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The question. Accept the names and marks of six students into two arrays. Using selection sort, arrange them in descending order of marks, moving each name with its mark. Print the rank list. Then accept a name and print that student's rank and marks, ignoring case, or a message if the name is not present.

import java.util.Scanner;

class RankList {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
        String[] name = new String[6];
        int[] marks = new int[6];
        System.out.println("Enter 6 names with marks out of 100:");
        for (int i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
            name[i] = sc.next();
            marks[i] = sc.nextInt();
        }
        // selection sort, highest marks first; swap both arrays together
        for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
            int big = i;
            for (int j = i + 1; j < 6; j++) {
                if (marks[j] > marks[big])
                    big = j;
            }
            int tm = marks[i];
            marks[i] = marks[big];
            marks[big] = tm;
            String tn = name[i];
            name[i] = name[big];
            name[big] = tn;
        }
        System.out.println("Rank	Name	Marks");
        for (int i = 0; i < 6; i++)
            System.out.println((i + 1) + "	" + name[i] + "	" + marks[i]);
        System.out.print("Name to search: ");
        String key = sc.next();
        int pos = -1;
        for (int i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
            if (name[i].equalsIgnoreCase(key)) {
                pos = i;
                break;
            }
        }
        if (pos == -1)
            System.out.println(key + " is not in the list");
        else
            System.out.println(name[pos] + " is at rank " + (pos + 1)
                               + " with " + marks[pos]);
    }
}

Enter 6 names with marks out of 100:
Aman 71
Zoya 88
Kabir 64
Ira 92
Ved 88
Tara 79
Rank	Name	Marks
1	Ira	92
2	Zoya	88
3	Ved	88
4	Tara	79
5	Aman	71
6	Kabir	64
Name to search: kabir
Kabir is at rank 6 with 64

// second run, same six students:
Name to search: Neel
Neel is not in the list

Selection sort, pass by pass

Why examiners like this question, and where students slip

• Swapping only one array. Sorting the marks but not the names leaves every name attached to the wrong mark. The output looks plausible and is entirely wrong.
• Outer loop to n - 1. Five passes sort six items; the last one is already in place. Running to 6 does no harm but shows the student does not know why.
• Comparing Strings with ==. The search must use equalsIgnoreCase, or "kabir" will never match "Kabir".
• Forgetting the not-found case. The flag value -1 is what lets the program report a missing name honestly.
• Binary search on unsorted data. Binary search needs the array sorted by the key being searched. Here the list is sorted by marks, not names, so linear search is the right choice.

Bubble sort, binary search and more variations are on ICSE Class 10 sorting and searching programs.

ICSE Computer Applications gives the internal assessment the same 100 marks as the written paper. It rests on at least twenty laboratory assignments done across the year. The subject teacher awards 50 marks and an external examiner awards the other 50, each using the same four headings: execution or output is the heaviest at 20, then class design, variable description, and coding and documentation at 10 each.

Execution marks are the easiest to lose by surprise. A program that worked at home can fail in front of an examiner on input nobody tried. So we teach students to write a small test plan for each of their own assignments. Here is what one looks like for the RankList program; the student makes their own for the school's questions.

Alongside the test plan, students practise explaining their class design and variable choices in a minute or two, which is what an examiner tends to ask. What we will not do is write any part of an assignment for submission, or rewrite the school's question. The scheme in detail is on ICSE Computer Applications project and internal assessment, and likely oral questions are on ICSE Computer Applications viva questions.

The teacher keeps the student's record, so there is no restart. Families already overseas can see ICSE Computer Applications teaching for students abroad.