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.A square petri dish has an area of 121 mm². A scientist wants to know its side length. Work out the side length of the dish.
- 2.A quadratic curve has a minimum turning point at (3, −4). Which of these statements about the curve must be true?
- 3.At a youth club the ratio of juniors to seniors is 3:5. There are 40 members altogether. Work out how many seniors there are.
- 4.In triangle ABC and triangle DEF, the angle at A and the angle at D are both 40°, and the angle at B and the angle at E are both 70°. No side lengths are given. Write down whether the two triangles must be similar, with the reason.
- 5.A sorting office processes 2,000 letters addressed to one postcode area in a week. The probability that a letter is a bill is 0.15. Work out how many of the letters you would expect to be bills.
- 6.A shop recorded the number of books it sold on five days: 100, 40, 70, 20, 60. Work out the range of the numbers of books sold.
- 7.A quiz has 50 questions. Freya answers 10% of them incorrectly. Work out how many questions she answers incorrectly.
- 8.Solve the simultaneous equations 5x − 2y = 16 and 3x + 2y = 16. Work out the value of x.
- 9.In a fruit drink, 3/8 of the total volume is orange juice and the rest is apple juice. Write down the ratio of orange juice to apple juice, in its simplest form.
- 10.A solid has 6 faces and 8 vertices. Using the formula F + V − E = 2, work out how many edges it has.
- 11.180 people entered a fun run. A frequency tree splits them into 108 adults and the rest children. It then splits each of those groups into those who finished and those who did not. 99 of the adults finished, and 153 of the 180 people finished altogether. Work out how many children did not finish.
- 12.Freya types 4² + 3² into her calculator and writes down 49. Work out the correct value of 4² + 3².
- 13.Make x the subject of the formula y = 5x + 3.y = 5x + 3
- 14.A plan is drawn to a scale of 1 : 500. Work out how many metres are represented by 1 cm on the plan.
- 15.A cuboid-shaped shipping crate has a length of 12 m, a width of 5 m, and a volume of 360 m³. Work out the height of the crate, in metres.
- 16.A train leaves Leeds at 14:35. The journey takes 1 hour 50 minutes. Work out the time the train arrives. Give your answer using the 24-hour clock.
- 17.Oliver buys b pens. Each pen costs £2. Write down an expression for the total cost, in pounds.
- 18.An acid solution has a concentration of 20%. The solution contains 40 g of acid, and the rest of the solution is water. Work out the mass of water in the solution.
- 19.Sara has a red T-shirt, a blue T-shirt and a green T-shirt. She has black shorts and grey shorts. By listing the combinations systematically, work out how many different outfits of one T-shirt and one pair of shorts she can make.
- 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.