20 questions on the grade 4-5 content both tiers share — a fair test of whether a Higher entry is the right call.
⚖️ Foundation to Higher crossover check
The tier decision is made by the school, but it is made on evidence, and this sheet is designed to produce some. Every question on it sits in the crossover band — the grade 4 to 5 content that appears on both the Foundation and the Higher papers: multiplying out and factorising, solving linear equations and inequalities, straight-line graphs and gradients, ratio and proportion, Pythagoras' theorem, angle reasoning, and averages from a frequency table. A student who works through this comfortably has the foundation a Higher entry needs. A student who is guessing on half of it will almost certainly come away with a better grade from a Foundation paper they can attempt in full. Useful for a parents' evening conversation, and for a department deciding entries.
- 1.A straight line crosses two parallel lines. An angle of 65° is formed at one crossing. At the other crossing, the angle that lies between the two parallel lines on the opposite side of the crossing line is also 65°. Write down the angle fact that explains why these two angles are equal.
- 2.Solve 5x + 2 = 17.
- 3.A ramp's sloped surface crosses two horizontal parallel rails. At the top rail, the angle between the ramp and the rail on the right of the ramp is (3x + 10)°. At the bottom rail, the angle between the ramp and the rail on the left of the ramp is (5x − 30)°. Work out the value of x.
- 4.Two investors put money into a business in the ratio 3:5. The first investor puts in £1,200. Work out the total amount invested by both investors.
- 5.Simplify 5x + 3y − 2x + y.
- 6.Solve the inequality 3x + 6 ≤ 0.
- 7.A flagpole is 12 m tall. Freya stands 9 m from the base of the flagpole on level ground. Work out the angle of elevation of the top of the flagpole from where Freya stands. Give your answer correct to 1 decimal place.
- 8.A regular hexagon is divided into six identical triangles by joining its centre to each of the six vertices. Work out the size of the angle of one of these triangles at the centre of the hexagon.
- 9.A necklace is made using gold beads and silver beads in the ratio 7:3. There are 40 more gold beads than silver beads. Work out the total number of beads in the necklace.
- 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 shop sold seven pairs of shoes in these sizes: 4, 4, 5, 6, 6, 6, 9. Write down the modal size.
- 12.An angle measures 108°. Write down the name given to an angle of this size.
- 13.A rectangular garden gate is 3 m wide and 4 m high. A straight brace runs from one corner of the gate to the opposite corner. Work out the length of the brace.
- 14.A straight line has gradient −2 and passes through the point (3, 1). Work out the equation of the line.
- 15.Solve 5(x + 3) = 40
- 16.The sum of the interior angles of a polygon is 1980°. Work out the number of sides of the polygon.
- 17.The price of a jacket increases by 50% and then decreases by 50%. Describe the overall change from the original price.
- 18.A recipe for pastry uses flour and butter in the ratio 3:2. A baker has 180 g of butter and wants to make pastry using all of it. Work out the total mass of pastry the baker can make.
- 19.A pizza shop charges a fixed delivery fee of £3, plus £9 for each pizza ordered. Write down the function for the total cost y, in pounds, of ordering x pizzas.
- 20.A candle is 30 cm tall and burns down at a steady rate of 1 cm per hour. Write down the function for the height of the candle y, in centimetres, after x hours.
What is on this worksheet?
The sheet holds 20 questions drawn from the MathsUK bank — the content areas covered: Algebra, Ratio, proportion and rates of change, Geometry and measures, Statistics (statements A4, A17, A22, A9, R5, R9, G20, G3, S4). It is pitched at GCSE Foundation and takes about 35 minutes to work through in full. It works as a class handout, a homework, or a warm-up before a test.
How to use the sheet well
- Print it or open it on screen — both work. Printing is A4; the screen view fits phones and tablets.
- Do all 20 questions before checking — about 35 minutes is the guide, but there is no time pressure.
- Check the answers — press “Show answers” or print the answer page separately.
- Redo the questions you got wrong — twice as effective as doing 20 fresh ones.
- “New questions” — builds a fresh sheet on the same statements, so you can practise again without repeats.
Why this sheet helps
MathsUK worksheets use questions graded by difficulty and a fair spread of correct-answer positions (the answer is not always (a)) — so the student really has to think about each question rather than guess a pattern. Every question is tagged to a DfE content statement and checked before it enters the bank. The answers come with a step-by-step explanation, not just a value — so a wrong answer becomes a lesson.
Similar worksheets worth a look
- ✏️ Paper 1 non-calculator warm-up — Foundation · 20 questions · ~25 min
- 🎯 Grade 4 pass booster · 25 questions · ~40 min
- 📈 Quadratics: factorise, complete the square, formula · 24 questions · ~45 min
- 💷 Percentages and compound interest · 22 questions · ~40 min