GCSE
COMPUTERSCIENCE c
8525/1A, 8525/1B,8525/1C
c c
Paper 1 Computational thinking and programming skills
c c c c c c
Mark scheme
c
June 2022
c
Version:c1.0cFinal
*226G 525/1/MS*
, MARKcSCHEMEc–cGCSEcCOMPUTERcSCIENCEc–c8525/1c–cJUNEc2022
MarkcschemescarecpreparedcbycthecLeadcAssessmentcWritercandcconsidered,ctogethercwithcthecrelevantcqu
estions,cbycacpanelcofcsubjectcteachers.cThiscmarkcschemecincludescanycamendmentscmadecatcthecstanda
rdisationceventscwhichcallcassociatescparticipatecincandciscthecschemecwhichcwascusedcbycthemcincthiscexam
ination.cThecstandardisationcprocesscensurescthatcthecmarkcschemeccoverscthecstudents’cresponsesctocqu
estionscandcthatceverycassociatecunderstandscandcappliescitcincthecsameccorrectcway.
Ascpreparationcforcstandardisationceachcassociatecanalysescacnumbercofcstudents’cscripts.cAlternativeca
nswerscnotcalreadyccoveredcbycthecmarkcschemecarecdiscussedcandclegislatedcfor.cIf,caftercthecstandard
isationcprocess,cassociatescencountercunusualcanswerscwhichchavecnotcbeencraisedctheycarecrequiredct
ocrefercthesectocthecLeadcExaminer.
Itcmustcbecstressedcthatcacmarkcschemeciscacworkingcdocument,cincmanyccasescfurthercdevelopedcandcexp
andedconcthecbasiscofcstudents’creactionsctocacparticularcpaper.cAssumptionscaboutcfuturecmarkcschemesc
oncthecbasiscofconecyear’scdocumentcshouldcbecavoided;cwhilstcthecguidingcprinciplescofcassessmentcrema
incconstant,cdetailscwillcchange,cdependingconctheccontentcofcacparticularcexaminationcpaper.
Furtherccopiescofcthiscmarkcschemecarecavailablecfromcaqa.org.ukc
Thecfollowingcannotationciscusedcincthecmarkcscheme:
; - meanscacsinglecmark
// - meanscalternativecresponse
/ - meanscancalternativecwordcorcsub-phrase
A -
cmeanscacceptableccreditworthycanswer.c Alsocusedctocdenotecacvalidcanswercthatcgoescbeyondc
thecexpectationscofcthecGCSEcsyllabus.
R -c meanscrejectcanswercascnotccreditworthy
NEc -c meanscnotcenough
I -c meanscignore
DPTc-
cincsomecquestionscacspecificcerrorcmadecbycaccandidate,cifcrepeated,ccouldcresultcinctheccandidat
ecfailingctocgaincmorecthanconecmark.c ThecDPTclabelcindicatescthatcthiscmistakecshouldconlycresult
cincaccandidateclosingconecmarkconcthecfirstcoccasioncthatcthecerrorciscmade.c Providedcthatcthecans
wercremainscunderstandable,csubsequentcmarkscshouldcbecawardedcascifcthecerrorcwascnotcbein
gcrepeated.
Copyrightcinformation
AQAcretainsctheccopyrightconcallcitscpublications.cHowever,cregisteredcschools/collegescforcAQAcarecpermittedctoccopycmaterialcfromcthiscbookletcforctheircownci
nternalcuse,cwithcthecfollowingcimportantcexception:cAQAccannotcgivecpermissionctocschools/collegesctocphotocopycanycmaterialcthatciscacknowledgedctocacthirdc
partycevencforcinternalcusecwithinctheccentre.
Copyrightc©c2022cAQAcandcitsclicensors.c Allcrightscreserved.
2
, MARKcSCHEMEc–cGCSEcCOMPUTERcSCIENCEc–c8525/1c–cJUNEc2022
NotectocExaminers
Incthecrealcworldcminorcsyntaxcerrorscarecoftencidentifiedcandcflaggedcbycthecdevelopmentcenvironment.cT
ocreflectcthis,callcresponsescincachigh-
levelcprogrammingclanguagecwillcassesscaccandidate’scabilityctoccreatecancanswercusingcprecisecprogram
mingccommands/instructionscbutcwillcavoidcpenalisingcthemcforcminorcerrorscincsyntax.
Whencmarkingcprogramccode,cexaminerscmustctakecaccountcofcthecdifferentcrulescbetweenctheclanguagesca
ndconlycconsiderchowcthecsyntaxcaffectsctheclogiccflowcofcthecprogram.c Ifcthecsyntaxciscnotcperfectcbutctheclo
giccflowciscunaffectedcthencthecresponsecshouldcnotcbecpenalised.
Theccasecofcallcprogramccodecwrittencbycstudentscisctocbecignoredcforcthecpurposescofcmarking.cThisciscb
ecausecitciscnotcalwayscclearcwhichccasechascbeencusedcdependingconcthecstylecandcqualitycofchandwriti
ngcused.
Examinerscmustcensurectheycfollowcthecmarkcschemecinstructionscexactly.cIfcancexaminerciscunsurecasctocw
hethercacgivencresponseciscworthycofcthecmarksctheycmustcescalatecthecquestionctoctheircteamcleader.
Level of response marking instructions
c c c c
Levelcofcresponsecmarkcschemescarecbrokencdowncintoclevels,ceachcofcwhichchascacdescriptor.cThecdescri
ptorcforctheclevelcshowscthecaveragecperformancecforctheclevel.c Therecarecmarkscinceachclevel.
Beforecyoucapplycthecmarkcschemectocacstudent’scanswercreadcthroughcthecanswercandcannotatecitc(ascinstr
ucted)ctocshowcthecqualitiescthatcarecbeingclookedcfor.c Youccancthencapplycthecmarkcscheme.
Step 1 Determine a level
c c c c
Startcatctheclowestclevelcofcthecmarkcschemecandcusecitcascacladderctocseecwhethercthecanswercmeetscthecde
scriptorcforcthatclevel.cThecdescriptorcforctheclevelcindicatescthecdifferentcqualitiescthatcmightcbecseencincthec
student’scanswercforcthatclevel.cIfcitcmeetsctheclowestclevelcthencgoctocthecnextconecandcdecidecifcitcmeetscthi
sclevel,candcsocon,cuntilcyouchavecacmatchcbetweenctheclevelcdescriptorcandcthecanswer.cWithcpracticecandc
familiaritycyoucwillcfindcthatcforcbettercanswerscyoucwillcbecablectocquicklycskipcthroughctheclowerclevelscofcth
ecmarkcscheme.
Whencassigningcaclevelcyoucshouldclookcatcthecoverallcqualitycofcthecanswercandcnotclookctocpickcholescincsm
allcandcspecificcpartscofcthecanswercwherecthecstudentchascnotcperformedcquitecascwellcascthecrest.cIfcthecans
werccoverscdifferentcaspectscofcdifferentclevelscofcthecmarkcschemecyoucshouldcusecacbestcfitcapproachcforcd
efiningctheclevelcandcthencusecthecvariabilitycofcthecresponsectochelpcdecidecthecmarkcwithinctheclevel,ciecifcthec
responseciscpredominantlyclevelc3cwithcacsmallcamountcofclevelc4cmaterialcitcwouldcbecplacedcinclevelc3cbutcb
ecawardedcacmarkcnearcthectopcofctheclevelcbecausecofctheclevelc4ccontent.
Step 2 Determine a mark
c c c c
Oncecyouchavecassignedcaclevelcyoucneedctocdecideconcthecmark.cThecdescriptorsconchowctocallocatecmarks
ccanchelpcwithcthis.cThecexemplarcmaterialscusedcduringcstandardisationcwillchelp.cTherecwillcbecancanswercin
cthecstandardisingcmaterialscwhichcwillccorrespondcwithceachclevelcof cthecmark cscheme.cThiscanswercwillcha
vecbeencawardedcacmarkcbycthecLeadcExaminer.cYouccanccomparecthecstudent’scanswercwithcthecexamplect
ocdeterminecifcitciscthecsamecstandard,cbettercorcworsecthancthecexample.c Youccancthencusecthisctocallocatecac
markcforcthecanswercbasedconcthecLeadcExaminer’scmarkconcthecexample.
3
, MARKcSCHEMEc–cGCSEcCOMPUTERcSCIENCEc–c8525/1c–cJUNEc2022
Youcmaycwellcneedctocreadcbackcthroughcthecanswercascyoucapplycthecmarkcschemectocclarifycpointscandcas
surecyourselfcthatctheclevelcandcthecmarkcarecappropriate.
Indicativeccontentcincthecmarkcschemeciscprovidedcascacguidecforcexaminers.c Itciscnotcintendedctocbecexhaus
tivecandcyoucmustccreditcothercvalidcpoints.cStudentscdocnotchavectoccovercallcofcthecpointscmentionedcincth
ecIndicativeccontentctocreachcthechighestclevelcofcthecmarkcscheme.
Ancanswercwhichccontainscnothingcofcrelevancectocthecquestioncmustcbecawardedcnocmarks.
4
COMPUTERSCIENCE c
8525/1A, 8525/1B,8525/1C
c c
Paper 1 Computational thinking and programming skills
c c c c c c
Mark scheme
c
June 2022
c
Version:c1.0cFinal
*226G 525/1/MS*
, MARKcSCHEMEc–cGCSEcCOMPUTERcSCIENCEc–c8525/1c–cJUNEc2022
MarkcschemescarecpreparedcbycthecLeadcAssessmentcWritercandcconsidered,ctogethercwithcthecrelevantcqu
estions,cbycacpanelcofcsubjectcteachers.cThiscmarkcschemecincludescanycamendmentscmadecatcthecstanda
rdisationceventscwhichcallcassociatescparticipatecincandciscthecschemecwhichcwascusedcbycthemcincthiscexam
ination.cThecstandardisationcprocesscensurescthatcthecmarkcschemeccoverscthecstudents’cresponsesctocqu
estionscandcthatceverycassociatecunderstandscandcappliescitcincthecsameccorrectcway.
Ascpreparationcforcstandardisationceachcassociatecanalysescacnumbercofcstudents’cscripts.cAlternativeca
nswerscnotcalreadyccoveredcbycthecmarkcschemecarecdiscussedcandclegislatedcfor.cIf,caftercthecstandard
isationcprocess,cassociatescencountercunusualcanswerscwhichchavecnotcbeencraisedctheycarecrequiredct
ocrefercthesectocthecLeadcExaminer.
Itcmustcbecstressedcthatcacmarkcschemeciscacworkingcdocument,cincmanyccasescfurthercdevelopedcandcexp
andedconcthecbasiscofcstudents’creactionsctocacparticularcpaper.cAssumptionscaboutcfuturecmarkcschemesc
oncthecbasiscofconecyear’scdocumentcshouldcbecavoided;cwhilstcthecguidingcprinciplescofcassessmentcrema
incconstant,cdetailscwillcchange,cdependingconctheccontentcofcacparticularcexaminationcpaper.
Furtherccopiescofcthiscmarkcschemecarecavailablecfromcaqa.org.ukc
Thecfollowingcannotationciscusedcincthecmarkcscheme:
; - meanscacsinglecmark
// - meanscalternativecresponse
/ - meanscancalternativecwordcorcsub-phrase
A -
cmeanscacceptableccreditworthycanswer.c Alsocusedctocdenotecacvalidcanswercthatcgoescbeyondc
thecexpectationscofcthecGCSEcsyllabus.
R -c meanscrejectcanswercascnotccreditworthy
NEc -c meanscnotcenough
I -c meanscignore
DPTc-
cincsomecquestionscacspecificcerrorcmadecbycaccandidate,cifcrepeated,ccouldcresultcinctheccandidat
ecfailingctocgaincmorecthanconecmark.c ThecDPTclabelcindicatescthatcthiscmistakecshouldconlycresult
cincaccandidateclosingconecmarkconcthecfirstcoccasioncthatcthecerrorciscmade.c Providedcthatcthecans
wercremainscunderstandable,csubsequentcmarkscshouldcbecawardedcascifcthecerrorcwascnotcbein
gcrepeated.
Copyrightcinformation
AQAcretainsctheccopyrightconcallcitscpublications.cHowever,cregisteredcschools/collegescforcAQAcarecpermittedctoccopycmaterialcfromcthiscbookletcforctheircownci
nternalcuse,cwithcthecfollowingcimportantcexception:cAQAccannotcgivecpermissionctocschools/collegesctocphotocopycanycmaterialcthatciscacknowledgedctocacthirdc
partycevencforcinternalcusecwithinctheccentre.
Copyrightc©c2022cAQAcandcitsclicensors.c Allcrightscreserved.
2
, MARKcSCHEMEc–cGCSEcCOMPUTERcSCIENCEc–c8525/1c–cJUNEc2022
NotectocExaminers
Incthecrealcworldcminorcsyntaxcerrorscarecoftencidentifiedcandcflaggedcbycthecdevelopmentcenvironment.cT
ocreflectcthis,callcresponsescincachigh-
levelcprogrammingclanguagecwillcassesscaccandidate’scabilityctoccreatecancanswercusingcprecisecprogram
mingccommands/instructionscbutcwillcavoidcpenalisingcthemcforcminorcerrorscincsyntax.
Whencmarkingcprogramccode,cexaminerscmustctakecaccountcofcthecdifferentcrulescbetweenctheclanguagesca
ndconlycconsiderchowcthecsyntaxcaffectsctheclogiccflowcofcthecprogram.c Ifcthecsyntaxciscnotcperfectcbutctheclo
giccflowciscunaffectedcthencthecresponsecshouldcnotcbecpenalised.
Theccasecofcallcprogramccodecwrittencbycstudentscisctocbecignoredcforcthecpurposescofcmarking.cThisciscb
ecausecitciscnotcalwayscclearcwhichccasechascbeencusedcdependingconcthecstylecandcqualitycofchandwriti
ngcused.
Examinerscmustcensurectheycfollowcthecmarkcschemecinstructionscexactly.cIfcancexaminerciscunsurecasctocw
hethercacgivencresponseciscworthycofcthecmarksctheycmustcescalatecthecquestionctoctheircteamcleader.
Level of response marking instructions
c c c c
Levelcofcresponsecmarkcschemescarecbrokencdowncintoclevels,ceachcofcwhichchascacdescriptor.cThecdescri
ptorcforctheclevelcshowscthecaveragecperformancecforctheclevel.c Therecarecmarkscinceachclevel.
Beforecyoucapplycthecmarkcschemectocacstudent’scanswercreadcthroughcthecanswercandcannotatecitc(ascinstr
ucted)ctocshowcthecqualitiescthatcarecbeingclookedcfor.c Youccancthencapplycthecmarkcscheme.
Step 1 Determine a level
c c c c
Startcatctheclowestclevelcofcthecmarkcschemecandcusecitcascacladderctocseecwhethercthecanswercmeetscthecde
scriptorcforcthatclevel.cThecdescriptorcforctheclevelcindicatescthecdifferentcqualitiescthatcmightcbecseencincthec
student’scanswercforcthatclevel.cIfcitcmeetsctheclowestclevelcthencgoctocthecnextconecandcdecidecifcitcmeetscthi
sclevel,candcsocon,cuntilcyouchavecacmatchcbetweenctheclevelcdescriptorcandcthecanswer.cWithcpracticecandc
familiaritycyoucwillcfindcthatcforcbettercanswerscyoucwillcbecablectocquicklycskipcthroughctheclowerclevelscofcth
ecmarkcscheme.
Whencassigningcaclevelcyoucshouldclookcatcthecoverallcqualitycofcthecanswercandcnotclookctocpickcholescincsm
allcandcspecificcpartscofcthecanswercwherecthecstudentchascnotcperformedcquitecascwellcascthecrest.cIfcthecans
werccoverscdifferentcaspectscofcdifferentclevelscofcthecmarkcschemecyoucshouldcusecacbestcfitcapproachcforcd
efiningctheclevelcandcthencusecthecvariabilitycofcthecresponsectochelpcdecidecthecmarkcwithinctheclevel,ciecifcthec
responseciscpredominantlyclevelc3cwithcacsmallcamountcofclevelc4cmaterialcitcwouldcbecplacedcinclevelc3cbutcb
ecawardedcacmarkcnearcthectopcofctheclevelcbecausecofctheclevelc4ccontent.
Step 2 Determine a mark
c c c c
Oncecyouchavecassignedcaclevelcyoucneedctocdecideconcthecmark.cThecdescriptorsconchowctocallocatecmarks
ccanchelpcwithcthis.cThecexemplarcmaterialscusedcduringcstandardisationcwillchelp.cTherecwillcbecancanswercin
cthecstandardisingcmaterialscwhichcwillccorrespondcwithceachclevelcof cthecmark cscheme.cThiscanswercwillcha
vecbeencawardedcacmarkcbycthecLeadcExaminer.cYouccanccomparecthecstudent’scanswercwithcthecexamplect
ocdeterminecifcitciscthecsamecstandard,cbettercorcworsecthancthecexample.c Youccancthencusecthisctocallocatecac
markcforcthecanswercbasedconcthecLeadcExaminer’scmarkconcthecexample.
3
, MARKcSCHEMEc–cGCSEcCOMPUTERcSCIENCEc–c8525/1c–cJUNEc2022
Youcmaycwellcneedctocreadcbackcthroughcthecanswercascyoucapplycthecmarkcschemectocclarifycpointscandcas
surecyourselfcthatctheclevelcandcthecmarkcarecappropriate.
Indicativeccontentcincthecmarkcschemeciscprovidedcascacguidecforcexaminers.c Itciscnotcintendedctocbecexhaus
tivecandcyoucmustccreditcothercvalidcpoints.cStudentscdocnotchavectoccovercallcofcthecpointscmentionedcincth
ecIndicativeccontentctocreachcthechighestclevelcofcthecmarkcscheme.
Ancanswercwhichccontainscnothingcofcrelevancectocthecquestioncmustcbecawardedcnocmarks.
4
