13+ Common Entrance · Topic guide

Maths: Full Practice Paper (Core, Non-Calculator, Set 7)

This full-length, ISEB-style 13+ Common Entrance Core Maths paper is taken without a calculator and is the seventh complete set of Core-specification questions on the site, covering number and calculation, fractions, decimals and percentages, ratio and proportion, algebra, geometry and measures, and statistics and probability, giving further realistic timed practice once the earlier non-calculator papers feel comfortable.

Year 7-8 (13+)MathsISEB

Before you start

Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:

Method

  1. Time yourself against the number of marks available rather than the number of questions, since some short-looking questions are worth several marks.
  2. For calculations involving negative numbers, use a number line or count carefully through zero rather than relying on a rule you are unsure of.
  3. When a question gives information in a table or a diagram, read every label before you start calculating, since a missed unit or heading is a common source of errors.
  4. Where a question can be answered with a fraction, a whole number or a decimal, check which form the question actually asks for before you write your final answer.
  5. Cross out any working you no longer need clearly, rather than erasing it, so a correct method is not lost if you change your mind.
  6. Review your paper for any question left blank in the final few minutes, since an attempted method mark is always better than no answer at all.

Worked example

The temperature at 6 am was -4 degrees C. By midday it had risen by 11 degrees C, and by 9 pm it had fallen by 8 degrees C from its midday value. Work out the temperature at 9 pm.

  1. Represent the temperatures on a number line, so that a rise moves right and a fall moves left.
  2. Find the temperature at midday by adding the rise to the temperature at 6 am: -4 + 11 = 7 degrees C.
  3. Find the temperature at 9 pm by subtracting the fall from the midday temperature: 7 - 8 = -1 degrees C.
  4. Check the answer makes sense: since 7 degrees C fell by more than 7 degrees, the temperature must end below zero, which -1 degrees C is.
  5. State the final answer: the temperature at 9 pm was -1 degrees C.

Practice questions

Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.

Q1Work out -7 + 15.Show answer

Answer: 8

Got it right?
Q2Work out -3 - 6.Show answer

Answer: -9

Got it right?
Q3Write 5/8 as a decimal.Show answer

Answer: 0.625

Got it right?
Q4A coat costs 80 pounds. It is reduced by 35% in a sale. Work out the sale price.Show answer

Answer: 52 pounds (10% of 80 = 8, 35% = 28, and 80 - 28 = 52)

Got it right?
Q5Work out 15 x 14, using a written method.Show answer

Answer: 210

Got it right?
Q6A number is tripled and then 5 is added, giving 32. Form an equation and find the number.Show answer

Answer: 9 (3x + 5 = 32, so 3x = 27 and x = 9)

Got it right?

Exam-style questions

Written in the style of a 13+ Common Entrance exam paper, with a full mark scheme.

Q1[4 marks]

A shop's temperature-controlled store starts a day at -2 degrees C. During the morning it rises by 9 degrees C, and during the afternoon it falls by 12 degrees C. (a) Work out the temperature at the end of the afternoon. (b) Work out the total change in temperature over the whole day, from the start to the end.

Show mark scheme

Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.

Nothing ticked yet - 4 available

Got it right?
Q2[4 marks]

(a) Solve the equation 4(x - 3) = 2x + 6. (b) Using your value of x, work out the value of x^2 - 1.

Show mark scheme

Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.

Nothing ticked yet - 4 available

Got it right?

Free printable worksheet

Want more practice on paper? Download the maths: full practice paper (core, non-calculator, set 7) worksheet pack - 11 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.

Next topics

Ready to practise maths: full practice paper (core, non-calculator, set 7)? Add it to a printable topic pack for this student in the Pack Builder.

Add to my pack

Not quite what you needed?

Tell us what is missing on maths: full practice paper (core, non-calculator, set 7), or which topic to write up next. Every request is read, and we reply to every one.

Build a full practice pack.

This topic is one of hundreds in the library - pick the ones a student needs and generate a printable PDF in minutes.