How to answer drag-into-order (sequencing) questions

What it looks like in the real exam

From NESA material 2025 NESA sample paper 2025 NESA sample exam, Q9: steps of a number-guessing-game algorithm to be placed between BEGIN and END. 2025 familiarisation 2025 NESA familiarisation exam, Q1: order the software development steps (the stem and MG answer are images, so I cannot show them).

From NESA material Partial marks exist. Sample Q9 is worth 2 marks: 2 for the correct order, 1 for correctly ordering just the WHILE and ENDWHILE steps. So place the loop first.

Method

1. Read the question and any stimulus. Decide what you are ordering: algorithm lines, or stages of a process. From course notes
2. Fix the anchors. BEGIN is first and END is last. Pairs go together: WHILE…ENDWHILE, IF…ENDIF, REPEAT…UNTIL, FOR…NEXT (NESA pseudocode rules: structural elements come in pairs). From NESA material
3. Ask “what must exist before this?” A variable must be set before it is tested; a value must be read (Get) before it is compared; a result is shown after the loop ends. General advice
4. Decide what is inside the loop and what is outside. Things that must repeat go between the loop lines. Things that happen once go before or after. General advice
5. Drag the steps into order, then read the whole sequence top to bottom out loud as if you were the computer. For a process (not code), read it as a story. From course notes
6. Re-read the question to confirm every step is used and none is left over. From course notes

Worked example (2025 NESA sample Q9)

Set number = random integer between 0 and 100
WHILE guess <> number
   Display "Guess a number between 0 and 100:"
   Get guess
ENDWHILE
Display "Well Done"

1. Anchors: BEGIN GuessingGame first, END GuessingGame last. WHILE guess <> number goes with ENDWHILE.
2. Before the loop: Set guess = -1 is already given. Set number = random integer must come before the loop because the loop compares to number.
3. Inside the loop: the prompt (Display) and Get guess, in that order: you show the prompt, then read the answer. The loop repeats the guess.
4. After the loop: Display "Well Done" only once the guess matches.

Reasoned Why guess = -1 matters: it makes the WHILE condition true the first time, so the loop runs at least once. See WHILE loop (pre-test).

Common mistakes

• General advice Putting “Well Done” inside the loop (it would print every time).
• General advice Setting the random number inside the loop, which changes the answer on each turn.
• General advice Placing Get before the prompt, or the prompt outside the loop.
• General advice Ordering the loop lines perfectly but forgetting that the loop pair itself earns the partial mark: do WHILE/ENDWHILE first.

Time per mark

General advice About 1 to 1.5 minutes per mark (2 marks: about 2 to 3 minutes). At the exam average of 1.75 minutes per mark

Practice (4 items, with answers)

BEGIN Sum
    Total = 0
    FOR n = 1 TO 5
        Total = Total + n
    NEXT n
    Display Total
END Sum

REPEAT
    Display "Enter a mark"
    Get Mark
UNTIL Mark >= 0 AND Mark <= 100

Terms, flashcards and past questions

Key terms for this page: Drag-and-drop ordering · Software development steps (the order) · WHILE loop (pre-test) · Sequence

Flashcards · All key terms · Learn step by step · All past questions · Multiple-choice bank · Mock exam

Past questions used on this page:

• 2025 NESA sample exam, Q9
• 2025 NESA familiarisation exam, Q1
• Open this question page