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.In a chess club, 3/8 of the members are girls and the rest are boys. Write down the ratio of girls to boys.
- 2.There are 50 adults on a coach to the Lake District. Every adult is either a man or a woman. There are 10 more men than women. Work out the number of men.
- 3.After a 20% discount, a jacket costs £48. Work out the original price of the jacket.
- 4.A water tank holds 2.5 m³. Work out this volume in cm³.
- 5.A spinner is divided into sectors of 180°, 120° and 60°, coloured red, blue and green in that order. The spinner is spun 60 times. Work out how many times you would expect it to land on green.
- 6.For each of 30 fires in one county, the number of fire engines sent and the cost of the damage were recorded. The scatter graph of the data shows strong positive correlation. A newspaper prints the headline "Sending more fire engines causes more damage". Is the newspaper right? Give a reason for your answer.
- 7.In a box of chocolates 5/8 are milk chocolates and the rest are dark chocolates. Work out the number of dark chocolates as a fraction of the number of milk chocolates.
- 8.A rectangular sheep pen has perimeter P, length l and width w, connected by the formula P = 2l + 2w. A farmer has 60 m of fencing for the perimeter and sets the width at 8 m. Work out the length of the pen.
- 9.Ravi has 5 pears. He has 4 times as many apples as pears. Write the number of pears as a fraction of the number of apples.
- 10.Triangle T has a vertex at (2, 1). It is enlarged by a scale factor of 3, centre (0, 0). Work out the coordinates of the image of this vertex.
- 11.The probability that a plant grown from a seed packet germinates is 7/10. Work out the probability that it does not germinate.
- 12.A space probe is 7.5 × 10⁸ km from Earth. Write this distance as an ordinary number.
- 13.Amelia's mother is three times as old as Amelia. Four years ago her mother was five times as old as Amelia was then. Work out Amelia's age now.
- 14.A printer prints pages at a constant rate. It prints 45 pages in 6 minutes. Work out how many pages it prints in 10 minutes.
- 15.A sailmaker cuts two triangular sail panels from a pattern. Panel X has a 10 m side, with angles of 50° and 75° at its two ends. Panel Y also has a 10 m side, with angles of 50° and 75° at its two ends, in the same arrangement. The sailmaker wants to check the panels will match exactly, without cutting a third measurement. Which condition proves the two panels are congruent?
- 16.Two fair six-sided dice are rolled and their scores are added together. By listing the possible totals systematically, work out how many different totals are possible.
- 17.A car's fuel tank contains 50 litres when it starts a journey. After travelling for 2 hours, it contains 38 litres, and fuel is used at a constant rate. Work out the rate at which fuel is used, in litres per hour.
- 18.Two cars leave the same point at the same time and travel in opposite directions. One travels at 80 km/h and the other at 60 km/h. Work out how long it takes until the cars are 350 km apart.
- 19.Work out 250 ÷ 1000.
- 20.Write 3/4 as a percentage.
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.