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 school long jump competition Priya's jump is recorded as 3.8 m and Nadia's jump is recorded as 3.9 m, each correct to the nearest 0.1 m. Priya says she may have jumped further than Nadia. Decide whether Priya is right, and give a reason for your answer.
- 2.A regular hexagon has sides of length (x + 2) cm. Write down an expression, in terms of x, for the perimeter of the hexagon.
- 3.Leah puts £4000 into a savings account paying 3% compound interest each year. At the end of 2 years she takes out all of the money and spends £1500 of it on a laptop. Work out how much of the money she has left.
- 4.A shop stacks tins in a display block. The front elevation of the block is 4 tins wide and 3 tins high. The side elevation shows the block is 2 tins deep. Every position in the block is filled. How many tins are used in total?
- 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.A café sold 10 sandwiches on each of four days: 10, 10, 10, 10. Work out the range of the numbers sold.
- 7.Work out (−3) × 4 + 2 × (−5)
- 8.A ramp rises 3 m over a horizontal distance of 12 m. Work out the gradient of the ramp.
- 9.It takes 8 painters 6 days to paint a fence. Working at the same rate, work out how many days 4 painters would take to paint the same fence.
- 10.Two similar hexagonal tiles have lengths in the ratio 4 : 7. A side of the smaller tile is 8.4 cm long. Work out the length of the corresponding side of the larger tile.
- 11.A two-way table records how 130 pupils travel to school. 70 of the pupils are girls and the rest are boys. 42 of the girls walk to school and the rest of the girls cycle. 33 of the boys walk to school. Work out what fraction of the girls walk to school.
- 12.A newspaper reports that 48,000 people attended a festival. The figure is correct to the nearest thousand. Which statement about the number of people who attended must be true?
- 13.Point P has coordinates (2, −5). P is reflected in the x-axis to point Q. Write down the coordinates of Q.
- 14.Simplify the ratio 45 : 30 : 75 to its simplest form.
- 15.An angle measures 108°. Write down the name given to an angle of this size.
- 16.Grace buys three items costing £9.95, £19.90 and £4.99. Work out an estimate for the total cost, by rounding each price to the nearest pound.
- 17.y = 5x − 1. Work out the value of y when x = 3.y = 5x − 1
- 18.Triangle A and triangle B are mathematically similar. A side of triangle A is 5 cm long, and the corresponding side of triangle B is 15 cm long. Write the ratio of the length in triangle A to the length in triangle B in its simplest form.
- 19.The distance from the Earth to the Moon is 384,000 km. Write this distance in standard form, in kilometres.
- 20.A candle burns down at a constant rate. Its height, h cm, is plotted against time, t minutes, on a straight-line graph. The gradient of the line is −0.3. Which statement correctly describes what the gradient means?
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.