Programming Exam Practice

This lesson provides comprehensive exam practice for the Programming Fundamentals topic, covering the key content from OCR J277 Section 2.3 that appears on Paper 2: Computational Thinking, Algorithms and Programming. This lesson brings together all programming concepts: variables, data types, operators, selection, iteration, arrays, strings, subroutines, and file handling.

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What to Expect on Paper 2

Paper 2 is worth 80 marks and lasts 1 hour 30 minutes. Programming fundamentals typically accounts for 25–35 marks. Questions will use OCR pseudocode and/or Python.

Question Type	Typical Marks	What You Need to Do
Identify data type	1 mark	Name the data type of a given value
Explain a keyword	1–2 marks	Define a programming term
Read and interpret code	2–4 marks	State the output of given code
Complete/fix code	3–5 marks	Fill in blanks or correct errors
Write a program	4–8 marks	Write a complete solution from a description
Explain benefits	2–3 marks	Justify a programming choice

OCR Exam Tip: You may answer Paper 2 questions using either OCR pseudocode or Python. Be consistent — do not mix them within a single answer. If you are stronger in Python, use Python throughout.

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Practice Question 1: Data Types (2 marks)

Question: State the most appropriate data type for each of the following: (a) The number of students in a class (b) Whether a light switch is on or off

Model Answer: (a) Integer — the number of students is always a whole number. (b) Boolean — there are only two possible states: true (on) or false (off).

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Practice Question 2: DIV and MOD (3 marks)

Question: What are the values of the following expressions? (a) 27 DIV 5 (b) 27 MOD 5 (c) 100 MOD 7

Model Answer: (a) 27 DIV 5 = 5 (27 divided by 5 is 5 remainder 2; DIV gives the quotient) (b) 27 MOD 5 = 2 (27 divided by 5 is 5 remainder 2; MOD gives the remainder) (c) 100 MOD 7 = 2 (100 = 7 × 14 + 2; the remainder is 2)

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Practice Question 3: Trace Table (4 marks)

Question: Complete a trace table for the following pseudocode:

x = 10
y = 3
while x > 0
    x = x - y
    y = y + 1
endwhile
print(x)

Model Answer:

Step	x	y	x > 0?
Init	10	3	true
1	7	4	true
2	3	5	true
3	-2	6	false

Output: -2

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Practice Question 4: String Manipulation (4 marks)

Question: What is the output of the following code?

word = "COMPUTING"
x = word.length
y = word.substring(0, 4)
z = word.substring(4, x)
print(y.lower + " " + z)

Model Answer:

• x = 9 (length of "COMPUTING")
• y = "COMP" (characters at indices 0, 1, 2, 3)
• z = "UTING" (characters at indices 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
• y.lower = "comp"
• Output: "comp UTING"

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Practice Question 5: Write a Function (5 marks)

Question: Write a function called isEven that takes an integer as a parameter and returns true if the number is even, or false if it is odd.

OCR Pseudocode:

function isEven(number)
    if number MOD 2 == 0 then
        return true
    else
        return false
    endif
endfunction

Python:

def is_even(number):
    if number % 2 == 0:
        return True
    else:
        return False

The decision flow for this function can be visualised as a simple validation flowchart:

flowchart TD
    A([Start: isEven called with number]) --> B[Compute number MOD 2]
    B --> C{Result == 0?}
    C -->|Yes| D[return true]
    C -->|No| E[return false]
    D --> F([End])
    E --> F

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Practice Question 6: Arrays and Loops (5 marks)

Question: Write a program that stores 5 names in an array, then asks the user for a name and searches for it using a linear search. Display whether the name was found and at which index.

OCR Pseudocode:

names = ["Ali", "Beth", "Cara", "Dan", "Eve"]
target = input("Enter a name to search for: ")
found = false

for i = 0 to names.length - 1
    if names[i] == target then
        print("Found at index " + str(i))
        found = true
    endif
next i

if found == false then
    print("Name not found")
endif

Python:

names = ["Ali", "Beth", "Cara", "Dan", "Eve"]
target = input("Enter a name to search for: ")
found = False

for i in range(len(names)):
    if names[i] == target:
        print(f"Found at index {i}")
        found = True

if not found:
    print("Name not found")

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Practice Question 7: File Handling (5 marks)

Question: Write pseudocode that reads all lines from a file called "scores.txt", where each line contains a number. Calculate and display the total and average of all scores.

OCR Pseudocode:

myFile = openRead("scores.txt")
total = 0
count = 0

while NOT myFile.endOfFile()
    line = myFile.readLine()
    score = int(line)
    total = total + score
    count = count + 1
endwhile

myFile.close()

if count > 0 then
    average = total / count
    print("Total: " + str(total))
    print("Average: " + str(average))
else
    print("No scores found")
endif

Python:

total = 0
count = 0

with open("scores.txt", "r") as my_file:
    for line in my_file:
        score = int(line.strip())
        total += score
        count += 1

if count > 0:
    average = total / count
    print(f"Total: {total}")
    print(f"Average: {average}")
else:
    print("No scores found")

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Practice Question 8: Subroutines (6 marks)

Question: A school needs a program to calculate student grades. Write: (a) A function that takes a mark (0–100) and returns the grade (A: 70+, B: 60–69, C: 50–59, U: below 50). (b) A procedure that takes a student name and mark, uses the function, and displays the result.

OCR Pseudocode:

function getGrade(mark)
    if mark >= 70 then
        return "A"
    elseif mark >= 60 then
        return "B"
    elseif mark >= 50 then
        return "C"
    else
        return "U"
    endif
endfunction