HKDSE ICT 2023 Python Questions — Full Analysis

Overview

2023 was notable for the first appearance of a simple class-based Paper 1B scenario — a "Library" with Book objects. Average marks on Python questions dropped 6% compared with 2022.

Paper 1A Highlights

def mystery(lst):
    total = 0
    for x in lst:
        if x > 0:
            total += x
    return total

Tests summing only positive values. Common mistake: forgetting the > 0 filter and returning the total of everything.

Paper 1B — Library Scenario

class Book:
    def __init__(self, title, author, copies):
        self.title = title
        self.author = author
        self.copies = copies

    def borrow(self):
        if self.copies > 0:
            self.copies -= 1
            return True
        return False

Common Mistakes

• Forgetting self in method definitions.
• Mutating class attributes instead of instance attributes.
• Returning None where a boolean was expected.

Marker Commentary

Candidates who wrote comments explaining their logic consistently scored higher on partial-credit questions, even when the code did not fully run.