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Edexcel Maths past papers & more: FOUNDATION TIER

Below you will find all the available past papers, mark schemes and grade boundaries for the EDEXCEL GCSE foundation examination. Also included on this page are the course's specification and other useful information, including the dates of the next examination.

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The dates of the Edexcel GCSE maths examinations: 2024 & 2025


In a 12 month window, there are two opportunities,  for students to sit their GCSE maths examination May/June and November. The majority of students sit their GCSE at school in the May/June of the Summer term at the end of Year 11. Those that fail this summer exam are able to resit their GCSE examination a  few months later, at college or sixth form in November during the Autumn term of Year 12.

AUTUMN 2024 Paper 1 Paper 2 Paper 3
NOVEMBER Wed 6th November Friday 8th November Monday 11th November
SUMMER 2025 Paper 1 Paper 2 Paper 3
MAY/JUNE Thursday 15th May Wednesday 4th June Wednesday 11th June

EDEXCEL FOUNDATION grade boundaries (5 - 1)


This examination comprises of three test papers.

Paper 1 is a non-calculator test

Duration 1.5 hours and maximum score of 80.

Paper 2 uses a calculator

Duration 1.5 hours, and maximum score of 80.

Paper 3 uses a calculator

Duration 1.5 hours and maximum score of 80.


The scores from each paper are combined to give the students examination total score.

A maximum of 240 marks is possible.  So for example in June 2017, a student with a total score of 120 which equates to 120/240 = 50%, would have been awarded a grade 3.

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Edexcel foundation 5 4 3 2 1
June 2017 66.0% = 158 51.0% = 122 37.5% = 90 24.0% = 58 11.0% = 26
November 2017 60.4% = 145 47.0% = 113 34.6% = 83 22.0% = 53 9.5% = 23
June 2018 70.4% = 169 56.6% = 136 42.0% = 101 23.5% = 66 13.0% = 31
November 2018 69.6% = 167 55.0% = 132 40.0% = 96 25.4% = 61 11.0% = 26
June 2019 76.6% = 184 62.0% = 149 46.3% = 111 30.4% = 73 15.0% = 36
November 2019 69.0% = 166 59.0% = 142 43.3% = 104 28.0% = 67 12.5% = 30
Covid NOV 2020 69.0% = 165 56.6% = 136 41.3% = 99 26.3% = 63 11.3% = 27
Covid NOV 2021 69.0% = 166 56.0% = 134 41.6% = 100 27.5% = 66 13.3% = 32
June 2022 72.0% = 173 56.0% = 135 41.6% = 100 27.5% = 66 13.3% = 32
November 2022 72.0% = 173 56.0% = 135 41.6% = 100 27.5% = 66 13.3% = 32
June 2023 76.0% = 182 61.3% = 147 45.4% = 109 29.6% = 71 13.8% = 33
November 2023 72.9% = 175 58.3% = 140 43.3% = 104 28.3% = 68 13.8% = 33
June 2024 72.9% = 175 59.2% = 142 42.9% = 103 27.1% = 65 11.3% = 27

NOTE: percentages are rounded to nearest 1 d.p.

Grade boundaries can change a little from year to year, as you will see in the table above. Although Edexcel work hard to produce exam papers that are of the same level of difficulty each year, small variations do occur. To compensate for this the exam board adjusts the grade boundaries. 

EDEXCEL FOUNDATION past papers & mark schemes


Practicing past papers should rank highly on any students list of prioritys. But practice alone, is not enough to ensure improvement and success. It vital is that the student also marks their answers and then seeks help/support to  "plug" the gaps in their knowledge and understanding . This support can come from teachers/friends/family or a private tutor. Just be aware, that seeking help from too many different people, can become a hinderence to the learner. Since, different people may have differerent teaching styles and different ways of solving problems which could potentially become confusing for the learner.


  • Access and download a past paper.
  • Mark your answers using the mark scheme. 
  • Seek help to understand questions you are unable to answer, complete more revision on weak topic areas.


The impact of covid

Summer 2020 = no formal examinations took place.

Summer 2021 = no formal examinations took place.


Unavailable papers. The most recent past papers are not available for public to use, as schools typically use the latest papers for student mock exams. Hence, you will not find the November 2023 and June 2024 papers on the internet.


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Summer 2021 = no examinations took place.

Instead, the summer 2021 papers were transfered to/used for the November 2021 examinations in Autumn.

Summer 2020 = no examinations took place.

Instead, the summer 2020 papers were transfered to/used for the November 2020 examinations in Autumn.

More about Edexcel's maths series 1MA1


Edexcel is an internal exam board owned by a company called Pearson. Pearson-Edexcel is a privately-owned board for UK syllabuses. Their name represents their key values – education and excellence. Questions on the Edexcel GCSE maths series 1MA1 can feel both wordy and challenging, as questions early on in its papers may call for a ‘problem-solving’ approach where a candidate may not ‘see' a way forward immediately. Despite this, this Edexcel exam is the UK's most popular maths examination containing three papers.

Foundation past papers from other exam boards

AQA: series 8300

AQA foundation

OCR: series J560

OCR foundation
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