Gold Plus

Practice Paper – Gold Plus

Instructions
 Use black ink or ball-point pen.
 Fill in the boxes at the top of this page with your name,
centre number and candidate number.
 Answer all questions.
 Answer the questions in the spaces provided
– there may be more space than you need.
 Calculators must not be used.

Information
 The total mark for this paper is 95
 The marks for each question are shown in brackets
– use this as a guide as to how much time to spend on each question.
 Questions labelled with an asterisk (*) are ones where the quality of your
written communication will be assessed.

Advice
 Read each question carefully before you start to answer it.
 Keep an eye on the time.
 Try to answer every question.
 Check your answers if you have time at the end.

Suggested Grade Boundaries (for guidance only)
A* A B C D
62 40 24 13 7
Practice Paper – Gold Plus
This publication may only be reproduced in accordance with Pearson Education Limited copyright policy.
©2015 Pearson Education Limited.
 GCSE Mathematics 1MA0

Formulae: Higher Tier

You must not write on this formulae page.

Anything you write on this formulae page will gain NO credit.

Volume of prism = area of cross section × length Area of trapezium = (a + b)h

Volume of sphere πr3 Volume of cone πr2h

Surface area of sphere = 4πr2 Curved surface area of cone = πrl

In any triangle ABC The Quadratic Equation

The solutions of ax2+ bx + c = 0
where a ≠ 0, are given by

x=

Sine Rule

Cosine Rule a2 = b2+ c2– 2bc cos A

Area of triangle = ab sin C

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 2

 Answer ALL questions.
Write your answers in the spaces provided.
You must write down all stages in your working.
You must NOT use a calculator.

1. Sam wants to find out the types of film people like best.

He is going to ask whether they like comedy films or action films or science fiction films or
musicals best.

(a) Design a suitable table for a data collection sheet he could use to collect this information.

(2)

Sam collects his data by asking 10 students in his class at school.

This might not be a good way to find out the types of film people like best.

(b) Give one reason why.

...............................................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................................
(1)
(Total for Question 1 is 3 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 3

 60.2  0.799
2. Work out an estimate for the value of
223

Give your answer as a decimal.

.....................................
(Total 3 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 4

*3. Bill uses his van to deliver parcels.
For each parcel Bill delivers there is a fixed charge plus £1.00 for each mile.

You can use the graph to find the total cost of having a parcel delivered by Bill.

(a) How much is the fixed charge?

£ ..............................................
(1)

Ed uses a van to deliver parcels.

For each parcel Ed delivers it costs £1.50 for each mile.
There is no fixed charge.

(b) Compare the cost of having a parcel delivered by Bill with the cost of having a parcel
delivered by Ed.

(3)
(Total 4 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 5

4. Jim did a survey on the lengths of caterpillars he found on a field trip.
Information about the lengths is given in the stem and leaf diagram.

1 3 5 7 7 Key: 5|2 means 5.2 cm

2 0 6 8 8 8 9
3 1 5 5 5 5 6 8 9
4 1 5
5 2

Work out the median.

............................... cm
(Total 2 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

5. Here are the first 5 terms of an arithmetic sequence.

3 9 15 21 27

(a) Find an expression, in terms of n, for the nth term of this sequence.

............................................
(2)

Ben says that 150 is in the sequence.

(b) Is Ben right?

You must explain your answer.

...............................................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................................
(1)
(Total 3 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 6

6. 30 students took a test.
The table shows information about how long it took them to complete the test.

Time (t minutes) Frequency

0 < t  10 5
10 < t  20 7
20 < t  30 8
30 < t  40 6
40 < t  50 4

(a) On the grid, draw a frequency polygon for this information.

(2)

(b) Write down the modal class interval.

...........................................
(1)
(Total 3 marks)

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 7

7.

(a) On the grid above, reflect shape A in the line x = –1.

(2)

(b) Describe fully the single transformation that will map shape P onto shape Q.

...............................................................................................................................................
(2)
(Total 4 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 8

8. Margaret has some goats.
The goats produce an average total of 21.7 litres of milk per day for 280 days.
1
Margaret sells the milk in litre bottles.
2

Work out an estimate for the total number of bottles that Margaret will be able to fill with
the milk.

You must show clearly how you got your estimate.

..........................................
(Total 3 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 9

9. (a) A solid cube has sides of length 5 cm.

Work out the total surface area of the cube.

State the units of your answer.

...............................................
(4)
The volume of the cube is 125 cm3.

(b) Change 125 cm3 into mm3.

............................ mm3
(2)
The weight of the cube is 87 grams, correct to the nearest gram.

(c) (i) What is the minimum the weight could be?

............................ grams

(ii) What is the maximum the weight could be?

............................ grams
(2)
(Total 8 marks)

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 10

10. Use ruler and compasses to construct the perpendicular from point C to the line AB.
You must show all your construction lines.

(Total 2 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 11

11. Peter, Tarish and Ben share £54.

Tarish gets three times as much money as Peter.

Ben gets twice as much money as Tarish.

How much money does Ben get?

£ ..................................
(Total 3 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 12

12. Jane has a carton of orange juice.
The carton is in the shape of a cuboid.

The depth of the orange juice in the carton is 8 cm.

Jane closes the carton.

Then she turns the carton over so that it stands on the shaded face.

Work out the depth, in cm, of the orange juice now.

.............................................. cm
(Total 3 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 13

13.

The diagram shows a square and 4 regular pentagons.

Work out the size of the angle marked x.

.......................................... °
(Total 3 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 14

14. Use ruler and compasses to construct an angle of 30° at P.
You must show all your construction lines.

(Total 3 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 15

15. Here is a scale drawing of a rectangular garden ABCD.

Scale: 1 cm represents 1 metre.

Jane wants to plant a tree in the garden

at least 5m from point C,

nearer to AB than to AD
and less than 3m from DC.

On the diagram, shade the region where Jane can plant the tree.

(Total 4 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 16

16. Colin took a sample of 80 football players.

He recorded the total distance, in kilometres, each player ran in the first half of their matches
on Saturday.

Colin drew this box plot for his results.

(a) Work out the interquartile range.

.............................................. km
(2)

There were 80 players in Colin’s sample.

(b) Work out the number of players who ran a distance of more than 5.6 km.

..............................................
(2)

Colin also recorded the total distance each player ran in the second half of their matches.

He drew the box plot below for this information.

(c) Compare the distribution of the distances run in the first half with the distribution of the
distances run in the second half.

......................................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................................
(2)
(Total for Question 16 is 6 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 17

17.

In the diagram,

ABC is a triangle,
angle ACB = 90°,
P lies on the line AB,
CP is perpendicular to AB.

Prove that the angles of triangle APC are the same as the angles of triangle CPB.

(Total 3 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 18

18. The diagram shows part of a pattern made from tiles.

The pattern is made from two types of tiles, tile A and tile B.

Both tile A and tile B are regular polygons.

Work out the number of sides tile A has.

.................................................
(Total 4 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 19

19.

A, B, C and D are points on a circle, centre O.

BC = CD.
Angle BCD = 130°.

(a) Write down the size of angle BAD.

Give a reason for your answer.

...................................°
(2)

(b) Work out the size of angle ODC.

Give reasons for your answer.

...................................°
(4)
(Total 6 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 20

20.

ABCD is a square with a side length of 4x.

M is the midpoint of DC.
N is the point on AD where ND = x.

BMN is a right-angled triangle.

Find an expression, in terms of x, for the area of triangle BMN.

Give your expression in its simplest form.

..........................................
(Total 4 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 21

21. Here is a shape ABCDE.

AB, BC and CD are three sides of a square.

BC = x cm.
AED is a semicircle with diameter AD.

The perimeter, P cm, of the shape ABCDE is given by the formula

x
P = 3x +
2

(a) Rearrange this formula to make x the subject.

.....................................
(2)

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 22

The area, A cm2, of this shape is given by A = kx2 where k is a constant.

(b) Find the exact value of k.

Give your answer in its simplest form.

.....................................
(3)
(Total 5 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 23

 2
22. (a) Find the value of 27  3 .

.....................................
(2)

8  18
(b) Given that = a + b 2 , where a and b are integers,
2

find the value of a and the value of b.

a = ..............................

b = ..............................
(3)
(Total 5 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 24

23. Express the recurring decimal 0.28 1 as a fraction in its simplest form.

..............................................
(Total 3 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 25

 x 2
24. Solve the equation   1.
2 x 1

(Total 4 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 26

25.

P, Q and T are points on the circumference of a circle, centre O.

The line ATB is the tangent at T to the circle.

PQ = TQ.
Angle ATP = 58°.

Calculate the size of angle OTQ.

Give a reason for each stage in your working.

................................... °
(Total 5 marks)

TOTAL FOR PAPER IS 100 MARKS

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 27

 1 (a) Type of film 2 B2 for a table with all 3 aspects:
Tally Column/row heading ‘type of film’ or list of at
Frequency least 3 film types
Column/row heading ‘tally’ or tally marks (or key)
Column/row heading ‘frequency’ or totals oe
(B1 for a table with 2 of the 3 aspects)

(b) 1 B1 for acceptable reason

eg. all same age, sample too small, biased, same
school

2 60.2  0.799 0.24 3 B1 for any two of 60, 0.8, 200 seen or 48 seen

223 M1 for at least one of 60, 0.8, 200 and
60  0.8 48 a correct method to begin to evaluate eg. the
  0.24 numerator may be correctly evaluated
200 200
or
a correctly simplified fraction (NB. fraction may
not be fully simplified)
A1 for answer in the range 0.15 to 0.3 from
correct working

Practice Paper – Gold Plus

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©2015 Pearson Education Limited.
 3 (a) 10 1 B1 cao

(b) y Ed is cheaper 3 M1 for correct line for Ed intersecting at (20,30) ±1 sq tolerance or

40 up to 20 10 + x = 1.5x oe
miles, Bill is C2 (dep on M1) for a correct full statement ft from graph
30 cheaper for eg. Ed cheaper up to 20 miles and Bill cheaper for more than 20 miles
more than 20 (C1 (dep on M1) for a correct conclusion ft from graph
20
miles eg. cheaper at 10 miles with Ed ; eg. cheaper at 50 miles with Bill
eg. same cost at 20 miles; eg for £5 go further with Bill OR
10
A general statement covering short and long distances eg. Ed is
cheaper for shorter distances and Bill is cheaper for long distances)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 x

Miles 0 10 20 30 40 50
Ed 0 15 30 45 60 75
Bill 10 20 30 40 50 60

4 3.1 2 M1 sight of 11th value or digits 31

A1 3.1

5 (a) 6n – 3 2 M1 for attempt to establish linear expression in n with coefficient of

6 e.g. 6n + k where k is an integer (accept n = 6n –3 for one mark)
A1 cao

(b) No + Reason 1 C1 ft from their answer to part (a) for decision and explanation eg “
stating no and because all the terms in the sequence are odd and 150
is even” or
“no and ‘6n – 3’ = 150, n = 153/6 ... so n is not an integer” or
Continuing the sequence to show terms 147 and 153 and state “no as
150 is not in the sequence” oe

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 29

 7 (a) Reflection 2 B2 for vertices of shape plotted at (-3, 2), (-3, 3), (-5, 3),
(-6, 2.5), (-5, 2)
(B1 for a reflection in any vertical or horizontal line)

(b)   6 2 B1 for translation

Translation;     6
 1 B1 (indep.) for 6 left and 1 down OR  
 1

Note B0 if more than one transfomation given

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 30

 8 12000 3 B1 for 20 or 300 used

M1 for “20” × “300” or or , values do not

need to be rounded
A1 for answer in the range 11200 –13200

SC B3 for 12000 with or without working

10 construction 2 M1 for a pair of arcs or a single arc, centre C, that cut line AB and at
least one pair of arcs not at C within guidelines
A1 for perpendicular within guidelines with appropriate construction
arcs

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 31

 11 P: T: B = 1 : 3 : 6 32.40 3 M1 for 1 : 3 : 6 or any three numbers, in any
54 ÷ 10 × 6 order, in the ratio 1 : 3 : 6
or M1 for 54 ÷ (1 + 3 + 6) × 6)
T = 3P and B = 2T oe A1 for 32.4(0)
So, B = 2 × (3P) = 6P
P + T + B = P + 3P + 6P = 10P
P = 54 ÷ 10 = £5.40
B = 6 × £5.40

12 6 × 10 × 8 = 480 4 3 M1 for 6 × 10 × 8 or 480 seen

480 ÷ (6 × 20) = M1 (dep) for '480' ÷ (6 × 20) oe
A1 cao

13 54 3 M1 for 180 – 360 ÷ 5 or 108 seen as the interior angle of a pentagon

M1 (dep on previous M1) for 360 – 2 × ‘108’ – 90
A1 for 54 cao

14 Construction 3 M1 for arcs construction of 60 degrees

M1 (dep) for arcs bisector of '60 degrees' (not 90
degrees)
A1 (dep on both M marks) for 30 degrees within
guidelines
OR
M1 for arc construction of 90 degrees
M1(dep) for arc construction of 60 degrees
A1 (dep on both M marks) for 30 degrees within
guidelines

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 32

 15 Required region 4 M1 arc radius 5 cm centre C
M1 bisector of angle BAD
M1 line 3 cm from DC
A1 for correct region identified (see overlay)

16 ½ (12 + 8) × 6 = 60 6 5 M1 ½ (12 + 8) × 6 oe or 60 seen

‘60’ × 20 = 1200 M1 (dep) ‘60’ × 20
1200 × 5 = 6000 M1 (indep) ‘1200’ × 5
6000 ÷ 1000 = 6 A1 6000 cao
A1 ft (dep on 1st or 3rd M1 scored) for 6

17 PBC = 90 − PAC Proof 3 M1 for PBC = 90 – PAC or PAC = 90 – PBC or

ACP = 90 – PCB
BCP = 90 – (90 – PAC) M1 for BCP = 90 – (90 – PAC)
or PAC = 90 – (90 – BCP) oe
A1 for PAC = PCB and PCA = PBC and APC =
CPB
B1 SC if M0 awarded for APC = BPC = 90º or
statement matching the 3 equal sets of angles
PAC = PCB and PCA = PBC and APC = CPB

18 12 4 B1 for 60 seen
M1 for (360 – 60) ÷ 2 (=150)
M1 for 360 ÷ (180 – 150) or 150×n=180(n-2) oe
A1 cao

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 33

19 (a) 50o 2 B2 for Angle BAD = 50 and the sum of opposite angles in
reason a cyclic quadrilateral is 180
(B1 for angle BAD = 50 or angle BAD = 180 - 130)

(b) Angle BOD = 100o 65o 4 M1 angle BOD = 100° or ft 2 × their answer to (a) (may
Angle OBD = angle ODC be on diagram)
Angle ODC = (360o – 230o) ÷ 2 = 65 M1 360° – (130° + “100°”) and ÷2
A1 cao
B1 The angle at the centre of a circle is twice the angle at
the circumference and Angles in a quadrilateral (4 sided
shape) add up to 360º or opposite angles of a kite are the
same.

20 5x2 4 M1 for 4x × 4x
M1 for (2x ×4x)/2 or (2x × x)/2 or(3x ×4x)/2
M1(dep M2) for “16 x2” – “4 x2”– “x2” – “6 x2”
A1 for 5x2

21 (a) x   P 2  
P  3x   x3  M1 for x 3  
2  2
22 (a) 1
1 x =  3 2 π  M1 for a correct cube root, 2
 reciprocal or square
27 3 =P3  1
2  A1 for or 0.11(1…) P
x 9 x
 1  9
A1 for    oe
3 –2=3  2 
 32 3  
 2

(b) 8  18 8 18 a = −3 3 M1 for attempt to rationalise denominator, e.g.

  b=4
2 2 2 8 2 18 2 or 8  18 2
   
8 2 18 2 2 2 2 2 2
  
2 2 2
8 2 Or 8 – √18 = √2(a + b √2) oe
3 A2 for –3 + 4√2
2
Practice Paper: Gold Plus 34
(A1 for −3)
(A1 for 4)
SC B1 if M0 scored for –3 or 4 seen on either answer line
 23 e.g. 31 3 M1 for 0.28181(...) or 0.2 + 0.08181(...) or
x = 0.28181... evidence of correct recurring decimal eg. 281.81(...)
110
100x = 28.181... M1 for two correct recurring decimals that, when
subtracted, would result in a terminating decimal, and
99x = 27.9 attempting the subtraction
e.g. 100x = 28.1818…, x = 0.28181… and subtracting

e.g. 1000x = 281.8181…, 10x = 2.8181… and

subtracting

27.9 279
OR or oe
99 990
A1 cao

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 35

 24 x = 3, -2 4 M1 for an attempt to multiply one term of the
x  2( x  1) 2  2( x  1) equation by 2 or x + 1or 2x  1
  1 2( x  1)
2 x 1 or 2×x + 1with or without cancelling or attempt
xx  1  4  2x  1 to write LHS with a common denominator
x 2  x  4  2x  2 M1for attempt to multiply all terms by 2(x + 1)
x2  x  6  0 with or without cancelling
x  3x  2  0 e.g.
x  2( x  1) 2  2( x  1)
  1 2( x  1)
2 x 1

Or x (x + 1) – 4 = 2(x + 1)

A1 for x2 + x –4 = 2x + 2 or x2 – x – 6 = 0

A1 cao for 3 and – 2

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 36

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 37
Question 1

Surprisingly, part (b) was answered correctly more often than part (a). In part (b) the majority
of candidates generally recognised that the sample was too small or the age range too narrow.
In part (a), despite the fact that a data collection table was asked for in the question, a
significant number of questions suitable for a questionnaire were still seen. The modal mark
scored was one as either a column for tallies or the frequency column was often omitted.

Question 2

The majority of candidates realised the need to work out an estimate rather than the actual
value. However, many candidates failed to round the given numbers to one significant figure
and therefore ended up attempting a much harder calculation than necessary for example, the
denominator was often rounded to 220 rather than 200. Those who did approximate to
60  0.8
then failed to evaluate this correctly with careless errors such as 60 × 0.8 given as
200
46 or 480 and 48 ÷ 200 being given as 2.4 or 0.0024 . Some candidates tried to simplify
60  0.8 600  8
incorrectly as multiplying each term in the numerator by 10 presumably to
200 2000
avoid the decimal but only multiplying the denominator by 10 . Some answers were left as a
fraction rather than a decimal as required by the demand of the question. A small minority of
candidates did, however, attempt to work out the actual answer rather than an estimate. This
gained no marks.

Question 3

Part (b) differentiated well. It was also a question testing QWC so it was essential that a
method was shown. The more able candidates realised that drawing a graph to show Ed’s
costs was the most efficient method of solution. Candidates who took this approach then
generally made a correct statement that referred to 20 miles (the break-even point). Less able
candidates used the information given and the graph to find the delivery costs for a particular
distance and then either made a comment or just left the calculations as their final answer. It
was not uncommon to see calculations which failed to refer to distance or Bill or Ed. Some
failed to gain any marks as they just focused on comparing the fixed charges or cost per mile
or a combination of these in a general way. Others were confused by Bill’s £10 fixed charge
and added it on twice, e.g. if he went 10 miles then they said that he charged £30 (£20 plus
his £10 fixed charge).

Question 4
Many candidates were able to write down the correct answers for part (a), although a
significant minority wrote down the coordinates reversed.

For part (b), many plotted where they thought the midpoint was and tried to read off the
coordinates and others had an intuitive idea of what to do, often finding the x-coordinate
correct but not the y-coordinate, which was often given as 1 instead of the correct 0.5.

Practice Paper – Gold Plus

This publication may only be reproduced in accordance with Pearson Education Limited copyright policy.
©2015 Pearson Education Limited.
Question 5

Questions on finding the nth term of an arithmetic sequence regularly appear on our papers so
it is surprising to see so many answers of n + 6 instead of 6n − 3.

In part (b), a multitude of solutions fell short of the mark because they were incomplete, e.g.
153
‘they are all odd’, without mentioning that 150 was even or saying that the value of n or 6

is not an integer without stating the equation 6n − 3 = 150. It was also commonly thought
that, because 15 was in the sequence, 150 was as well.

Question 6
Answers to this question were disappointing. There were several sources of error: many
candidates plotted the points at the end of the interval rather than at the middle; many
candidates either did not join their points or joined them with a curve; many candidates
joined the last point back to the first point; many candidates drew a bar chart.

Part (b) was answered well although some candidates gave the frequency (8) rather than the
class interval itself.

Question 7
This reflection was poorly answered with many candidates reflecting the shape in the x or y
axis or other vertical or horizontal lines. Only 40% of candidates were able to reflect the
shape in the correct line, x = –1, but 37% of candidates were awarded a mark for a reflection
in a line of the form y = m or x = n (n ≠ –1) those who were successful were frequently seen
to have drawn the line x = –1 on the grid. Part (b) again was not very well answered with
many candidates unable to describe the correct translation as a vector or even as a description
in words. Very often the word translation was omitted and some gave a combination of
transformations when a single transformation was asked for. Many candidates who attempted
the vector notation often omitted the word “translation” but used instead, transferred,
transformed or moved, none of which were acceptable. Vectors were often given as the
reverse of the correct one. A significant number of candidates tried to describe the
transformation of Q onto P rather than P onto Q. Only 16% of candidates scored both marks
whilst 36% gained one mark.

Question 8

Candidates were presented with two challenges in this question. Firstly, they had to decide on
the calculations needed to work out the number of bottles that could be filled with milk and
secondly, to find an estimate of this. Most candidates gained some credit for their responses,
usually for identifying an appropriate calculation. However, the number of candidates who
took the easiest route to find an estimate, ie to round values correct to one significant figure
20  300
then work out , was relatively small. Instead many candidates either failed to round
0.5
any of the quantities or rounded only one of the quantities, usually 21.7 to 22. As a result they
made calculations more onerous and prone to error. Division by 0.5 was confused with
dividing by 2. This question clearly identified an area where candidates would benefit from
more practice.

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 39

Question 9
There were too many candidates who either worked out the volume (125 cm 3) of the cube or
who worked out 6 times the perimeter of one of the faces. Conversion from cm 3 to mm3 was
even more poorly done, with a usual answer of 1250. Few candidates made the link between
the 5 cm as the edge of the cube and its equivalent 50 mm. Part (c) was competently
answered with the lower bound of 86.5 more often identified than the 87.5 at the top end
where often 84.49 was written or some attempt at a recurring decimal.

Question 10

This question was not done well. Few students could construct the perpendicular from the
given point to the line. When drawing the arcs at point C centre A and centre B, students
should be advised to draw arcs below the line as well as at point C. It was evident that a
significant number of students did not use compasses to draw their construction arcs.
A common incorrect answer was to draw the perpendicular bisector of the line AB.

Question 11
This ratio question was answered correctly by 41% of candidates. 19% of candidates gained
one mark for writing any three values in the ratio 1 : 3 : 6 thus showing that they had an
understanding of the problem. Some candidates, 3%, scored two marks for showing that they
were going to divide £54 by (1 + 3 + 6) and then multiply by 6 whilst others used a
decomposition method to show £50 as £5 : £15 : £ 30 followed by £4 as 40p : £1.20 : £2.40.

Frequent incorrect methods were the use of 1 : 2 : 3 to give 9, 18, 27. Surprisingly several
candidates found all 3 correct amounts and then selected the wrong value, thus losing a mark.
Many candidates used a trial and improvement method to solve the question but the extra £4
proved difficult to share correctly. Other ratios seen were 1 : 2 : 3 and 1 : 3 : 5. Some merely
divided 54 by 3 and based their incorrect solutions around £18 and so missed the point of the
question.

Question 12

It was good to see a whole range of methods being used to successfully answer this question.
Some candidates chose to find the volume of drink in the carton and then divide by the area
of the new face in contact with the table. However, more popular was the use of scale factors
taking into consideration that the area of the new face in contact with the table was twice the
area of the previous face in contact and therefore the height of drink in the carton would
halve. A very few candidates got the faces the wrong way round and ended up with an answer
of 16 cm. Provided this answer was supported by correct working two marks were awarded.
However, many candidates started off by either working out the volume of the container and
were then unsure how to proceed further.

Question 13
Although few candidates gave a fully correct answer to this question, there was much
misunderstanding of the relevance of dividing 360 by 5. A small number of candidates
found 108˚ as the interior angle in a regular pentagon but could make no further progress and
those who understood the question but showed inaccurate calculations scored 2 marks.
It was also clear that many candidates did not use the diagram, as they did not appreciate that
the interior angle of a regular pentagon was obtuse and could not be 72.

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 40

Question 14
This question was very poorly answered with only 10% of candidates gaining full marks for
an accurate 30º construction. Many candidates used a protractor to draw the angle then
attempted with spurious arcs to pretend they had constructed the 30º angle. The most
successful attempts drew a 60º angle either using an equilateral triangle or using the standard
construction and gained one mark (7% of candidates) whilst a further 0.3% of candidates then
bisected their angle to gain the second mark. Significant numbers of candidates knew how to
bisect an angle but had not managed to successfully construct the 60 angle first. 83% of
candidates scored no marks at all.

Question 15

This question on loci was poorly answered with very few candidates scoring full marks. The
modal mark awarded was zero; 1 mark was awarded for the quarter circle of radius 5 cm and
a line parallel to CD and 3 cm away from it. The most common mistake was to
misunderstand ‘nearer to AB than to AD’ as few bisectors of angle A were given with the
diagonal AC often seen in its place.

Question 16
Many candidates split their cross-sectional area into triangles and a rectangle, some doing it
successfully and completing the question. Few could remember or correctly apply the
formula for the area of a trapezium, or multiplied all the numbers they could see (or a
selection of) or found the total surface area. For some, the step by step requirements of the
question prevented them from following any sort of logical process, with the cross-sectional
area just being the first hurdle. This was evident in the written work which was often chaotic
and lacked any methodical approach. Many gained the latter two marks for correctly
multiplying their volume by 5 and then converting correctly to kg by dividing by 1000.
However, there were equally as many candidates who tried to convert g to kg by dividing by
100 or 10, or who tried to find the mass by dividing by 5. Only 9% of candidates scored full
marks on this question with 68% failing to score any marks.

Question 17
BC 12
This is a similar question problem. The first part can either be done from  or from
10 6
BC 10 10
 . Of the second method, most candidates used the equivalent scale factor of but
12 6 6
often rounding to 1.7 or truncating to 1.6. There was some latitude allowed for this in part (a)
where answers from 19.9 to 20.4 were accepted but in part (b) the answer had to be exact.

Most candidates used their scale factor again in part (b) by working out 18 divided by their
scale factor.

Many candidates also thought that this was the ‘Pythagoras question’ and some thought that
you added on a constant amount to the lengths of the small triangle to get the lengths of the
large triangle.

Question 18

Candidates drew on a number of different methods in making progress with this question.
Those who gained the most marks generally worked on, and with, the diagram, making clear

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 41

which angles were being found. When calculating angles, it was not always clear whether it
was an internal or external angle that was being found. Sometimes an angle was calculated in
the working but then shown to be a different angle on the diagram; in these cases there was a
penalty since it was not clear the candidate understood what they were finding.

Question 19

There was plenty of confusion evident in this question as to which was the cyclic
quadrilateral with many candidates incorrectly using BODC as a cyclic quadrilateral. An even
more common error was the belief that BODC was a parallelogram and angle BOD was 130°.

Too often in part (b) numbers were just written down with no attempt to demonstrate which
angles these referred to meaning that method marks could not always be awarded. When
reasons are asked for in a question it is essential that these are given clearly. For example,
writing ‘angles in a cyclic quadrilateral add up to 180’ was not sufficient to gain the mark
for a correct reason in part (a), the fact that it is opposite angles that sum to 180 had to be
made clear. Most candidates ignored the instruction to give reasons. Too many candidates
still use single letters to represent angles, e.g. B = D.

Question 20

The best candidates gave clear and concise solutions to this question. However most
candidates were unable to make much headway in giving accurate expressions for the area of
the square or for the area of the unshaded triangles or for the sides of the shaded triangle. A
large proportion of the algebra seen was spoiled by the omission of brackets, for example by
expressing the area of the square as 4x × x or as 4x2 instead of 4x × 4x, (4x)2, or 16x2 or in
attempts to use Pythagoras rule. The square root sign was often used wrongly or
ambiguously. These errors led to many candidates failing to score any credit for their
attempts. Most candidates used the method of finding the area of the square and subtracting
the areas of the three unshaded triangles but there were some excellent solutions harnessing
Pythagoras rule to find the lengths of the sides NM and BM and then the area of triangle
BNM. A significant proportion of candidates did not attempt this question.

Question 21
A common error in part (a) was to forget to multiply all terms by 2 when attempting to clear
the fraction. Candidates who made this error but then went on to make the x the subject
successfully were awarded one mark.

In part (a) only a few candidates realised that to isolate x they had to factorise the expression.

Only a very small minority of candidates realised that they had to find the area of the given
shape for part (b). Of those who did appreciate this, the common errors were to forget to
x
halve the area of a circle to find the area of the semi-circle or to omit brackets around and
2
x2 x2
therefore end up with rather than . This was the question that candidates found the
2 4
most demanding.

Question 22
In part (a) of this question on irrational numbers and fractional indices 12% of candidates
were able to gain one mark for establishing a correct root or power or reciprocal and a further
Practice Paper: Gold Plus 42
16% gained both marks for the correct answer. A common error was to interpret ³√27 as
27 ÷ 3. This would often be followed either by squaring or multiplying by –2. In part (b) most
candidates realised they had to rationalise the denominator of the fraction or equated the
given fraction to a + b√2 and multiplied this by √2 and 14% gained one mark for doing this.
Full marks were only gained by 3% of candidates. The absence of the use of brackets when
multiplying by √2 led to errors in subsequent work and there was the usual inappropriate
‘cancelling’ in many scripts.

Question 23

Candidates who were able to recognise that the given recurring decimal was 0.28181... rather
than 0.281281... gained a generous first method mark. In order to gain the second method
mark a full correct method had to be seen. Unfortunately, many attempted the subtraction of
27.9 279
281.8181... and 0.28181... which is an incorrect method. Some got as far as or but
99 99
3
were then unable to finish their solution correctly to arrive at the correct answer of .
110
281 281
There were many incorrect guesses of and seen.
1000 999

Question 24
Only 6% of candidates were able to find the correct solution to this fractional equation but
18% of candidates either wrote the correct common denominator or multiplied one term by 2
or (x + 1) or 2(x + 1) and then a further 3% gained two marks for attempting to multiply all
the terms by 2(x + 1) most usually failed to obtain this mark because they had forgotten to
multiply the right-hand side of the equation by 2(x + 1). Once again the absence of brackets
led to errors.

Question 25
Very few candidates appeared to have any knowledge or understanding of the ‘alternate
segment theorem’. Consequently many solutions attempted to find the size of the angle PQT
by long-winded methods. Whilst many were able to find that 58 o was the size of angle PQT,
very few gave full explanations for each stage of the working and thus restricted their award
to just 3 out of the possible 5 marks. The most common alternative approach was to find the
size of angle POT and then use the ‘angle at the centre theorem’ Other methods included the
use of congruent triangles POQ and TOQ but this was rarely proved and so never gained full
credit. Weaker candidates mistook PQ and ATB as parallel or ATP and QTB as equal.

Practice Paper: Gold Plus 43

Practice paper: Gold 4
Mean score for students achieving Grade:
Session Mean Max Mean
Spec Paper YYMM Question score score % ALL A* A %A B C %C D E
1MA0 1H 1206 Q01 1.58 3 53 1.58 1.85 1.68 56.0 1.61 1.54 51.3 1.38 1.18
1380 1H 1203 Q02 1.52 3 51 1.52 2.57 2.16 72.0 1.76 1.33 44.3 0.87 0.50
1MA0 1H 1206 Q03 1.68 4 42 1.68 3.16 2.43 60.8 1.88 1.30 32.5 0.67 0.38
1380 1H 1111 Q04 0.99 2 50 0.99 1.39 1.21 60.5 1.13 1.00 50.0 0.81 0.67
1MA0 1H 1303 Q05 1.24 3 41 1.24 2.56 2.13 71.0 1.60 1.07 35.7 0.67 0.32
1380 1H 911 Q06 1.35 3 45 1.35 2.34 1.85 61.7 1.48 1.13 37.7 0.84 0.58
1380 1H 1106 Q07 1.86 4 47 1.86 3.26 2.63 65.8 1.91 1.19 29.8 0.66 0.44
1MA0 1H 1306 Q08 1.22 3 41 1.22 2.15 1.72 57.3 1.40 1.08 36.0 0.74 0.43
1380 1H 911 Q09 3.82 8 48 3.82 7.18 5.84 73.0 4.61 2.94 36.8 1.57 0.82
1MA0 1H 1411 Q10 0.33 2 17 0.33 1.64 1.15 57.5 0.68 0.29 14.5 0.15 0.06
1380 1H 1106 Q11 1.47 3 49 1.47 2.75 2.23 74.3 1.52 0.81 27.0 0.34 0.15
1MA0 1H 1206 Q12 1.11 3 37 1.11 2.55 1.74 58.0 1.12 0.75 25.0 0.48 0.36
1MA0 1H 1303 Q13 0.60 3 20 0.60 2.66 1.86 62.0 0.92 0.27 9.0 0.05 0.01
1380 1H 1106 Q14 0.39 3 13 0.39 1.64 0.60 20.0 0.21 0.10 3.3 0.06 0.04
1MA0 1H 1303 Q15 0.95 4 24 0.95 2.84 1.98 49.5 1.38 0.73 18.3 0.26 0.07
1380 1H 1111 Q16 0.91 5 18 0.91 4.14 2.74 54.8 1.30 0.36 7.2 0.09 0.05
1380 1H 1106 Q17 0.32 3 11 0.32 0.84 0.50 16.7 0.29 0.14 4.7 0.06 0.03
1MA0 1H 1211 Q18 0.92 4 23 0.92 3.13 1.95 48.8 1.18 0.73 18.3 0.44 0.28
1380 1H 1203 Q19 0.98 6 16 0.98 3.52 1.86 31.0 1.01 0.54 9.0 0.31 0.23
1MA0 1H 1306 Q20 0.46 4 12 0.46 2.43 1.27 31.8 0.44 0.07 1.8 0.01 0.00
1380 1H 1203 Q21 0.11 5 2 0.11 1.07 0.25 5.0 0.03 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.00
1380 1H 1106 Q22 0.73 5 15 0.73 3.03 1.29 25.8 0.37 0.11 2.2 0.05 0.04
1MA0 1H 1206 Q24 0.37 3 12 0.37 1.74 0.74 24.7 0.27 0.08 2.7 0.03 0.01
1380 1H 1106 Q27 0.61 4 15 0.61 2.89 1.04 26.0 0.26 0.05 1.3 0.01 0.01
1380 1H 1006 Q27 0.74 5 15 0.74 3.48 1.29 25.8 0.28 0.07 1.4 0.03 0.02
26.26 95 27 26.26 66.81 44.14 46.46 28.64 17.68 18.61 10.58 6.68

Practice Paper – Gold Plus

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