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.A carton of orange juice holds 1.35 litres. Ruby pours the juice equally into 4 identical glasses. Work out how much juice is in each glass, giving your answer as a fraction of a litre in its simplest form.
- 2.A fundraising chain letter starts with 3 people taking part in round 1. Each following round has 4 times as many people taking part as the round before. Work out the number of people taking part in round 4.
- 3.3 builders put up a fence in 12 days. All the builders work at the same rate, so the number of days is inversely proportional to the number of builders. Work out how long 9 builders take to put up the same fence.
- 4.A hiker walks due west. What is the three-figure bearing for this direction?
- 5.A bag contains 20 counters. 8 of the counters are red and 12 are blue. A counter is taken at random, its colour is recorded, and it is put back in the bag. This is done 150 times. Work out how many red counters you would expect to be recorded.
- 6.The number of pets owned by each of 19 pupils in a class is recorded: 0 pets — 7 pupils, 1 pet — 3 pupils, 2 pets — 4 pupils, 3 pets — 5 pupils. Work out the median number of pets.
- 7.Work out 0.6 × 0.04.
- 8.Two numbers have a sum of 50. The larger number is twice the smaller number. Work out the smaller number.
- 9.A river 120 km long is drawn as a line 6 cm long on a map. Work out the scale of the map.
- 10.A cylindrical drum and a cuboid box are being wrapped for a display. A shop assistant wraps only the flat faces of each item, not any curved surface. How many flat faces in total does the assistant wrap across both items?
- 11.Two ordinary fair dice are rolled. Work out the probability that both dice show the same score.
- 12.A board game has 5 different character pieces and 4 different colour tokens. The dragon piece can only be used with the gold token. Work out how many different combinations of one character piece and one colour token are possible.
- 13.Which of these statements is an identity?
- 14.A rectangular garden has its length and width in the ratio 5:3. Given that the perimeter of the garden is 64 m, work out the width of the garden.
- 15.A circle has a diameter of 4 cm. Work out the radius of the circle.
- 16.Write these three numbers in order, starting with the smallest: 3/5, 0.55, 58%
- 17.Which expression is equivalent to 3(x + 4) − 2(x − 1)?
- 18.Two mathematically similar oil drums have a length scale factor of 3 from the smaller drum to the larger drum. Work out the volume scale factor from the smaller drum to the larger drum.
- 19.Work out 2/5 of 45.
- 20.A recipe uses flour, sugar and butter in the ratio 8 : 3 : 5. Write the ratio of flour to the rest of the mixture (sugar and butter combined) in its simplest form.
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.