GCSE Higher sample Paper 1 (non-calculator)

1.A car manufacturer offers a car in 6 colours and 4 trim levels. Two colour-and-trim combinations are not available: red with sport trim, and white with sport trim. Work out how many different colour-and-trim combinations are available.

2.Work out the value of 3a − 2b when a = 5 and b = 4

3.Write 250 g : 2 kg as a ratio in its simplest form.

4.In triangle ABC the angle at A and the angle at C are equal. The side AB is extended beyond B, and the exterior angle formed at B measures 98°. Work out the size of the angle at A.

5.A drawer contains 9 black socks and 4 white socks. Three socks are taken out at random, one after another, without being replaced. Given that at least two of the three socks taken out are black, work out the probability that all three are black.

6.In a scatter graph of the age, in years, and the wingspan, in cm, of 20 birds of the same species, all the points lie close to a rising line of best fit except one, which lies a long way below the line. That bird was later found to have a damaged wing. Give a reason why this point should not be used when drawing the line of best fit.

7.A gardener has 42 tulip bulbs and 56 daffodil bulbs. She plants them in rows, with every row containing the same number of tulip bulbs and the same number of daffodil bulbs, and no bulbs left over. Work out the greatest number of rows she can plant.

8.Line L has equation y = 3x − 2. Work out the gradient of a line perpendicular to L.

9.A recipe for pastry uses flour and butter in the ratio 3:2. A baker has 180 g of butter and wants to make pastry using all of it. Work out the total mass of pastry the baker can make.

10.AB is a diameter of a circle with centre O, and C is a point on the circle. A student writes four statements to prove that angle ACB = 90°. Statement 1: OA = OC, since both are radii, so triangle OAC is isosceles with angle OAC = angle OCA. Statement 2: OB = OC, since both are radii, so triangle OBC is isosceles with angle OBC = angle OCB. Statement 3: in triangle ABC, the three angles sum to 360°, so angle OAC + angle OBC + angle ACB = 360°, meaning 2 × angle ACB = 360° and angle ACB = 180°. Statement 4: A, O and B lie on a straight line, since AB is a diameter through the centre O. Which one of these four statements is mathematically incorrect?

11.Two cards are dealt one after the other from an ordinary pack of 52 playing cards. The first card is not put back before the second is dealt. The pack contains 4 aces. Work out the probability that neither card is an ace. Give your answer as a product of two fractions.

12.Simplify (5² × 2³)³ ÷ (5³ × 2²)²

13.Work out the value of 2x² when x = −3

14.A car travels at a constant speed. It travels 150 miles in 3 hours. At the same speed, work out how far it travels in 5 hours.

15.A trapezium has vertices (2, 1), (6, 1), (5, 4) and (3, 4). It is rotated 180° about the vertex (2, 1). Work out the number of points on the trapezium — including its vertices, edges and interior — that are invariant under this rotation.

16.Solve (2x + 1)/3 = 5

17.A charity receives £360 in donations in January and £480 in donations in February. Write the amount received in January as a fraction of the amount received in February, giving your answer in its simplest form.

18.A ship sails 12 km on a bearing of 070° from a harbour to a buoy. It then sails a further 9 km, still on a bearing of 070°, from the buoy to a lighthouse. How far is the lighthouse from the harbour, in kilometres?

19.The equation x² − 6x + k = 0 has exactly one solution. Work out the value of k.

20.The first five terms of a quadratic sequence are 4, 7, 12, 19, 28. Work out an expression, in terms of n, for the nth term.