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.Which of these units would be most appropriate to use when stating the mass of a small car?
- 2.Solve 3(2x − 1) = 27
- 3.A tray holds 8 muffins and 20 cupcakes. Write the ratio of the number of muffins to the number of cupcakes in its simplest form.
- 4.A cyclist rides around a perfectly circular track with centre O. At every moment of the ride, the distance from O to the cyclist is exactly the same. Which term names this fixed distance?
- 5.Two fair four-sided dice, numbered 1 to 4, are rolled and the two scores are added together. Work out the probability that the total is 5.
- 6.A quality inspector weighs a random sample of 50 packets of crisps from one day's production and finds their mean mass is 32.4 g. The factory makes 20,000 packets that day. Work out an estimate for the total mass, in kg, of all the packets made that day.
- 7.Write 0.325 as a fraction in its simplest form.
- 8.A pattern is made from tiles. Pattern 1 has 7 tiles, pattern 2 has 11 tiles, pattern 3 has 15 tiles, and pattern 4 has 19 tiles, with each new pattern having 4 more tiles than the one before it. Work out an expression, in terms of n, for the number of tiles in pattern n.
- 9.A rectangular room is drawn on a plan with a scale of 1 : 50. On the plan, the room measures 8 cm by 6 cm. Work out the real area of the room, in square metres.
- 10.A straight line passes through points A, B and C, with B between A and C. A fourth point D is not on the line. Angle ABD = 132°. Work out the size of angle DBC.
- 11.Priya spins a fair spinner with P(red) = 0.3, and separately flips a fair coin with P(heads) = 0.5. Using a tree diagram, work out the probability that she gets red AND heads.
- 12.In a choir, 2/9 of the members are boys and the rest are girls. Write down the ratio of girls to boys, in its simplest form.
- 13.A quadratic curve has a minimum turning point at (3, −4). Which of these statements about the curve must be true?
- 14.A furniture designer makes a scale model of a wardrobe using a scale of 1 : 8. The real wardrobe is 2.4 m tall and 1.2 m wide. Work out the perimeter of the front face of the model wardrobe, in centimetres.
- 15.Put sin 30°, tan 30° and cos 30° in order of size, starting with the smallest.
- 16.A restaurant adds a service charge of 15% to a bill of £120. Work out the service charge.
- 17.The nth term of a sequence is 4n − 3. Work out the 7th term of the sequence.
- 18.A plan is drawn to a scale of 1 : 25. A real fence is 10 m long. Work out the length of the fence on the plan, in centimetres.
- 19.A rectangular tile measures 45 cm by 0.6 m. Work out its area, in square centimetres.
- 20.A colony of bacteria has 400 bacteria. The number increases by 15% each hour. Work out the number of bacteria after 1 hour.
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.