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 (6 × 10⁷) + (3 × 10⁶). Give your answer in standard form.
- 2.A cinema sells adult tickets and child tickets. On one evening, 40 tickets are sold in total. There are 8 more adult tickets sold than child tickets. Work out the number of child tickets sold.
- 3.A 5 kg bag of potatoes costs £4.50. Work out the cost per kilogram.
- 4.The perimeter of a square is 20 cm. Work out the area of the square.
- 5.A bag contains 2 white counters and 8 black counters. One counter is taken at random from the bag. Work out the probability that the counter is not black.
- 6.A scatter graph shows the number of pages, x, in a chapter and the time, y minutes, a pupil took to read it, for 15 chapters. The line of best fit has equation y = 2x + 3. Use the line of best fit to estimate the time taken to read a chapter of 10 pages.y = 2x + 3
- 7.A number, y, is equal to 8.2 when rounded to 1 decimal place. Write down the error interval for y.
- 8.Which of these is a formula, rather than an expression, an equation, or an identity?
- 9.A car uses 6 litres of petrol to travel 90 km. Write the ratio of the distance travelled in km to the amount of petrol used in litres, in its simplest form.
- 10.The diagram shows the plan of the base layer of a solid built from identical cubes. A second layer of cubes is added on top, filling the entire base layer to a height of 2 cubes everywhere. Work out how many squares are visible in the plan view of this solid.
- 11.A fair six-sided dice is rolled 300 times. Work out how many more times you would expect it to land on an even number than on a six.
- 12.Work out −4.5 + 2.8.
- 13.A rule turns each input x into an output y. An input of 1 gives an output of 1, an input of 2 gives an output of 4 and an input of 3 gives an output of 9. Work out the rule.
- 14.A map has a scale of 1 : 100 000. Two railway stations are 8 km apart in real life. Work out the distance between the stations on the map, in centimetres.
- 15.Quadrilateral PQRS has angle P = 92°, angle Q = 84° and angle R = 106°. Work out the size of angle S.
- 16.In a fruit crate the ratio of oranges to lemons is 5 : 6. What fraction of the fruit in the crate are lemons?
- 17.Two brothers have ages that add up to 30. The elder brother is 6 years older than the younger brother. Work out the age of the younger brother.
- 18.A shop buys a bike for £150 and sells it, making a profit of £45. Write the selling price as a fraction of the cost price, giving your answer in its simplest form.
- 19.In a class, 1/3 of the pupils are girls. There are 12 girls in the class. Work out how many pupils are in the class.
- 20.A road sign 3 m tall casts a shadow 5 m long. At the same time, a nearby lamppost casts a shadow 10 m long. Work out the height of the lamppost.
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.