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.Work out 2 × 3 × 5 + 1 and decide whether the result is a prime number.
- 2.A plumber charges a call-out fee plus an hourly rate for a job. The total cost, £C, for a job lasting h hours is given by the formula C = 40 + 25h. What does the number 40 represent in this formula?
- 3.A force of 250 N acts on an area of 0.5 m². Using pressure = force ÷ area, work out the pressure, in pascals.
- 4.A recipe uses 0.75 kg of sugar. Work out how many grams of sugar this is.
- 5.A fair coin is flipped three times. Work out the probability of getting at least one head.
- 6.A shop records the colour of every car that uses its car park one Tuesday. Its frequency table reads: black 44, silver 37, blue 26, red 18, white 12. Write down the frequency of black cars.
- 7.Grace works out 7 × 99 by writing 99 as 100 − 1. Use her method to work out 7 × 99.
- 8.A hiker's distance-time graph shows the following: he walks 5 km in the first 1 hour at a steady speed, rests for 1 hour, then walks a further 9 km in the next 2 hours, also at a steady speed. Work out his average speed for the whole journey, in km/h.
- 9.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.
- 10.Triangles LMN and XYZ have LM = XY, MN = YZ and LN = XZ. Give a reason why triangle LMN is congruent to triangle XYZ.
- 11.The probability that Amelia's bus is late on a school morning is 9/10. Write this probability as a percentage.
- 12.A tin of paint has a mass of 5.672 kg. Round this mass to 1 decimal place.
- 13.A sequence has the position-to-term rule: the nth term is 3n. Write down the first four terms of the sequence.
- 14.£5000 is invested in an account paying 4% compound interest each year. Work out the total interest earned after 3 years.
- 15.A parallelogram has a base of 4 cm and a perpendicular height of 17 cm. Work out the area of the parallelogram.
- 16.The diameter of an artificial silk fibre is 4 × 10⁻⁶ metres. One nanometre is 10⁻⁹ metres. Work out the diameter of the fibre in nanometres.
- 17.Make m the subject of the formula w = m − 8.
- 18.A parcel has a mass of 2400 g. Given that 1 kg = 1000 g, work out the mass of the parcel in kilograms.
- 19.A country has an area of 25,000,000 hectares. Write this area in standard form.
- 20.A dog walker's charge, C pounds, for walking a dog for m minutes is shown on a straight-line graph. The line passes through the points (20, 14) and (50, 26). Work out the charge for a 65-minute walk.
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.