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 roll of ribbon is 8.4 m long. Ribbon is cut into pieces that are each 0.6 m long. Work out how many complete pieces can be cut from the roll.
- 2.The solution set of x ≥ −1 is drawn on a number line. Which description of that number line is correct?
- 3.Square P has sides of length 3 cm. Square Q has sides of length 12 cm. Write the ratio of the area of square P to the area of square Q in its simplest form.
- 4.Two similar signs have lengths in the ratio 9 : 4. The larger sign has a side of length 14.4 cm. Work out the length of the corresponding side of the smaller sign.
- 5.A two-way table records how 130 pupils travel to school. 70 of the pupils are girls and the rest are boys. 42 of the girls walk to school and the rest of the girls cycle. 33 of the boys walk to school. Work out what fraction of the girls walk to school.
- 6.A garden centre records its total sales, in pounds, at the end of each of the twelve months of one year, to see how sales change over time. Write down the most suitable type of chart to show this time series data.
- 7.Leah measures the length of her classroom with a tape measure marked in centimetres. She writes the length down as 7.3157 m. Give a reason why this is not an appropriate degree of accuracy.
- 8.A speed-time graph for a car shows the speed increasing steadily from 5 m/s to 17 m/s over 6 seconds. Work out the acceleration of the car, in m/s².
- 9.Two mathematically similar water bottles have a volume scale factor of 8 from the smaller bottle to the larger bottle. Work out the surface area scale factor from the smaller bottle to the larger bottle.
- 10.The curved part of a circle's circumference, between two points on the circle, has its own name. Write down this name.
- 11.Each turn of a game ends in a win, a draw or a loss, and no turn can end in more than one of these. The probability of a win is 1/4 and the probability of a draw is 1/3. Work out the probability of a loss.
- 12.In a youth club the number of girls is 2/3 of the number of boys. What fraction of the members of the club are girls?
- 13.Make a the subject of the formula b = 20 − a.
- 14.The price of a jacket increases by 50% and then decreases by 50%. Describe the overall change from the original price.
- 15.Write down the exact value of cos 30°.
- 16.Hannah works out 3.1 × 19.6 on her calculator and writes down 6.076. Work out an estimate for 3.1 × 19.6, by rounding each number to 1 significant figure.
- 17.Jack is x years old. His brother Kwame is 3 years older than Jack. Write down an expression for Kwame's age.
- 18.Which of these ratios is equivalent to 5 : 4?
- 19.Four students work out 6 + 2 × 3. Which student has worked it out correctly?
- 20.A novel has 312 pages. A comic has 48 pages. Write the number of pages in the novel as a fraction of the number of pages in the comic, giving your answer in its simplest form.
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.