A multi-national, multi-institutional study of first-year computer science students' programming skills was conducted by the ITiCSE 2001 Working Group on Assessment of Programming Skills of First-Year CS Students. The study aimed to assess students' programming abilities after completing their first one or two courses in computer science. A trial assessment was developed to evaluate students' ability to program, and the results showed that many students did not have the necessary programming skills at the end of their introductory courses. The study involved 216 students from four universities, and the average score on the general evaluation criteria was 22.89 out of 110 points. The study developed a framework of expectations for first-year courses and suggested further work to develop more comprehensive assessments. The study found that students often struggled with the first learning objective of abstracting a problem from its description. The results also showed that students had difficulty with the execution, verification, and validation components of the assessment. The study suggested that the implementation of first-year courses should make better use of available assessment methods and tools to provide students with accurate feedback about their own limitations and difficulties. The study also found that students often focused on implementation activities rather than planning, design, or testing. The study concluded that the results from this trial assessment indicated that many students did not have the necessary programming skills at the expected level. The study suggested that future research should focus on improving the assessment process and understanding the factors that influence student performance.A multi-national, multi-institutional study of first-year computer science students' programming skills was conducted by the ITiCSE 2001 Working Group on Assessment of Programming Skills of First-Year CS Students. The study aimed to assess students' programming abilities after completing their first one or two courses in computer science. A trial assessment was developed to evaluate students' ability to program, and the results showed that many students did not have the necessary programming skills at the end of their introductory courses. The study involved 216 students from four universities, and the average score on the general evaluation criteria was 22.89 out of 110 points. The study developed a framework of expectations for first-year courses and suggested further work to develop more comprehensive assessments. The study found that students often struggled with the first learning objective of abstracting a problem from its description. The results also showed that students had difficulty with the execution, verification, and validation components of the assessment. The study suggested that the implementation of first-year courses should make better use of available assessment methods and tools to provide students with accurate feedback about their own limitations and difficulties. The study also found that students often focused on implementation activities rather than planning, design, or testing. The study concluded that the results from this trial assessment indicated that many students did not have the necessary programming skills at the expected level. The study suggested that future research should focus on improving the assessment process and understanding the factors that influence student performance.