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.At midday the temperature in the Lake District was 3 °C. By midnight it had fallen to −6 °C. Work out the fall in temperature.
- 2.Which of these equations gives a graph shaped like a U, symmetrical about a vertical line?
- 3.Write 350 ml : 1.4 l as a ratio in its simplest form.
- 4.Every diameter of a circle is an example of a more general type of straight line joining two points on the circle. Which term names that more general type of line?
- 5.A student is estimating the probability that a spinner lands on red. In her first 85 spins it landed on red 34 times. She then spins it 165 more times, and in those it lands on red 58 times. Work out the best estimate of the probability of red from all 250 spins. Give your answer as a decimal, correct to 3 decimal places.
- 6.A pie chart shows the favourite sport of the 40 pupils in a class: football 50%, netball 25%, tennis 15% and swimming 10%. Work out how many pupils chose football.
- 7.A cycle route is 350 m long. A footpath runs alongside it for 3/7 of that length. Work out the length of the footpath.
- 8.Solve 4x + 3 = 19
- 9.Two mathematically similar cylinders have heights in the ratio 3 : 4. Write the ratio of their volumes in its simplest form.
- 10.Two sides of a triangle are 9 cm and 15 cm long. Write down which one of these lengths is possible for the third side.
- 11.A two-way table records 200 members of a gym. 80 of the members are women and the rest are men. 60 of the women attend yoga classes. Work out the percentage of the women who attend yoga classes.
- 12.A number line runs from 0 to 1 and is divided into 4 equal parts. Which mark on the line represents 1/4?
- 13.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.
- 14.A tray holds 8 muffins and 20 cupcakes. Write the ratio of the number of muffins to the number of cupcakes in its simplest form.
- 15.In a kite, one pair of opposite angles are equal in size. In kite WXYZ, angle X = 40° and angle Z = 100° are the two angles that are NOT equal to each other. The other two angles, W and Y, are equal to each other. Work out the size of angle W.
- 16.A necklace is made from red beads and gold beads in the ratio 7 : 3. What fraction of the beads are gold?
- 17.Priya says that x = 6 is the solution of the equation 4x + 8 = 24. Priya is wrong. Work out the correct value of x.
- 18.A spring's extension is directly proportional to the force applied to it. A force of 5 N produces an extension of 12 mm. Work out the extension produced by a force of 20 N.
- 19.A rectangular field measures 19.6 m by 48.3 m. Work out an estimate for the area of the field, by rounding each length to 1 significant figure.
- 20.Line P passes through the origin and the point (3, 21). Line Q passes through the origin and the point (5, 45). Both lines represent the distance, in metres, run by an athlete against the time, in seconds. Work out the gradient of the steeper line.
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.