Searching and sorting algorithms: OCR GCSE Computer Science questions
Every OCR GCSE Computer Science exam question on 2.1.3 Searching and sorting algorithms, 2022–2025, with its mark scheme and examiner’s report.
Paper
All papers
Exam
All years
Calculations
Q3(a)
The whole paper ↗Q3(b)
The whole paper ↗Q3(c)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q3(c)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q3(c)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q3(c)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q3(c)(iii)
The whole paper ↗Q9(a)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q3(a)
The whole paper ↗Q3(c)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q3(c)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q3(a)
The whole paper ↗Q3(b)
The whole paper ↗Q3(c)
The whole paper ↗Q6(a)
The whole paper ↗Q6(b)
The whole paper ↗
All 16 questions on Searching and sorting algorithms, as a list
- June 2025, Paper 2, Q3(a) (4 marks): Show the steps that a merge sort would take to put the data set into ascending numerical order. 2, 7, 3, 1, 9, 6, 5, 4 [4]
- June 2025, Paper 2, Q3(b) (3 marks): Tick (✓) one box in each table to complete the descriptions. An insertion sort… Tick (✓) one box uses an array of numbers with a sorted part and unsorted part p
- June 2025, Paper 2, Q3(c)(i) (1 mark): Give the name of the searching algorithm described. [1]
- June 2025, Paper 2, Q3(c)(ii) (1 mark): Identify one other condition that will cause the algorithm to stop. [1]
- June 2024, Paper 2, Q3(c)(i) (3 marks): Show how a binary search will be used to find the number 10 in the following data set: 1 2 5 6 7 10 20 [3]
- June 2024, Paper 2, Q3(c)(ii) (1 mark): State one pre-requisite for a binary search algorithm. [1]
- June 2024, Paper 2, Q3(c)(iii) (1 mark): Tick (✓) one box to identify the name of the sorting algorithm that splits data into individual items before recombining in order. Bubble sort Insertion sort Me
- June 2024, Paper 2, Q9(a)(ii) (4 marks): The student names for a team are stored in an array with the identifier theTeam An example of the data in this array is shown: Index 0 1 2 3 4 5 Ali Eve Ling Ni
- June 2023, Paper 2, Q3(a) (2 marks): Describe the purpose of the variable temp in the insertion sort pseudocode algorithm. [2]
- June 2023, Paper 2, Q3(c)(i) (2 marks): Describe one difference between an insertion sort and a bubble sort. [2]
- June 2023, Paper 2, Q3(c)(ii) (2 marks): Describe two similarities between an insertion sort and a bubble sort. 1 2 [2]
- June 2022, Paper 2, Q3(a) (3 marks): The first step is to divide the list into individual lists of one number each. This has been done for you. Complete the merge sort of the data by showing each s
- June 2022, Paper 2, Q3(b) (4 marks): Once the numbers are in order, a binary search can be run on the data. Describe the steps a binary search will follow to look for a number in a sorted list. [4]
- June 2022, Paper 2, Q3(c) (2 marks): A linear search could be used instead of a binary search. Describe the steps a linear search would follow when searching for a number that is not in the given l
- Specimen, Paper 2, Q6(a) (4 marks): Show the stages of a bubble sort when applied to data shown in Fig. 3. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
- Specimen, Paper 2, Q6(b) (4 marks): A second sample of data is shown in Fig. 4. amber house kick moose orange range tent wind zebra Fig. 4 Show the stages of a binary search to find the word zebra
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