Paper 1 Validation Testing Drills

These are original Paper 1-style practice questions. They use concrete data and code fragments so the answers can be checked exactly.

Detailed answers are in Paper 1 Validation Testing Answers.

Revise the topic hub first:

• Data Validation, Testing, and Debugging

Questions

Question 1: Validation vs Verification

A student types this email address into a registration form:

amy@example.com

For this simplified form rule, the form checks that the text contains @ and .. The form also asks the student to type the email address a second time and checks that both entries match.

Identify which check is validation and which check is verification. [2]

Question 2: Range Check

A mark must be a whole number from 0 to 100 inclusive. Assume mark is already an integer.

State the Boolean condition that accepts a valid mark. [1]

Question 3: Format Check

A membership code must have exactly two uppercase letters followed by four digits, for example:

AB1234

For each code, state whether it is valid.

Code	Valid?
AB1234
A12345
Ab1234
CD12E4

[4]

Question 4: Presence Check

A form has a required student_id field. The submitted value is:

"   "

Explain why a presence check should reject this value. [2]

Question 5: Check Digit

A four-digit code uses this check-digit rule:

The final digit must equal the sum of the first three digits modulo 10.

For each code, state whether the check digit is valid:

Code	Valid?
2462
2463

Then state one limitation of a check digit. [3]

Question 6: Test Data Types

A function valid_age(age) should accept ages from 13 to 18 inclusive.

Give one normal, two extreme, and two abnormal test values. [5]

Question 7: Error Type

Classify each error as syntax, runtime, or logic.

Code or behaviour	Error type
if mark >= 50 print(“Pass”)
average = total / count crashes when count is 0
if mark > 50 gives "Fail" for mark = 50, although 50 should pass

[3]

Question 8: Debugging Trace

This code is meant to calculate the sum of [1, 2, 3], but after the loop total is 3 instead of 6.

total = 0
for n in [1, 2, 3]:
    total = n

Complete a trace table showing n and total after assignment for all three iterations, and identify the logic error. [4]

Question 9: Test Plan

Design a test plan for:

valid_mark(mark): returns True when 0 <= mark <= 100

Include four tests: one normal valid value, two extreme values, and one abnormal value. [4]

Question 10: Predictable Runtime Error

This code converts user input into an integer:

mark = int(text)

If text is "abc":

1. identify the error type;
2. state the specific exception that should be caught;
3. explain why a broad bare except is less helpful for debugging.

[3]

Review Checklist

After attempting these questions, check whether you can:

• distinguish validation from verification in a scenario;
• state exact validation conditions;
• classify test data and error types from concrete examples;
• use a trace table to locate a logic error;
• design tests with expected results;
• explain why specific exception handling helps debugging.