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 café offers 3 types of soup and 4 types of bread roll. Work out how many different combinations of one soup and one bread roll are possible.
- 2.Oliver buys b pens. Each pen costs £2. Write down an expression for the total cost, in pounds.
- 3.The number of biscuits, b, that each guest at a party receives is inversely proportional to the number of guests, g. Which equation could show this relationship?
- 4.a is the column vector with top number 3 and bottom number −2. Work out 4a, giving your answer as a column vector in the form (top, bottom).
- 5.A box contains 1 white bead, 4 purple beads and 4 red beads. One bead is taken at random from the box. Work out the probability that the bead is white or purple.
- 6.A scatter graph shows the number of days, x, that each of 16 tomato plants was watered and its height, y cm. The line of best fit has equation y = 1.5x + 4. Write down what the 1.5 in this equation tells you about the plants.y = 1.5x + 4
- 7.Write these numbers in order, starting with the smallest: −1.4, 5/4, −6/5, 1.3, 0
- 8.The nth term of a sequence is 4n + 2. A term in the sequence has value 30. Work out its position, n, in the sequence.
- 9.Two mathematically similar containers have a volume scale factor of 64 (the larger container's volume is 64 times the smaller container's volume). Work out the length scale factor between the two containers.
- 10.A solid has a plan view that is a circle, and a front elevation that is a triangle. Which solid is this?
- 11.Harry plays a game in which he flips a fair coin and rolls an ordinary fair dice. He wins a prize only if the coin shows heads and the dice shows a 6. Work out the probability that Harry wins a prize.
- 12.Work out 2 × 3 × 5 + 1 and decide whether the result is a prime number.
- 13.A square tile has an area of 144 cm². Work out the side length of the tile.
- 14.A salt solution has a concentration of 10%. The solution contains 50 g of salt. Work out the total mass of the solution.
- 15.A fish tank is a cuboid measuring 40 cm long, 25 cm wide and 30 cm high. Water is poured in to a depth of 20 cm. Work out the volume of water in the tank, in litres.
- 16.Write 45,000 in standard form.
- 17.Which expression means the same as 3 × a × b?
- 18.The ratio of Josh's savings to Mia's savings is 4:7. Mia has £39 more than Josh. Work out Josh's savings.
- 19.Simplify x⁷ × x⁴, giving your answer as a single power of x.
- 20.A dog walker's charge, C pounds, for walking a dog for m minutes is shown on a straight-line graph. The line passes through the points (20, 14) and (50, 26). Work out the charge for a 65-minute walk.
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.