Sample paper · GCSE Higher · grades 4–9
GCSE Higher sample Paper 1 (non-calculator)
The real Paper 1 is 1.5 hour 30 minutes and 80 marks, non-calculator, and all three papers carry equal weight. This sample is 20 original questions in the same content proportions as the Higher qualification — number 15%, algebra 30%, ratio, proportion and rates of change 20%, geometry and measures 20%, probability 7.5%, statistics 7.5% — with no calculator-only items. AO1 / AO2 / AO3 at this tier: 40% / 30% / 30%.
Non-calculatorGCSE Higher
GCSE Higher sample Paper 1 (non-calculator)
MathsUKwww.geekhero.co.uk
- 1.Work out 5⁰ + 5¹ + 5²
- 2.A plumber charges a £35 call-out fee plus £20 for each hour worked, h. On a certain job the total charge was £115. Work out how many hours the plumber worked.
- 3.In a mix of mortar the ratio of the mass of sand to the mass of cement is 5 : 2. Write the mass of cement as a fraction of the total mass of the mix.
- 4.Two triangles are proved congruent using the ASA condition. What can be concluded about the two remaining pairs of corresponding sides that were not part of the original ASA facts?
- 5.A library recorded loans for 250 books over a week, using a frequency tree. The first branch splits the books into 160 fiction and 90 non-fiction. Of the fiction books, 112 were returned on time and the rest were returned late. All the non-fiction books were returned on time. Work out the probability that a book, chosen at random from the 250, was returned late. Give your answer as a fraction in its simplest form.
- 6.A bus company records the delay, d minutes, of 250 buses: 0 ≤ d < 2, 60 buses; 2 ≤ d < 5, 90 buses; 5 ≤ d < 10, 75 buses; 10 ≤ d < 20, 25 buses. The company refunds the fare whenever a bus is more than 8 minutes late. Estimate the number of refunds it must pay.
- 7.Work out (2 × 10³) × (3 × 10⁴). Give your answer in standard form.
- 8.Line L has equation y = 2x + 3. Work out the equation of the line perpendicular to L that passes through the point (4, 1), giving your answer in the form x + 2y = c.y = 2x + 3
- 9.Write 75p : £1.50 as a ratio of whole numbers in its simplest form.
- 10.ABCD is a cyclic quadrilateral, with its vertices in that order around the circle. Angle DAB = 108°. Work out the size of angle BCD.
- 11.A school buys pens from two suppliers and has 1000 pens in stock. Supplier X provided 70% of the pens and supplier Y provided the other 30%. 2% of supplier X's pens are faulty and 8% of supplier Y's pens are faulty. A pen picked at random from the stock is found to be faulty. Work out the probability that it came from supplier Y. Give your answer as a fraction.
- 12.Work out the value of (√5)⁴
- 13.Solve the simultaneous equations y = 3 − x and x² + y² = 9, giving both pairs of solutions.
- 14.The total cost, in pounds, of manufacturing a batch of components is plotted against the number of components produced. A tangent to this graph at a particular point has gradient 3.60. What does the value 3.60 represent?
- 15.Quadrilateral WXYZ has WX parallel to ZY, and WZ = XY (the two non-parallel sides are equal in length). Give a reason why angle W = angle X.
- 16.A plumber charges a £40 call-out fee plus £25 for each hour worked. The total charge, £C, for a job lasting h hours is given by C = 40 + 25h. Work out the charge for a job lasting 3 hours, and name what kind of statement C = 40 + 25h is.
- 17.A box holds 60 crayons. 25 of the crayons are broken and the rest are unbroken. Write the number of unbroken crayons as a fraction of the number of broken crayons. Give your answer in its simplest form.
- 18.A children's slide is built as a right-angled triangle: the vertical ladder side is 2.4 m, the horizontal base along the ground is 3.2 m, and the sloping slide is the third side. Work out the exact length of the sloping slide.
- 19.The graph of y = f(x) has x-intercepts at x = −2 and x = 6 and crosses the y-axis at (0, −12). Work out the x-intercepts and the y-intercept of y = −f(x).
- 20.Solve x² − 100 = 0.
How the 20 questions are shared out
- Number — 3 questions (15% of the qualification)
- Algebra — 6 questions (30% of the qualification)
- Ratio, proportion and rates of change — 4 questions (20% of the qualification)
- Geometry and measures — 4 questions (20% 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.