, that should display box

currency names in reverse alphabetical order, starting with yen.

There are errors in the logic of the algorithm.

• Line numbers are included but are not part of the algorithm.

Figure 13

1 SUBROUTINE diffCurrencies(currencies)
currencies  ['baht', 'dollar', 'euro',
2 'koruna', 'lira', 'rand',
'rupee', 'yen']
3 RETURN currencies[x]
4 ENDSUBROUTINE
5
6 FOR i  8 TO 0 STEP 1
7 OUTPUT(diffCurrencies(i))
8 ENDFOR

Rewrite line 1 and line 6 from Figure 13 to make the algorithm work as intended.
[3 marks]

Line 1

Line 6
15

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1 3 A programmer is writing a game. The game uses a 3 x 3 grid containing nine box

squares.

Figure 14

A B C

3 X

In the game, a square on the grid is referred to by a letter and a number.

For example, square C3 in Figure 14 contains an X.

Figure 15 shows part of a VB.NET program that checks the grid reference entered by
a player.
The grid reference is valid if:
• there are exactly two characters
• the first character entered is A, B or C
• the second character entered is 1, 2 or 3.

Figure 15

Dim check As Boolean = False

While check = False
Dim square As String = ""
While square.Length <> 2
Console.Write("Enter grid reference (eg C2): ")
square = Console.ReadLine()
square = square.ToUpper()
End While

The VB.NET function ToUpper()converts letters into uppercase, eg b1 would be

converted to B1

Extend the program from Figure 15 so it completes the other checks needed to make
sure a valid grid reference is entered.

Your extended program must:

• use the variable check
• repeat the following steps until a valid grid reference is entered:
o get the user to enter a grid reference
o output an appropriate message if the grid reference entered is not valid.

You should use meaningful variable name(s) and VB.NET syntax in your answer.

The answer grid contains vertical lines to help you indent your code.
[6 marks]

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Dim check As Integer = False

While check = False

Dim square As String = ""

While square.Length <> 2

Console.Write("Enter grid reference (eg C2): ")

square = Console.ReadLine()

square = square.ToUpper()

End While

End While

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1 4 50 students have voted for the music genre they like best. box

Figure 16 shows an incomplete algorithm, represented using pseudo-code,

designed to output the highest or lowest results of the vote.

The programmer has used a two-dimensional array called results to store the
genre and the number of votes for each genre.

Parts of the algorithm are missing and have been replaced with the labels to .

Figure 16

SUBROUTINE showResults(method, numberOfGenres)

results  [['Pop', 'Post-Punk', 'Techno', 'Metal',
'Dance'], ['7', '19', '14', '1', '9']]
pos  0
high  -1
IF method = 'HIGHEST' THEN
FOR i  0 TO numberOfGenres - 1
Votes  STRING_TO_INT(results[ ][i])
IF votes > high THEN
high  votes
pos 
ENDIF
ENDFOR
ELSE
OUTPUT 'not yet working'
ENDIF
IF high ≠ -1 THEN
OUTPUT results[0][pos], ' with ', results[1][pos]
ENDIF
ENDSUBROUTINE

OUTPUT 'Show the genre with the HIGHEST or LOWEST number

of votes? '
method  USERINPUT
showResults( , 5)

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State what should be written in place of the labels to in the algorithm in box
Figure 16.
[3 marks]

Turn over for the next question

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1 5 A group of people have a meal in a restaurant. Instead of one person paying for the box

whole meal, each person will pay for what they eat.

Write a VB.NET program that asks each person in the group how much they are
paying towards the meal and works out when the bill is fully paid. Each person can
pay a different amount.

The program should:

• get the user to enter the total amount of the bill
• get a person to enter how much they are paying towards the bill
• subtract the amount entered from the bill:
o if the amount left to pay is more than 0, output how much is left to pay and
repeat until the amount left to pay is 0 or less
o if the amount left to pay is 0, then output the message Bill paid
o if the amount left to pay is less than 0, then output the message Tip is and
the difference between the amount left to pay and 0

You should use meaningful variable name(s) and VB.NET syntax in your answer.

The answer grid below contains vertical lines to help you indent your code.
[8 marks]

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1 6 Question 16 is about a dice game played against a computer. box

The aim of the game is to get as close to a score of 21 as you can, without going over
21. If your score goes over 21 then you lose.

The player’s score starts at 0.

For each turn:

• two dice (each numbered from 1 to 6) are rolled

• the total of the two dice rolls is added to the player’s score
• the value of each dice and the player’s new total score is output
• if the current score is less than 21, the player is asked if they would like to roll the
dice again: if the player says yes, they get another turn; otherwise, the game ends.

At the end of the game, the program should work as follows:

• if the final score is 21, output a message to say the player has won
• if the final score is greater than 21, output a message to say the player has lost
• if the final score is less than 21, the program generates a random number between
15 and 21 inclusive:
o if this random number is greater than the player’s final score, output a message
to say the player has lost
o otherwise, output a message to say the player has won.

Figure 17 shows the output of a program that plays this dice game.

Figure 17

Roll 1: 1
Roll 2: 4
Current score: 5
Would you like to roll again? yes

Roll 1: 1
Roll 2: 6
Current score: 12
Would you like to roll again? yes

Roll 1: 1
Roll 2: 2
Current score: 15
Would you like to roll again? yes

Roll 1: 6
Roll 2: 1
Current score: 22
You lost!

Write a VB.NET program to simulate this game.

The first line has been written for you in the answer grid.

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The dice rolls are carried out by the program generating random numbers between 1 box
and 6. You will need to use the VB.NET function r.Next(a, b) which generates a
random integer in the range a to b starting at a but finishing one before b.

You should use meaningful variable name(s) and VB.NET syntax in your answer.

The answer grid below contains vertical lines to help you indent your code.
[11 marks]
Dim r As Random = New Random()

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11

END OF QUESTIONS

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Question Additional page, if required.
number Write the question numbers in the left-hand margin.

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number Write the question numbers in the left-hand margin.

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Question Additional page, if required.
number Write the question numbers in the left-hand margin.

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number Write the question numbers in the left-hand margin.

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