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.Work out an estimate for 6.8 × 41, by rounding each number to 1 significant figure.
- 2.The solution to an inequality is n ≤ 5. Write down the largest integer value of n that satisfies this inequality.
- 3.A 5 kg bag of potatoes costs £4.50. Work out the cost per kilogram.
- 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 spinner is divided into sectors of 144°, 90° and 126°, coloured purple, orange and grey in that order. The spinner is spun 300 times. Work out how many times you would expect it to land on purple.
- 6.A factory makes a batch of 4,000 circuit boards. It checks a random sample of 50 boards and finds that 4 are faulty. The factory will scrap the whole batch if the estimated number of faulty boards in the batch is more than 250. Should the factory scrap the batch?
- 7.Which one of these statements about negative numbers is true?
- 8.A water butt holds 200 litres and is being drained at a steady 8 litres per minute. Write down the function for the amount of water y, in litres, left after x minutes.
- 9.Write the ratio 8 : 15 in the form 1 : n.
- 10.Three of these are rational numbers and one is irrational. Write down the one that is irrational.
- 11.A biased spinner is spun 40 times and lands on red 16 times. It is then spun a further 60 times and lands on red 21 times. Work out the best estimate of the probability that the spinner lands on red, using the results of all 100 spins together.
- 12.For any two whole numbers, the product of the numbers is equal to the product of their highest common factor and their lowest common multiple. The highest common factor of 6 and 8 is 2, and 6 × 8 = 48. Work out the lowest common multiple of 6 and 8.
- 13.Work out the coordinates of the reflection of (6, −3) in the y-axis.
- 14.Write the ratio 4x : 6x in its simplest form, where x is a positive number.
- 15.Triangle PQR has vertices P(0, 0), Q(9, 0) and R(0, 4). Work out the area of triangle PQR.
- 16.Work out 18 − 4 × 2
- 17.Solve 5x − 9 = 16
- 18.The exchange rate is £1 = €1.15. Convert £200 to euros.
- 19.Which of these units would be most appropriate to use when stating the mass of a small car?
- 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.
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.