Sample paper · GCSE Foundation · grades 1–5
GCSE Foundation sample Paper 1 (non-calculator)
The real Paper 1 is 1.5 hour 30 minutes and 80 marks, non-calculator, and all three papers carry equal weight. This sample is 20 original questions in the same content proportions as the Foundation qualification — number 25%, algebra 20%, ratio, proportion and rates of change 25%, geometry and measures 15%, probability 7.5%, statistics 7.5% — with no calculator-only items. AO1 / AO2 / AO3 at this tier: 50% / 25% / 25%.
Non-calculatorGCSE Foundation
GCSE Foundation sample Paper 1 (non-calculator)
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- 1.Which statement about the number 51 is correct?
- 2.Six years ago Harry was three times as old as his brother Leo. Harry is now 24 years old. Work out Leo's age now.
- 3.A jug holds 2 litres. Given that 1 litre = 1000 cm³, work out the capacity of the jug in cm³.
- 4.A solid has 6 faces and 8 vertices. Using the formula F + V − E = 2, work out how many edges it has.
- 5.A fair coin is flipped and an ordinary fair dice is rolled. Every possible result is listed in a table. Work out how many different results the table contains altogether.
- 6.A vertical line chart shows the number of goals scored by a football team in each of its 20 matches: 0 goals in 4 matches, 1 goal in 7 matches, 2 goals in 6 matches and 3 goals in 3 matches. Write down the modal number of goals.
- 7.Work out 5⁰ + 5¹ + 5²
- 8.Simplify (5x² + 3x − 2) − (2x² − x + 5)
- 9.A map has a scale of 1 : 100. A path measures 5 cm on the map. Work out the real length of the path, in metres.
- 10.A tile manufacturer cuts a hexagonal tile so that all six sides measure exactly 4 cm, but a check shows only two pairs of the six interior angles are equal to each other, not all six angles. The customer's order specifies regular hexagonal tiles. Based on the check, is this tile a regular hexagon?
- 11.A spinner is divided into sectors of 144°, 90° and 126°, coloured purple, orange and grey in that order. The spinner is spun 300 times. Work out how many times you would expect it to land on purple.
- 12.3/5 of a 5/6 litre bottle of juice is poured out. Work out the exact volume poured out, in litres.
- 13.The point D has coordinates (3, −8). Write down the distance of D from the y-axis.
- 14.An oven is preheating. Its temperature, T °C, is plotted against time, t minutes, on a straight-line graph. The line passes through the points (2, 60) and (6, 140). Work out the gradient of the line.
- 15.Work out the gradient of the line segment joining A(2, 3) and B(6, 11).
- 16.Simplify x⁵ × x³ ÷ x², giving your answer as a single power of x.
- 17.A coach company charges a booking fee plus a price for each passenger. A booking for 1 passenger costs £9, for 2 passengers costs £15, for 3 passengers costs £21, and for 4 passengers costs £27. Work out an expression, in terms of n, for the cost in pounds of a booking for n passengers.
- 18.In a class, 50% of the students study French, 30% study Spanish and the rest study German. Write down the ratio of French : Spanish : German students, in its simplest form.
- 19.Light travels at 3 × 10⁸ metres per second. Work out how far light travels in 2 × 10⁻⁶ seconds. Give your answer in standard form.
- 20.A sum of £150 is divided between Ben and Chloe in the ratio 2:3. Work out Chloe's share.
How the 20 questions are shared out
- Number — 5 questions (25% of the qualification)
- Algebra — 4 questions (20% of the qualification)
- Ratio, proportion and rates of change — 5 questions (25% of the qualification)
- Geometry and measures — 3 questions (15% of the qualification)
- Probability — 2 questions (7.5% of the qualification)
- Statistics — 1 question (7.5% of the qualification)
Where an area has fewer printable questions than its share, the shortfall is filled from the other areas. These are original questions, not past papers.