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 metal cube has a mass of 540 g and a volume of 60 cm³. Work out its density in g/cm³.
- 2.A mobile phone plan charges a fixed monthly fee plus an amount for each gigabyte of data used. The total cost £C for using g gigabytes in a month is given by C = 15 + 2g. What does the number 2 represent in this formula?
- 3.A film lasts 105 minutes. A documentary lasts 45 minutes. Write the length of the film as a fraction of the length of the documentary. Give your answer in its simplest form.
- 4.A hexagonal prism has 8 faces and 12 vertices. Using F + V − E = 2, work out how many edges it has.
- 5.A basketball player has a free-throw success probability of 0.75. She wants to expect to score 60 successful free throws. Work out how many free throws she needs to attempt.
- 6.In a scatter graph of the age, in years, and the wingspan, in cm, of 20 birds of the same species, all the points lie close to a rising line of best fit except one, which lies a long way below the line. That bird was later found to have a damaged wing. Give a reason why this point should not be used when drawing the line of best fit.
- 7.In a classroom the ratio of boys to girls is 3 : 4. What fraction of the class are boys?
- 8.A square has sides of length y cm. Write down an expression for the perimeter of the square.
- 9.The ratio of y to x is always 3 : 4. Write down which equation could represent this relationship.
- 10.Write down the term for the distance all the way around the edge of a circle.
- 11.On a probability scale from 0 to 1, five descriptions are used: impossible (0), unlikely (between 0 and 0.5), evens (exactly 0.5), likely (between 0.5 and 1) and certain (1). The probability that a particular bus is late is 3/8. Which description best fits this probability?
- 12.A charity shop buys a coat for £24 and sells it for a profit that is 3/8 of the buying price. Work out the selling price.
- 13.The line y = 3x + 6 meets the x-axis at one point. Work out the coordinates of that point.y = 3x + 6
- 14.A fruit squash is made by mixing squash and water. In a jug, 2/9 of the total volume is squash. A caterer makes up 4.5 litres of the squash mixture. Work out how many litres of squash are in the mixture.
- 15.A regular polygon has 5 lines of symmetry. What is the order of rotational symmetry of this polygon?
- 16.In a photo album the ratio of colour photos to black-and-white photos is 9 : 4. Work out the number of black-and-white photos as a fraction of the number of colour photos.
- 17.Solve the simultaneous equations x + y = 1 and 2x + y = 5.
- 18.A shop sells fruit juice concentrate that must be diluted with water in the ratio 2 : 5 (concentrate : water) to make squash. Priya has 8 litres of concentrate. Work out how much water she needs to keep the same ratio.
- 19.A shop buys boxes of pens for £4 each. It sells each box on to a school for £3 more than it paid, and charges an extra £2 delivery fee for the whole order. A school orders 5 boxes. Work out the total cost of the order.
- 20.There are 84 passengers on a double-decker bus. 35 of the passengers are adults and the rest are children. Write the number of adults as a fraction of the number of children. Give your answer 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.