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.Write down the reciprocal of 5/8
- 2.The solution to an inequality is n ≤ 5. Write down the largest integer value of n that satisfies this inequality.
- 3.y is directly proportional to x, and y = 7x. Work out the value of x when y = 35.y = 7x
- 4.A sector of a circle has an angle of 90° and an area of 78.5 cm². Using π = 3.14, work out the radius of the circle.
- 5.A raffle at a school fair sells 500 tickets. Mia buys 25 of the tickets. One ticket is drawn at random to win the prize. Work out the probability that Mia wins the raffle. Give your answer as a fraction in its simplest form.
- 6.A company makes 50,000 light bulbs a day and wants to check how long they last before they fail. Testing a bulb to find out how long it lasts destroys it. Give a reason why the company should test a sample of bulbs rather than every bulb it makes.
- 7.The number of pages in a book is 240, correct to the nearest 10 pages. Write down the error interval for the actual number of pages, n.
- 8.Which of these statements is an identity?
- 9.Write the ratio 0.75 : 2 as a ratio of whole numbers in its simplest form.
- 10.A solid has 10 vertices and 15 edges. Using the formula F + V − E = 2, work out how many faces it has.
- 11.A student is estimating the probability that a spinner lands on red. In her first 85 spins it landed on red 34 times. She then spins it 165 more times, and in those it lands on red 58 times. Work out the best estimate of the probability of red from all 250 spins. Give your answer as a decimal, correct to 3 decimal places.
- 12.A charity shop buys a coat for £24 and sells it for a profit that is 3/8 of the buying price. Work out the selling price.
- 13.Factorise x² − 3x − 10.
- 14.Two cars leave the same point at the same time and travel in opposite directions. One travels at 80 km/h and the other at 60 km/h. Work out how long it takes until the cars are 350 km apart.
- 15.A solid metal sphere has a radius of 5 cm. It is melted down and recast into a solid cylinder with the same radius, 5 cm. Work out the height of the cylinder, so that its volume equals the volume of the sphere. Use π = 3.14 and give your answer correct to 1 decimal place.
- 16.Write '3.2 million' as a number in figures.
- 17.Which expression means 'add 3 to n, then multiply the result by 4'?
- 18.A car is bought for £9000. Its value decreases by 8% each year. Work out its value after 2 years.
- 19.A space probe is 7.5 × 10⁸ km from Earth. Write this distance as an ordinary number.
- 20.Amelia uses 2 kg of flour to bake 5 cakes. Using the same recipe, work out how many cakes she can bake with 6 kg of flour.
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.