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 window display has red baubles, gold baubles and green baubles in the ratio 4 : 5 : 6. What fraction of the baubles are not green?
- 2.Priya buys b balloons for a party. Each balloon costs 15p. Write down an expression for the total cost, in pence.
- 3.Write the ratio 4x : 6x in its simplest form, where x is a positive number.
- 4.Two sides of a triangle are 20 cm and 8 cm long. Write down which one of these lengths is possible for the third side.
- 5.Two ordinary fair dice are rolled and the two scores are multiplied together. Work out the probability that the product is odd.
- 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 tin of soup has a mass of 450 g. A bag of potatoes has a mass of 2.6 kg. Work out the total mass, in kilograms.
- 8.The first four terms of a sequence are 18, 15, 12, 9. Work out an expression, in terms of n, for the nth term.
- 9.£3000 is invested in a savings account that pays 4% compound interest each year. Work out the value of the investment after 2 years.
- 10.A cuboid has three different edge lengths: a length, a width and a height, all different from each other. How many rectangles make up its net in total?
- 11.A tree diagram shows two rounds of a game, played independently. On each round, the probability of losing is 0.7 and the probability of winning is 0.3. Work out the probability of losing both rounds.
- 12.Work out the value of .
- 13.A ball is thrown in the air. Its height, h metres, above the ground after t seconds is given in this table: when t = 0, h = 0; when t = 1, h = 15; when t = 2, h = 20; when t = 3, h = 15; when t = 4, h = 0. Use the table to find the two times, in seconds, at which the ball is at ground level.
- 14.In a test, Amelia answered 18 of the 24 questions correctly. Work out the percentage of the questions she answered correctly.
- 15.e is the column vector with top number 5 and bottom number k. f is the column vector with top number 15 and bottom number 6. Given that f is 3 times e, work out the value of k.
- 16.A piece of ribbon is 2.4 metres long. Kim cuts 40 cm from it. Work out the length of ribbon left, in millimetres.
- 17.Three vertices of a rectangle are (−4, −1), (2, −1) and (2, 3). The sides of the rectangle are parallel to the axes. Write down the coordinates of the fourth vertex.
- 18.A concrete mix is made from gravel and cement in the ratio 5 : 1 by mass. The mass of cement is c kg and the total mass of the mix is m kg. Write down a formula for m in terms of c.
- 19.Write 5,000,000 in standard form.
- 20.In a choir of 30 singers, 40% are altos and the rest are sopranos. Write the number of sopranos as a fraction of the number of altos. Give 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.