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

VersionsA only A + B A + B + Csame questions, different order

AnswersQuestions only With answer key Key only

New sheet

GCSE Foundation sample Paper 1 (non-calculator)

Maths · GCSE Foundation · Paper 1 · Non-calculator · 20 questions

MathsUKwww.geekhero.co.uk

1.Work out the value of $2^{3} + 3^{2}$ .
(a)17
(b)72
(c)12
(d)−1
2.Write down the first four terms of the sequence with nth term 6n − 5.
(a)0, 6, 12, 18
(b)6, 12, 18, 24
(c)1, 7, 13, 19
(d)5, 11, 17, 23
3.A scale drawing of a playground is drawn to a scale of 1 : 300. A slide measures 4 cm on the drawing. Work out the real length of the slide, in centimetres.
(a)304 cm
(b)600 cm
(c)0.013 cm
(d)1200 cm
4.A triangular prism has two triangular end faces and three rectangular faces joining them. How many faces does it have in total?
(a)5
(b)6
(c)3
(d)9
5.120 members of a sports club were asked whether they play football or netball; each member plays exactly one of the two sports. 70 of the members are male. 45 of the male members play football. 38 of the female members play netball. Work out how many female members play football.
(a)45
(b)38
(c)25
(d)12
6.The lowest temperature in a garden in Sheffield was recorded on each of seven days: 3 °C, 5 °C, 2 °C, 7 °C, 4 °C, 6 °C and 3 °C. Write down what the range of these seven temperatures describes.
(a)The temperature that occurred most often in the week
(b)The temperature that was typical of the seven days
(c)How many different temperatures were recorded
(d)How much the temperatures varied over the seven days
7.In a music collection, the ratio of pop albums to rock albums is 5 : 3. Work out the number of rock albums as a fraction of the number of pop albums.
(a)3/5
(b)3/8
(c)5/3
(d)5/8
8.Which of these numbers is a cube number?
(a)9
(b)27
(c)16
(d)25
9.3 kg of apples cost £6. Work out the cost of 5 kg of the same apples.
(a)£3.60
(b)£10
(c)£11
(d)£30
10.Two similar ponds have perimeters in the ratio 4 : 11. The perimeter of the larger pond is 88 m. Work out the perimeter of the smaller pond.
(a)32 m
(b)242 m
(c)84 m
(d)121 m
11.A bag contains 3 yellow counters and 2 green counters. Sophie takes one counter at random and does not put it back. She then takes a second counter at random. Work out the probability that the first counter is yellow and the second is green.
(a)3/20
(b)3/10
(c)3/5
(d)6/25
12.Round 6.283 to 1 significant figure.
(a)10
(b)6.3
(c)6
(d)0.6
13.A straight line has gradient −3 and passes through the point (0, 1). Work out the value of y when x = 2.
(a)7
(b)−5
(c)5
(d)−7
14.An adult cinema ticket costs £15 and a child ticket costs £9. Write the ratio of the adult price to the child price in its simplest form.
(a)5:3
(b)2:3
(c)3:5
(d)5:8
15.Triangle ABC is drawn. The interior angle bisectors from vertices A and B are constructed and meet at point I inside the triangle. Which statement about point I must be true?
(a)I is the midpoint of side AB.
(b)I lies on side AC.
(c)I is the same distance from all three sides.
(d)I is the same distance from all three vertices.
16.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.
(a)£45
(b)£37
(c)£25
(d)£22
17.A straight line has gradient 3 and passes through the point (1, 4). Work out the equation of the line.
(a)y = x + 3
(b)y = 3x − 1
(c)y = 3x + 1
(d)y = 3x + 4
18.A box holds 60 crayons. 25 of the crayons are broken and the rest are unbroken. Write the number of unbroken crayons as a fraction of the number of broken crayons. Give your answer in its simplest form.
(a)5/7
(b)2/5
(c)7/12
(d)7/5
19.Tickets for a fairground ride are sold in packs of 6. Tokens for the dodgems are sold in packs of 10. Yusuf wants to buy the smallest number of packs of each so that he ends up with the same number of ride tickets as dodgem tokens. Work out how many ride tickets that is.
(a)16
(b)30
(c)60
(d)2
20.Two quantities x and y are in the ratio x : y = 2 : 5, and y = kx for a constant k. Work out the value of k.
(a)5
(b)3
(c)2.5
(d)0.4

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.