HKDSE ICT 2025 Python Questions — Full Analysis

What 2025 ICT Tells Us

The HKDSE 2025 ICT Paper 1 had a notable shift: more emphasis on dictionaries and file processing, slightly less OOP. Here's what every student should learn from it.

Part A Observations

Part A focused on:

• String slicing and methods (2 questions)
• Basic list operations (2 questions)
• Function definition with return (1 question)
• Loop output tracing (1 question)

Key Question: String Reversal

s = "Hong Kong"
print(s[::-1])   # "gnoK gnoH"

Students who didn't know slice syntax wrote a full loop. Wastes time.

Part B Observations

Part B required combining multiple concepts:

Question 8: Student Score Analyser

Given a list of scores, compute average, highest, lowest, and count of passes. Tests sum, max, min, len, and list comprehension.

scores = [85, 72, 91, 45, 68, 88, 54]

avg = sum(scores) / len(scores)
highest = max(scores)
lowest = min(scores)
passes = len([s for s in scores if s >= 50])

print(f"Average: {avg:.1f}")
print(f"Highest: {highest}")
print(f"Lowest: {lowest}")
print(f"Passes: {passes}")

Question 9: Dictionary Usage

Count character frequency in a string. Required dictionary operations — a topic that has risen from 30% to 60% frequency.

Paper 1B Observations

The 2025 Paper 1B was a library management system requiring:

• A Book class with attributes (title, author, copies, borrowed)
• Methods: borrow(), return_book(), available()
• File input to load initial book list
• Loop to process user commands

Trends for 2026 Preparation

• Dictionaries are now essential — 60%+ of papers
• File I/O appears with with statement — memorise the template
• OOP remains on Paper 1B — classes and methods
• List comprehension increasingly common
• f-strings expected for formatting