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Cambridge International AS & A Level

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9618/22

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills May/June 2024
MARK SCHEME
Maximum Mark: 75

Published

This mark scheme is published as an aid to teachers and candidates, to indicate the requirements of the
examination. It shows the basis on which Examiners were instructed to award marks. It does not indicate the
details of the discussions that took place at an Examiners’ meeting before marking began, which would have
considered the acceptability of alternative answers.

Mark schemes should be read in conjunction with the question paper and the Principal Examiner Report for
Teachers.

Cambridge International will not enter into discussions about these mark schemes.

Cambridge International is publishing the mark schemes for the May/June 2024 series for most
Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge International A and AS Level and Cambridge Pre-U components, and some
Cambridge O Level components.

This document consists of 12 printed pages.

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Generic Marking Principles

These general marking principles must be applied by all examiners when marking candidate answers.
They should be applied alongside the specific content of the mark scheme or generic level
descriptions for a question. Each question paper and mark scheme will also comply with these
marking principles.

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 1:

Marks must be awarded in line with:

 the specific content of the mark scheme or the generic level descriptors for the question
 the specific skills defined in the mark scheme or in the generic level descriptors for the question
 the standard of response required by a candidate as exemplified by the standardisation scripts.

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 2:

Marks awarded are always whole marks (not half marks, or other fractions).

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 3:

Marks must be awarded positively:

 marks are awarded for correct/valid answers, as defined in the mark scheme. However, credit
is given for valid answers which go beyond the scope of the syllabus and mark scheme,
referring to your Team Leader as appropriate
 marks are awarded when candidates clearly demonstrate what they know and can do
 marks are not deducted for errors
 marks are not deducted for omissions
 answers should only be judged on the quality of spelling, punctuation and grammar when these
features are specifically assessed by the question as indicated by the mark scheme. The
meaning, however, should be unambiguous.

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 4:

Rules must be applied consistently, e.g. in situations where candidates have not followed
instructions or in the application of generic level descriptors.

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 5:

Marks should be awarded using the full range of marks defined in the mark scheme for the question
(however; the use of the full mark range may be limited according to the quality of the candidate
responses seen).

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 6:

Marks awarded are based solely on the requirements as defined in the mark scheme. Marks should
not be awarded with grade thresholds or grade descriptors in mind.

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Mark scheme abbreviations

/ separates alternative words / phrases within a marking point

// separates alternative answers within a marking point
underline actual word given must be used by candidate (grammatical variants accepted)
max indicates the maximum number of marks that can be awarded
() the word / phrase in brackets is not required, but sets the context

Note: No marks are awarded for using brand names of software packages or hardware.

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Question Answer Marks

1(a) 4
Pseudocode example Selection Iteration Input/Output
FOR Index  1 TO 10
Data[Index]  0 
NEXT Index

WRITEFILE ThisFile,

"****"

UNTIL Level > 25 

IF Mark > 74 THEN

READFILE OldFile,
 
Data
ENDIF

One mark per row.

1(b) 4
Expression

MyInt  INT (3.1415926)

MyChar  MID ("Elwood", 3, 1)

Any of:

 MyString  NUM_TO_STR (INT (27.509))

 MyString  CHR (INT (27.509))

 MyString  TO_UPPER( NUM_TO_STR( 27.509))

 MyString  TO_LOWER( NUM_TO_STR( 27.509))

Any of:

 MyInt  STR_TO_NUM ( RIGHT ("ABC123", 3))

 MyInt  LENGTH ( RIGHT ("ABC123", 3))
 MyInt  LENGTH ( LEFT ("ABC123", 3))

One mark per row

1(c) 1 mark for stating a suitable way of documenting: 2

 Identifier table
1 mark for giving one piece of information that should be recorded.
examples include:
Explanation of what (each) variable is used for
The purpose of (each) variable
An example of data values stored // Initialisation value

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Question Answer Marks

2(a) 5

Mark points
1 Condition for selecting one of the input numbers as largest value
2 … and assign to Ans
3 Condition for selecting largest number for all three number input and
assigning to Ans
4 Average calculated using Num1, Num2 and Num3 and stored in a variable.
Reject use of DIV
5 Output of Ans and average in output symbol / parallelogram

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Question Answer Marks

2(b) Example solutions: 5

Flag  GetStat()
WHILE Flag <> TRUE
FOR Port  1 TO 3
CALL Reset(Port)
NEXT Port
Flag  GetStat()
ENDWHILE

Alternative:

REPEAT
Flag  GetStat()
IF Flag <> TRUE THEN
FOR Port  1 TO 3
CALL Reset(Port)
NEXT Port
ENDIF
UNTIL Flag = TRUE

One mark per point:

1 (Outer) conditional loop testing Flag
2 Correct assignment of Flag from GetStat() in a loop
3 (Inner) loop checking / counting port // Check if Port is different to 4
4 … loop for 3 iterations
5 a call to Reset()in a loop

Question Answer Marks

3(a)(i) Pseudocode: 4

TYPE Component
DECLARE Item_Num : INTEGER
DECLARE Reject : BOOLEAN
DECLARE Stage : CHAR
DECLARE Limit_1 : REAL
DECLARE Limit_2 : REAL
ENDTYPE

Mark as follows:

1 One mark for TYPE and ENDTYPE statements

2 One mark for Item_Num and Reject fields
3 One mark for Stage field
4 One mark for Limit fields as REAL

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Question Answer Marks

3(a)(ii) DECLARE Item : ARRAY [1:2000] OF Component// 2

DECLARE Item : ARRAY [2000] OF Component//
DECLARE Item : ARRAY [0:1999] OF Component

One mark per underlined phrase

3(b) One mark per point: 3

1 Allows for iteration / can use a loop to access the records / data items
2 Use of index to directly access a record in the array // Example of
simplification of code e.g. use of dot notation Item[1].Stage
3 Simplifies the code / algorithm // Reduces duplication of code // Program
easier to write / understand / maintain / test / debug // Data items/record
easier to search / sort / manipulate

Question Answer Marks

4 Example solution: 5

PROCEDURE IsRA()
DECLARE a, b, c : INTEGER

OUTPUT "Input length of the first side"

INPUT a
OUTPUT "Input length of the second side"
INPUT b
OUTPUT "Input length of the third side"
INPUT c

IF (a * a = (b * b) + (c * c)) OR__
(b * b = (a * a) + (c * c)) OR__
(c * c = (a * a) + (b * b)) THEN
OUTPUT "It is right-angled"
ELSE
OUTPUT "Not right-angled"
ENDIF

ENDPROCEDURE

Mark as follows:

1. Procedure heading and ending and declaration of all variables used

2. Appropriate prompt and input for each length
3. One correct length test
4. All three length tests // selection of which test is required
5. Output one of two messages following a reasonable attempt at MP3

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Question Answer Marks

5(a)(i) One mark per error: 3

Syntax:
1. NEXT Index (should be ENDWHILE)
2. '&' used to concatenate an integer (in OUTPUT statement)

Other:
3. Accesses element outside range // Accesses element 0

5(a)(ii) One mark per point: 2

Statement:
 The OTHERWISE statement

Explanation:
 The result of MOD 2 can only be 0 or 1

5(b) Run-time 1

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Question Answer Marks

6(a) Example solution: 7

Function Trim(Name : STRING) RETURNS STRING

CONSTANT Dots = "..."
CONSTANT Space = " "

IF LENGTH(Name) <= 16 THEN

RETURN Name
ENDIF

// Otherwise it has to be trimmed

WHILE LENGTH(Name) > 13

REPEAT
Name  LEFT(Name, LENGTH(Name) - 1) // strip
last char
UNTIL RIGHT(Name, 1) = Space // back to SPACE
ENDWHILE

Name  LEFT(Name, LENGTH(Name) - 1) // remove the

space
Name  Name & Dots
RETURN Name

ENDFUNCTION

Mark as follows:
1. Function heading, ending, parameter and return type
2. If length of original string <= 16 then return original string
3. Any Conditional loop...
4. until string is short enough
5. Inner conditional loop / second condition to identify word(s) to
remove from the end of string // Check to identify word(s) to remove
from the end of string
6. Attempt to strip characters back to space
7. Correct removal of word/words from end of string and remove final
space
8. Concatenate Dots and return result

Max 7 marks

6(b)(i) A (very) large file is created // redundant zeroes are stored in the file 1

6(b)(ii) One mark for: 1

 Values are delimited by a special character / a separator character
 First character indicates sample length

Max 1 mark

6(b)(iii) The algorithm to store / extract / separate the individual values is more 1
complex / takes longer to execute / run / process

NE Algorithm is more complicated

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Question Answer Marks

7(a) Examples include: 3

Module: IdentifyMember()
Use: Identifies a club member who has expressed an interest in a given class

Module: GetMemberPhoneNumber()
Use: Gets the mobile phone number of a member

Module: CreateMessage()
Use: Generates a text message to a member

Module: SendMessage()
Use: Sends a text message to a member in the waiting list

One mark for name and use

Note: max 3 marks

7(b)(i) 5
Input Output Next state

S1

Input-A none S3

Input-A Output-W S3

Input-B none S2

Input-B none S5

Input-A none S2

Input-A Output-X S4

One mark per row 3 to 7

7(b)(ii) Input-B, Input-A 1

Question Answer Marks

8(a) One mark for reason, one for benefit 2

Reason: (Program is) easier to design / implement / test / debug / modify

Benefit: Easier to check that each stage works as expected

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Question Answer Marks

8(b) Example algorithm based on finding position of first non-space character and 6
then using substring function:

FUNCTION DeleteSpaces(Line : STRING) RETURNS STRING

DECLARE NewLine : STRING
DECLARE EndOfLeading : BOOLEAN
DECLARE Count, NumSpaces : INTEGER
DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
CONSTANT Space = " "

NumSpaces  0
EndOfLeading  FALSE

FOR Count  1 TO LENGTH(Line)

NextChar  MID(Line, Count, 1)
IF NextChar <> Space AND EndOfLeading = FALSE
THEN
NumSpaces  Count - 1 // the number to trim
EndOfLeading = TRUE
ENDIF
NEXT Count

NewLine  RIGHT(Line, LENGTH(Line) - NumSpaces)

RETURN NewLine
ENDFUNCTION

Mark as follows:

1 Loop to length of parameter // Loop until first non-space

character in Line
2 Extract a character in a loop
3 Identify first non-space character in a loop
4 Attempt at removing leading spaces in Line
5 Leading spaces removed from Line / / Create new string without leading
space
6 Return a string following a reasonable attempt at removing leading spaces
in Line

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Question Answer Marks

8(c) Example: 8

PROCEDURE Stage_2(F1, F2 : STRING)

DECLARE Line : STRING

DECLARE Count : INTEGER

Count  0

OPEN F1 FOR READ

OPEN F2 FOR APPEND

WHILE NOT EOF(F1)

READFILE F1, Line
Line  DeleteSpaces(Line)
Line  DeleteComment(Line)
IF Line <> "" THEN
WRITEFILE F2, Line // skip blank lines
ELSE
Count  Count + 1
ENDIF
ENDWHILE

CLOSEFILE F1
CLOSEFILE F2

OUTPUT Count, " blank lines were removed"

ENDPROCEDURE

Mark as follows:

1 Procedure heading, parameters, ending

2 Open both files in correct modes and subsequently close
3 Loop to EOF(F1)
4 Read a line from F1 in a loop
5 Assign return values from DeleteComment() and DeleteSpaces()
in a loop
6 Check return value following both MP5 function calls is not an empty
string and if so write to F2 in a loop
7 Count the blank lines in a loop
8 Output number of blank lines removed following a reasonable attempt
after the loop

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