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%.

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GCSE Foundation sample Paper 2 (calculator)

Maths · GCSE Foundation · Paper 2 · Calculator · 20 questions

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1.Work out an estimate for 588 ÷ 31, by rounding each number to 1 significant figure.
(a)20
(b)19
(c)17
(d)200
2.Priya has a budget of £50 for a school trip. The coach costs £14 and each student ticket costs £4. Using the inequality 14 + 4s ≤ 50, work out the greatest number of student tickets, s, she can buy.
(a)16
(b)9
(c)8
(d)12
3.8 identical pens cost £6.40 in total. Work out the cost of 5 of the same pens.
(a)£2.40
(b)£0.80
(c)£4.00
(d)£10.24
4.Two straight lines cross at a point. Which statement about a pair of vertically opposite angles is always true?
(a)They are always equal to 90° each
(b)They always add up to 360°
(c)They always add up to 180°
(d)They are always equal to each other
5.An ordinary pack of 52 playing cards contains 13 hearts. One card is taken at random from the pack. Work out the probability that the card is not a heart. Give your answer as a percentage.
(a)39%
(b)50%
(c)25%
(d)75%
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.A three-digit code is made using the digits 1, 2 and 3, and each digit may be used more than once. Work out how many different three-digit codes can be made.
(a)9
(b)3
(c)27
(d)6
8.A mobile phone tariff charges a fixed £15 plus 20p for every minute of calls made, so the total monthly charge, £C, for m minutes of calls is given by C = 15 + 0.2m. In a month where Ali's charge was £46.60, work out how many minutes of calls he made.
(a)233 minutes
(b)158 minutes
(c)308 minutes
(d)218 minutes
9.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.
(a)32 mm
(b)3 mm
(c)48 mm
(d)36 mm
10.A circle has centre O. PQ, RS and TU are three chords of the circle, and only one of them passes through O. Write down what this tells you about that chord.
(a)It is the same length as the other two chords
(b)It is the longest of the three chords
(c)It is the shortest of the three chords
(d)It is half the length of each of the other two chords
11.A school trip took 200 pupils to a museum, travelling either by coach or by minibus. A frequency tree records the trip: 150 pupils travelled by coach, split into 90 in Year 8 and the rest in Year 9. All the pupils who travelled by minibus were in Year 8. Work out the total number of Year 8 pupils on the trip.
(a)50
(b)90
(c)60
(d)140
12.The density of a type of plastic is 0.9 g/cm³. Work out this density in kg/m³.
(a)900 kg/m³
(b)0.0009 kg/m³
(c)0.09 kg/m³
(d)900 000 kg/m³
13.y = x + 10. Work out the value of y when x = 0.
y = x + 10
(a)0
(b)10
(c)11
(d)−10
14.A recipe for pancakes uses 240 g of flour to make pancakes for 6 people. Work out how many grams of flour are needed to make pancakes for 15 people, using the same recipe.
(a)40 g
(b)249 g
(c)96 g
(d)600 g
15.A submarine travels due south. What is the three-figure bearing for this direction?
(a)270
(b)090
(c)018
(d)180
16.Simplify 3² ÷ 3⁵, giving your answer as a single power of 3.
(a)3⁷
(b)3³
(c)3⁻³
(d)3¹⁰
17.Write down the expression that means the same as 'subtract 5 from n, then divide the result by 2'.
(a)(n − 5)/2
(b)n/2 − 5
(c)2(n − 5)
(d)(5 − n)/2
18.1 litre = 100 centilitres. Work out how many centilitres there are in 6 litres.
(a)6000 centilitres
(b)60 centilitres
(c)600 centilitres
(d)106 centilitres
19.A tank contains 120 litres of water. Water is drained out at a rate of 8 litres per minute for 6 minutes, and then a hose adds 15 litres. Work out how much water is left in the tank.
(a)121 litres
(b)57 litres
(c)87 litres
(d)72 litres
20.Two taxi firms show their charges on straight-line graphs, with the cost in pounds on the vertical axis and the distance in miles on the horizontal axis. Firm A's line passes through (0, 4) and (5, 14). Firm B's line passes through (0, 6) and (5, 21). Work out which firm charges more per mile.
(a)Firm A — £3 per mile against Firm B's £2 per mile
(b)Firm A — £0.50 per mile against Firm B's £0.33 per mile
(c)Firm B — £3 per mile against Firm A's £2 per mile
(d)Neither — both lines start with a positive fixed charge

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.