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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- 1.3.4 × 10⁵ is written as an ordinary number. Work out this number.
- 2.A sequence begins at 60, and each term after that is found by subtracting 7 from the term before it. Work out the 5th term of the sequence.
- 3.Work out how many seconds there are in 3 minutes and 20 seconds.
- 4.How many edges does a cube have?
- 5.Spinner E has 4 equal sections, numbered 1 to 4. Spinner F has 6 equal sections, numbered 1 to 6. Both spinners are spun once. Work out the probability of getting at least one 3.
- 6.The mean of three numbers is 50. A fourth number, 100, is added to the set. Work out the mean of the four numbers.
- 7.Work out √144 − 2 × 3 + √25
- 8.Work out the value of (x − 4)/2 + 3 when x = 10
- 9.A car travels for 3 hours at an average speed of 80 km/h and then for 1 hour at an average speed of 40 km/h. Work out the average speed for the whole journey.
- 10.A scale drawing uses a scale of 1 : 60. A path on the drawing is measured as 9.8 cm long. What is the real length of the path, in metres, to 1 decimal place?
- 11.A weather station records whether it rains each day for 40 days: it rains on 9 of the days and does not rain on the rest. A local forecaster claims that the probability of rain on any day is 0.3. Work out the relative frequency of rain from the recorded data.
- 12.A garden has flowers, herbs and vegetables in the ratio 2 : 3 : 4. What fraction of the garden is not vegetables?
- 13.A rectangular garden has width w metres and length (w + 3) metres. A gardener writes its perimeter as 2w + 3. Which statement corrects the gardener's mistake?
- 14.A train journey takes 2 hours 15 minutes. A bus journey to the same place takes 3 hours 45 minutes. Write the time for the train journey as a fraction of the time for the bus journey, giving your answer in its simplest form.
- 15.A car's windscreen wiper blade is 40 cm long and sweeps through an angle of 110° as it wipes the glass. Using π = 3.14, work out the area of glass it wipes, to the nearest cm².
- 16.A number is divided by 5, then 6 is subtracted, giving the result −1. Work out the number.
- 17.The line y = 3x + 6 meets the x-axis at one point. Work out the coordinates of that point.y = 3x + 6
- 18.There are 2500 electric cars registered in a town. The number is predicted to increase by 6% each year. Work out the predicted number of electric cars after 3 years, to the nearest whole number.
- 19.Write these three numbers in order of size, starting with the smallest: 0.7, 3/4, 0.72
- 20.A bag contains red counters and blue counters in the ratio 5:3. There are 56 counters in the bag altogether. Work out how many counters are blue.
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.