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 sponsored walk raised £350 for charity. 20% of the money raised is spent on equipment. Work out how much is spent on equipment.
- 2.Which of these equations is true for every value of x, making it an identity rather than an equation with just one solution?
- 3.A cartographer is choosing a scale for a map to show a small park in as much detail as possible. Which of these scales would show the MOST detail — 1 : 500, 1 : 5000, or 1 : 50 000? Give the correct scale and reason.
- 4.The column vector r has top number 2 and bottom number 6. Which of these column vectors is parallel to r?
- 5.Two ordinary fair dice are rolled, one after the other. Work out the probability that the first dice shows a 6 and the second dice shows an even number.
- 6.A school has 1200 pupils. A teacher wants to take a random sample of 60 of them. Write down which of these methods gives a random sample.
- 7.Round 6.283 to 1 significant figure.
- 8.Solve the inequality 4x + 1 > 2x + 9.
- 9.The rent on a flat increases by 10% one year and by a further 10% the following year. Work out the overall percentage increase over the two years.
- 10.Freya is designing a triangular flower bed. Two of its corners have equal angles, and the angle at the third corner is 40°. Work out the size of one of the two equal corner angles.
- 11.A cinema sold 150 tickets for a Saturday screening. A frequency tree records the sales: 90 of the tickets were bought by adults and the rest by children. Of the adult tickets, 54 were for the 3D showing and the rest were for the standard showing. Work out how many adult tickets were for the standard showing.
- 12.Work out 3/4 − 5/12 exactly, giving your answer in its simplest form.
- 13.Solve the simultaneous equations x + y = 1 and 2x + y = 5.
- 14.An amount of money is shared in the ratio 1:2:3. The largest share is £90 more than the smallest share. Work out the total amount that was shared.
- 15.A tile manufacturer cuts a hexagonal tile so that all six sides measure exactly 4 cm, but a check shows only two pairs of the six interior angles are equal to each other, not all six angles. The customer's order specifies regular hexagonal tiles. Based on the check, is this tile a regular hexagon?
- 16.A number, x, is truncated (not rounded) to 1 decimal place and the result is 6.2. Write down the error interval for x.
- 17.Factorise x² − 3x − 10.
- 18.A shop buys a bike for £150 and sells it, making a profit of £45. Write the selling price as a fraction of the cost price, giving your answer in its simplest form.
- 19.The thickness of a sheet of card is 0.02384 cm. Write this thickness correct to 2 significant figures.
- 20.A cleaning solution is made by mixing disinfectant and water in the ratio 1 : 9. Priti wants to make 6 litres of the solution in total. Work out how much disinfectant she needs.
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.