The Cambridge AS & A Level Computer Science (9618) May/June 2026 papers and mark schemes are out, and they’re free. All four papers, 9618/12 to 9618/42, plus the Paper 2 insert, can be downloaded and printed on the Tutopiya Learning Portal. Below is a breakdown of what each paper tested and how the mark scheme gave marks, taken from the papers themselves.

Key points from the 2026 9618 papers

• Linked data structures were everywhere. Stacks for a web browser’s back and forward buttons (Paper 2), a linked list ADT (Paper 2), a Node class with a pointer (Paper 3) and a full linked list with an empty list in a 2D array (Paper 4).
• Sorting came up twice. Paper 2 compared two bubble sort algorithms, and Paper 4 asked you to code an insertion sort from scratch.
• File handling was tested on three papers: a text file search in structured English (Paper 2), a random file with SEEK and GETRECORD (Paper 3) and reading a text file into objects with exception handling (Paper 4).
• OOP appeared at both ends of the A Level: a Node class in pseudocode on Paper 3 and an Avatar class in real code on Paper 4.
• Everything is points-based. There is no levels grid on any 9618 paper. Each mark is a specific point, line of code or value.

All May/June 2026 9618 papers

Paper	Code	Duration	Marks	What it tests
Paper 1 Theory Fundamentals	9618/12	1 hour 30 minutes	75	Data representation, hardware, databases, security (AS)
Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills	9618/22	2 hours	75	Pseudocode, algorithms, testing, ADTs (AS)
Paper 3 Advanced Theory	9618/32	1 hour 30 minutes	75	Advanced theory topics (A Level)
Paper 4 Practical	9618/42	2 hours 30 minutes	75	Programming on a computer in Java, Python or Visual Basic (A Level)

Timings and marks are taken from the front cover of each 2026 paper. Calculators are not allowed on Papers 1, 2 or 3. Paper 2 comes with an insert listing the pseudocode functions and operators you may use. Paper 4 uses one source file, AvatarFile.txt. For the full syllabus content, see the Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 syllabus.

Which variant is this? Cambridge sets different versions of each paper (variants) for different time zones. The papers here are variant 2: 9618/12, /22, /32 and /42. All variants cover the same syllabus at the same difficulty, so variant 2 is just as good for practice as the one your school sat.

Download the 9618 May/June 2026 papers →

What came up in 9618 Paper 1 (Theory Fundamentals), May/June 2026?

Paper 1 had eight questions worth 75 marks. The database question was the largest.

Question	Topic	Marks
1	Bitmap images: definition of a pixel, image resolution compared with screen resolution, file header contents, smallest bit depth for a three-colour image, run-length encoding	8
2	Data entry: two verification methods, two validation checks on a date of birth, viruses and hackers with a method to reduce each risk	13
3	A game database: relationships between players, characters and groups, four errors in a CREATE TABLE script, an SQL query using COUNT, GROUP BY and ORDER BY, data dictionary and DBMS terms	16
4	Sound: what a 44.1 kHz sampling rate means, 16-bit compared with 8-bit sampling resolution	4
5	Number systems: denary, binary, hexadecimal and BCD conversions, smallest 12-bit two’s complement number, logical and cyclic shifts	7
6	A health monitor: why it is an embedded system, monitoring or control, RAM and ROM, storing health data in the cloud	11
7	Operating systems and IDEs: process and memory management, defragmentation, debugging tools, partly compiled and partly interpreted languages	13
8	Logic: completing a truth table for a circuit, writing a logic statement from a truth table	3

What made it hard: Question 3(b)(i) asked you to spot four separate errors in an SQL table definition, including a renamed field and an incomplete FOREIGN KEY line. You need to read the given table design and the script line by line.

What came up in 9618 Paper 2 (Problem-solving and Programming), May/June 2026?

Paper 2 had six questions worth 75 marks. Question 1 alone was worth 27 marks.

Question	Topic	Marks
1	A house alarm: declaring the password variable, pseudocode for a length rule and a letter-and-digit rule, states and events for a state-transition diagram, test data for three validation rules, design-stage outcomes, lifecycle stages, integration and stub testing	27
2	Tool hire system: purpose of abstraction, data items to store, processes needed	5
3	Describing an efficient search of a 10 000-word text file in steps, without pseudocode	6
4	Web browser back and forward stacks: tracing three groups of button clicks, one other ADT and two of its features	9
5	Bubble sort: sorting in descending order, why the second algorithm is more efficient, its best case, a Swap() procedure that fails because of parameter passing	10
6	Grid encryption: AddPadding() to pad plain text to 25 characters, declaring a 5 by 5 array, PopulateGrid() to fill and output it	18

Watch for: Question 5(c) is a classic trap. The Swap() procedure does nothing useful because its parameters are passed by value. The fix is a BYREF header.

What came up in 9618 Paper 3 (Advanced Theory)?

Paper 3 had eleven questions worth 75 marks, so most questions were short and focused.

Question	Topic	Marks
1	User-defined types: declaring an enumerated type of zoo animals, features of its list	5
2	TCP/IP protocol suite: gap-fill on its layers	4
3	Floating-point: converting a 12-bit mantissa and 4-bit exponent to denary, underflow	5
4	Sequential file organisation: a use, how records are stored, how a record is found	6
5	Virtual machines	4
6	Reverse Polish Notation: infix to RPN, RPN to infix, evaluating with a stack	9
7	Karnaugh map, grouping, simplified sum-of-products, De Morgan’s laws	8
8	Symmetric and asymmetric encryption, sending a verified message to a group	7
9	AI: the subset that uses neural networks, A* compared with Dijkstra, Dijkstra’s algorithm on a graph	9
10	Big O of linear and binary search, a random-file function that finds a temperature by position	9
11	OOP: declaring a Node class with a constructor, OOP terms including aggregation and inheritance	9

What made it hard: Question 10(b) needed exact file-handling pseudocode: OPENFILE for RANDOM, SEEK, GETRECORD and CLOSEFILE, in the right order.

What came up in 9618 Paper 4 (Practical)?

Paper 4 had three programming tasks worth 75 marks, written in Java, Python or Visual Basic (console mode). Every answer goes into an evidence document as code or screenshots.

Question	Task	Marks
1	A 1D array of nine strings: a procedure to find the longest and shortest string without built-in functions, an insertion sort function, outputs before and after sorting	18
2	An Avatar class: private attributes and constructor, get methods, MeetCriteria(), loading 30 avatars from AvatarFile.txt with exception handling, validated user choices, outputting matching avatars, two test runs	30
3	A linked list in a 2D array with an empty list: declaring and initialising it, printing both lists by following pointers, AddItem() at the end of the list, test runs	27

Watch for: Question 3(c)(i) was worth 8 marks for one procedure. The mark scheme credits checking for a full list, storing the new node with a null pointer, following pointers to the last node, and updating both pointers.

How the 9618 May/June 2026 mark scheme gives marks

Every 9618 paper is marked point by point. Here’s what the 2026 schemes show.

1. Code is marked against numbered mark points. Paper 2 Question 6(a), AddPadding(), had 8 points. They included the function heading and return type, a prompt and input, a conditional loop that checks both length limits, re-input inside the loop, a loop to add spaces and returning the padded string. If you use no loop at all, three of those points are lost. So get the structure right first.

2. Exact syntax matters in declarations. Paper 2 Question 6(b)(i) gave 2 marks for declaring the Grid array. The scheme accepted bounds of 1 to 5 or 0 to 4 in square brackets, and rejected round brackets, CHARACTER or STRING in place of CHAR. Paper 3 Question 1(a) refused quotation marks around the enumerated values.

3. Order of statements can cost a mark. In Paper 3 Question 10(b), the CLOSEFILE mark was only given if it came after GETRECORD and before any RETURN. A RETURN before CLOSEFILE means the file never closes.

4. Working earns marks in calculations. Paper 3 Question 3(a) gave two marks for working (using the exponent and converting correctly) and one for the final denary value. Paper 3 Question 9(b)(ii), Dijkstra, gave up to 3 marks for evidence such as setting Home to 0, marking every other node at the start, updating values and showing visited nodes, plus 2 marks for the six final distances (1 mark for four or five correct).

5. “Discuss” means both sides. Paper 1 Question 6(d) on cloud storage was capped at 3 out of 4 if you gave only benefits or only drawbacks. A benefit and its exact reverse as a drawback only scored once.

6. Naming a tool isn’t explaining it. Paper 1 Question 7(b)(i) on debugging was marked in pairs: name the tool, then say how the student uses it. Names alone were capped at 2 of the 4 marks.

7. Read the question word. Paper 1 Question 2(a) asked for verification, and the scheme noted that validation checks don’t answer it. “NE” in the scheme means not enough, “BOD” is benefit of the doubt and “FT” means follow through from your earlier answer.

8. Paper 4 has no marks without evidence. The front cover says work not saved in the evidence document gets no marks. Each screenshot was usually worth 1 mark, and test outputs were marked FT, so a sensible output from your own code still scores.

Which papers should you sit?

• AS Level: Paper 1 and Paper 2.
• Full A Level: Papers 1, 2, 3 and 4.

There are no optional questions on any 9618 paper. For Paper 4, use the language your school teaches: Java, Python or Visual Basic. The cover says any other language scores zero.

How to use the 2026 papers as a mock

1. Keep them for last. Use older 9618 papers for topic practice and save May/June 2026 for a timed mock close to your exam.
2. Write Paper 2 pseudocode by hand. Use only the functions in the insert, such as MID, LENGTH and IS_NUM. Language-specific shortcuts were not accepted.
3. Sit Paper 4 on a computer with no internet. Build an evidence document as you go, with code and screenshots for every part.
4. Mark your code against the mark points. Tick each point you hit rather than asking whether the program “works”.
5. Drill the traces. Redo the stack trace (Paper 2 Question 4), the RPN stack (Paper 3 Question 6) and Dijkstra (Paper 3 Question 9) until you can show every step.

More A Level Computer Science resources

• A Level past papers 2026: all subjects

🔍 Looking for a specific past paper? Use our free Past Paper Finder to search by subject, year and exam board.

Need help with a 9618 topic? Book a free trial lesson with an A Level Computer Science tutor →

Frequently asked questions

Are the 9618 May/June 2026 past papers free? +

Yes. All four question papers (9618/12, 9618/22, 9618/32 and 9618/42), the Paper 2 insert and the official mark schemes are free to download and print on the Tutopiya Learning Portal.

What topics came up in 9618 Paper 2 May/June 2026? +

Paper 2 had six questions. The biggest were a house alarm password program (validation pseudocode, state-transition diagrams, test data and stub testing) worth 27 marks, and a grid-based encryption task worth 18 marks where you wrote AddPadding() and PopulateGrid(). There were also questions on abstraction, a file search algorithm, browser back and forward stacks, and two bubble sort algorithms.

What did 9618 Paper 4 ask you to program in 2026? +

Three tasks: an array of nine strings with a longest/shortest procedure and an insertion sort, an Avatar class loaded from a text file with exception handling and input validation, and a linked list stored in a 2D array with an empty list and an AddItem() procedure.

How is 9618 code marked? +

Code is marked against numbered mark points, such as a correct function heading, a conditional loop that checks both limits, or a value returned at the end. You can score most points even if your whole program is not perfect, but some marks depend on earlier ones, and missing evidence in Paper 4 scores nothing.

Why can't I find 9618/21 or 9618/23 for 2026? +

Only variant 2 of the May/June 2026 papers is on the portal at the moment. Cambridge sets different variants for different time zones; variants 1 and 3 test the same syllabus in the same format, so variant 2 prepares you just as well.

When will the October/November 2026 9618 papers be available? +

Cambridge usually releases the October/November papers in the new year. We add them to the Learning Portal once they are published.

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