30 Python Challenges –- AQA edition

30 graded Python challenges mapped to AQA 8525 GCSE Computer Science, each with a tested model solution, mark scheme, teaching notes and spec references.

This is the AQA edition: every challenge carries its 3.1–3.3 specification references first, and the teacher notes refer to AQA pseudocode. Each challenge is one printable page: the task, a numbered list of what the program must do, an exact example run, a success-criteria checklist with marks, a hint and an extension task.

Bronze (1–10, 6 marks each): data types, input/output, arithmetic and relational operators, selection, iteration, Boolean operators (3.2.1–3.2.5). Silver (11–20, 8 marks each): string handling, lists, subroutines with parameters and return values, validation, random numbers, a Caesar cipher (3.2.6–3.2.11). Gold (21–30, 10 marks each): bubble sort, linear vs binary search with comparison counts (3.1.2–3.1.4), a 2D seating plan, a login system with lockout, a binary converter (3.3.2), run-length encoding (3.3.8) and a capstone class-results program.

You get: student booklet (33-page PDF + editable Word, no answers); teacher pack (42-page PDF + editable Word) with mark schemes, model solutions, common errors and an AQA specification map; all 30 solutions as .py files with sample data. Every solution has been run and checked. Solutions use only the GCSE toolkit, so they translate directly to AQA pseudocode for Paper 1. Three Gold challenges use file handling, which AQA does not examine; they are flagged as optional. OCR J277 references are included for departments teaching both. More at learncomputing.org.