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.Write '3.2 million' as a number in figures.
- 2.A car passes the 15 km marker on a road and passes the 195 km marker 3 hours later. Work out the gradient of the distance-time graph, that is the rate of change of distance with time.
- 3.A jug of squash is made by mixing water and syrup in the ratio 6:1. Nia wants to make 8.4 litres of squash. Work out how much syrup she needs, in litres.
- 4.Which of the following is NOT one of the four basic conditions used to prove two triangles are congruent?
- 5.Two fair five-sided dice, numbered 1 to 5, are rolled. Work out the probability that the two scores differ by at least 2.
- 6.The marks scored by four pupils in a quiz were 8, 8, 8, 8. Work out the mean, the median and the mode of these marks.
- 7.Grace works out 7 × 99 by writing 99 as 100 − 1. Use her method to work out 7 × 99.
- 8.Write down the expression that means the same as m² × m × 3.
- 9.A road sign 3 m tall casts a shadow 5 m long. At the same time, a nearby lamppost casts a shadow 10 m long. Work out the height of the lamppost.
- 10.A sector of a circle has radius 5 cm and angle 72°. Work out the arc length of the sector, in terms of π.
- 11.An ordinary fair dice is rolled once. Set A is the set of even scores and set B is the set of scores greater than 4. Work out the probability that the score rolled is in set A or in set B or in both.
- 12.A measuring jug shows a volume of 340 ml, correct to the nearest 20 ml. Work out the smallest possible volume in the jug.
- 13.A graph shows the total monthly cost of a mobile phone tariff against the number of minutes of calls. The line starts at £12 and stays level until 200 minutes, then rises by 5p for each further minute of calls. Use the graph to work out the total cost of a month in which 250 minutes of calls are made.
- 14.A river 120 km long is drawn as a line 6 cm long on a map. Work out the scale of the map.
- 15.Two similar flags have widths in the ratio 2 : 5. The width of the smaller flag is 8 cm. Work out the width of the larger flag.
- 16.Write 0.875 as a fraction in its simplest form.
- 17.A company charges for hiring chairs for a day. Hiring 1 chair costs £12, hiring 2 chairs costs £19, hiring 3 chairs costs £26, and hiring 4 chairs costs £33. Work out an expression, in terms of n, for the cost in pounds of hiring n chairs for a day.
- 18.A box holds 60 crayons. 25 of the crayons are broken and the rest are unbroken. Write the number of unbroken crayons as a fraction of the number of broken crayons. Give your answer in its simplest form.
- 19.A window display has red baubles, gold baubles and green baubles in the ratio 4 : 5 : 6. What fraction of the baubles are not green?
- 20.y is directly proportional to x, so y = kx. When x = 2, the value of y is 10. Work out the value of k.
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.