Sample paper · GCSE Foundation · grades 1–5
GCSE Foundation sample Paper 2 (calculator)
The real Paper 2 is 1.5 hour 30 minutes and 80 marks, 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 a calculator allowed. AO1 / AO2 / AO3 at this tier: 50% / 25% / 25%.
CalculatorGCSE Foundation
GCSE Foundation sample Paper 2 (calculator)
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- 1.A café offers sandwiches with one filling from 5 choices and one type of bread from 4 choices. Cheese and mustard, which is one of the 5 fillings, is not available on gluten-free bread, which is one of the 4 breads. Work out how many different sandwiches are possible.
- 2.A car passes the 15 km marker on a road and passes the 195 km marker 3 hours later. Work out the gradient of the distance-time graph, that is the rate of change of distance with time.
- 3.A map has a scale of 1 : 100. A path measures 5 cm on the map. Work out the real length of the path, in metres.
- 4.An angle measures 108°. Write down the name given to an angle of this size.
- 5.A fair spinner has 8 equal sections. 3 of the sections are red. The spinner is spun 240 times. Work out how many times you would expect it to land on red.
- 6.A charity shop in Leicester made £2,400 in one month. A pie chart shows how this was spent: repairs took up an angle of 90°, wages took up an angle of 150°, and the rest was other costs. Work out how much was spent on wages.
- 7.Work out an estimate for 8,900 ÷ 29, by rounding each number to 1 significant figure.
- 8.A line segment has one endpoint at (−6, 2) and its midpoint at (−1, 5). Work out the coordinates of the other endpoint.
- 9.A coach travels 210 miles at an average speed of 70 mph. Work out how long the journey takes.
- 10.A garden designer describes a flower bed as a shape with four straight sides: exactly one pair of sides is parallel, those two parallel sides are different lengths, and the other two sides are equal in length to each other but not parallel to each other. Which shape should the designer draw?
- 11.Two fair spinners are each numbered 1, 2 and 3. Priya spins both spinners together and records the two numbers as a pair, listing every possible outcome systematically in a grid. Work out the probability that the two numbers are the same.
- 12.The number of visitors to a museum on Saturday is given as 1,800, correct to the nearest 100. Which of these could not be the actual number of visitors?
- 13.Work out the value of a² − 2b when a = −3 and b = 4.
- 14.Write the ratio 6a : 9a in its simplest form, where a is a positive number.
- 15.In triangle ABC the angle at C is 90°, AC = 8 cm and the angle at A is 30°. Work out the length of BC. Give your answer to 1 decimal place.
- 16.Round 6.283 to 1 significant figure.
- 17.The diagram shows two curves drawn on the same grid. Curve A is the graph of . Which equation could represent curve B?
- 18.A film lasts 105 minutes. A documentary lasts 45 minutes. Write the length of the film as a fraction of the length of the documentary. Give your answer in its simplest form.
- 19.A charity raffle sells 240 tickets at £1.85 each. 40% of the money raised is given to a local hospital. Work out how much money the hospital receives.
- 20.Write 45 minutes : 2 hours as a ratio in its simplest form.
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.