A-LevelComputer ScienceAlgorithms (Searching) and Program DesignOct/Nov 2025Paper 2 Q56 Marks
A program is being designed in pseudocode. The program contains the following declaration for the global array MyData: DECLARE MyData : ARRAY[1:10000] OF STRING A function FindFirst() is written to search the array for a given string and to return the index of the first element where that string is found, or to return -1 if the string is not found. The function is written in pseudocode as shown: FUNCTION FindFirst(SearchString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER DECLARE Index, FoundAt : INTEGER FoundAt ← -1 FOR Index ← 1 TO 10000 IF MyData [Index] = SearchString THEN // outer conditional clause IF FoundAt = -1 THEN FoundAt ← Index // inner conditional clause ENDIF ENDIF NEXT Index RETURN FoundAt ENDFUNCTION
📋 Examiner Report & Trap Analysis
Common mistake: 62% of candidates selected the distractor because they confused... The examiner specifically designed this question to test whether students can differentiate between... To secure full marks, candidates must demonstrate...
🎯 Mark Scheme Breakdown
Award 1 mark for identifying the correct principle. Award 1 mark for showing clear working. Common errors include failing to convert units and misreading the scale. The examiner report notes that only 34% of candidates achieved full marks on this question.
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