Sample paper · GCSE Higher · grades 4–9
GCSE Higher 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 Higher qualification — number 15%, algebra 30%, ratio, proportion and rates of change 20%, geometry and measures 20%, probability 7.5%, statistics 7.5% — with a calculator allowed. AO1 / AO2 / AO3 at this tier: 40% / 30% / 30%.
CalculatorGCSE Higher
GCSE Higher sample Paper 2 (calculator)
MathsUKwww.geekhero.co.uk
- 1.A recipe uses 0.625 kg of flour. Write this mass as a fraction of a kilogram, in its simplest form.
- 2.A student is asked to simplify (6x³ − 15x²)/(4x² − 10x) fully. Four attempts are shown below. Which one is correct?
- 3.A scale drawing of a garden uses a scale of 1 : 20. Write down a formula for the real length, L metres, in terms of the length on the drawing, d centimetres, given that 1 metre = 100 centimetres.
- 4.A rectangular name card has a perimeter of 30 cm. The card is 9 cm long. Work out the width of the card.
- 5.A bag contains 3 red beads and 7 blue beads. A bead is taken out at random and not put back. A second bead is then taken out at random. Work out the probability that the first bead is red and the second bead is also red.
- 6.A school has 1,000 pupils. A student wants to estimate how many of them walk to school, so she asks 8 pupils in her own class. She says her sample is large enough to give a reliable estimate for the whole school. Is she right? Give a reason for your answer.
- 7.A washing machine costs £320 before VAT. VAT is charged at 20%. Work out the total price including VAT.
- 8.Harry is 14 years old and Mia is 8 years old. Will Harry ever be exactly twice as old as Mia? Give a reason for your answer.
- 9.Write the ratio 0.75 : 2 as a ratio of whole numbers in its simplest form.
- 10.A right-angled triangle has a hypotenuse of 10 cm and one of its other angles is 45°. Work out the length of one of the two shorter sides. Give your answer to 1 decimal place.
- 11.A fair spinner has 8 equal sections: 5 are red and 3 are blue. Freya spins it twice, and each spin is independent of the other. Work out the probability that she gets one red and one blue in the two spins, in either order.
- 12.A country has an area of 25,000,000 hectares. Write this area in standard form.
- 13.A hall is set out in rows of chairs for an assembly. Row 1 has 50 chairs, row 2 has 45 chairs, row 3 has 40 chairs, and row 4 has 35 chairs, with each row after the first having 5 fewer chairs than the one before. Work out an expression, in terms of n, for the number of chairs in row n.
- 14.Grace's mean mark in her maths tests rises from 70 to 84. Work out the percentage increase in her mean mark.
- 15.Shape S has an area of 48 cm². It is enlarged by a scale factor of 1/4 to give shape T. Work out the area of shape T.
- 16.Write down the expression that means the same as (x + 7) ÷ 4.
- 17.A printer prints pages at a constant rate. It prints 45 pages in 6 minutes. Work out how many pages it prints in 10 minutes.
- 18.A sector of a circle has an angle of 90° at the centre. Write down what fraction of the whole circle this sector represents.
- 19.The point (9, 40) lies on the circle x² + y² = 1681, which has centre (0, 0). Work out the equation of the tangent to the circle at (9, 40), giving your answer in the form ax + by = c.
- 20.A circle has centre (0, 0) and passes through the point (12, 35). Work out the equation of the circle.
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.