25 questions on the topics that decide a grade 4: percentages, ratio, area and perimeter, linear equations, averages and probability.

🎯 Grade 4 pass booster

Maths · GCSE Foundation · 25 questions · ~40 min

MathsUKwww.geekhero.co.uk

A grade 4 is the standard pass that colleges, apprenticeships and employers ask for, and most students who miss it do not miss it on the hard questions — they miss it by dropping marks across the accessible ones. This sheet gathers twenty-five of those: percentage of an amount and percentage change, sharing in a ratio, area and perimeter of rectangles, triangles and compound shapes, solving a linear equation, reading the mean, median, mode and range from a list or a table, and simple probability. Nothing here is a stretch topic, and all of it is worth marks on every paper, on both tiers. Work through it, mark it honestly, and treat anything you got wrong as a priority over anything further up the specification — a secured mark is worth more than an attempted one.

1.Three numbers are in the ratio 1:2:3. The three numbers add up to 72. Work out the largest of the three numbers.
(a)36
(b)12
(c)216
(d)24
2.A straight line crosses a pair of parallel lines. At one of the crossing points, one of the four angles measures 55°. Work out the size of the angle next to it on a straight line at that crossing point.
(a)90°
(b)55°
(c)35°
(d)125°
3.To solve 6x − 4 = 2x + 20, Yusuf's first step is to subtract 2x from both sides. Work out what equation this gives.
(a)4x = 20
(b)4x − 4 = 20
(c)4x − 4 = 2x + 20
(d)8x − 4 = 20
4.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.
(a)300 g
(b)540 g
(c)450 g
(d)270 g
5.A parallelogram has a base of 20 cm and a sloping side of 13 cm. The perpendicular drawn from the top of that sloping side down to the base meets the base 5 cm from the foot of the sloping side, so the perpendicular, the 5 cm and the 13 cm sloping side form a right-angled triangle. Work out the area of the parallelogram.
(a)100 cm²
(b)260 cm²
(c)120 cm²
(d)240 cm²
6.A cylinder has a radius of 3 cm and a height of 10 cm. Using π = 3.14, work out the volume of the cylinder. Give your answer to the nearest whole number of cubic centimetres.
(a)188 cm³
(b)1130 cm³
(c)94 cm³
(d)283 cm³
7.Two ordinary fair dice are rolled. Work out the probability that the difference between the two scores is 1.
(a)1/4
(b)1/6
(c)5/36
(d)5/18
8.Solve 5x − 9 = 16
(a)1.4
(b)5
(c)25
(d)3.2
9.Two ordinary fair dice are rolled and the two scores are added together. Work out the probability that the total is a prime number.
(a)13/36
(b)19/36
(c)7/18
(d)5/12
10.Freya buys three items whose prices are in the ratio 2:3:5. Altogether she pays £400. Work out the price of the most expensive item.
(a)£120
(b)£80
(c)£40
(d)£200
11.The mean of three numbers is 50. A fourth number, 100, is added to the set. Work out the mean of the four numbers.
(a)62.5
(b)75
(c)37.5
(d)50
12.A regular polygon has an interior angle of 156°. Work out the number of sides of the polygon.
(a)17
(b)24
(c)15
(d)7.5
13.A box contains cards labelled 1, 2 and 3. A card is drawn at random and its number noted, then it is put back. A second card is then drawn at random. Every outcome is listed as an ordered pair, such as (1, 2). Work out how many of the outcomes in the full list have both numbers the same.
(a)1
(b)6
(c)3
(d)9
14.A jug of squash is made by mixing water and syrup in the ratio 6:1. Nia wants to make 8.4 litres of squash. Work out how much syrup she needs, in litres.
(a)0.84
(b)1.4
(c)1.2
(d)7.2
15.The interior angles of a pentagon are 100°, 110°, 120°, x° and x°. Work out the size of each of the two angles marked x°.
(a)105°
(b)55°
(c)108°
(d)210°
16.Solve 6x − 5 = 3x + 13.
(a)18
(b)2
(c)2.67
(d)6
17.A jug holds 3 litres of a drink that is 60% fruit juice. 1 litre of water is added to the jug. Work out the percentage of the new mixture that is fruit juice.
(a)60%
(b)75%
(c)45%
(d)15%
18.The sum of the interior angles of a polygon is 1980°. Work out the number of sides of the polygon.
(a)11
(b)13
(c)22
(d)15
19.A car is bought for £17,500. Its value decreases by 12% in the first year, and by a further 10% of its reduced value in the second year. Work out the value of the car at the end of the second year, giving your answer to the nearest pound.
(a)£15,400
(b)£13,860
(c)£13,650
(d)£15,750
20.Solve 7x − 5 = 3x + 11
(a)−4
(b)1.5
(c)0.6
(d)4
21.A jumper costs £45 at Shop A, where it is reduced by 20%. The same jumper costs £34 at Shop B, where a further 10% reduction is then applied. Work out the difference between the two reduced prices.
(a)£11.00
(b)£66.60
(c)£1.60
(d)£5.40
22.The numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 have a mean of 7 and a median of 7. The value 100 is now added to the list. Which measure is changed more by adding 100, and why?
(a)The median, because the median always jumps when the count of values changes from even to odd.
(b)The mean, because adding 100 to the list raises the mean by 100, from 7 up to 107.
(c)The mean, because every value counts towards it, so 100 pulls it from 7 up to about 20.3.
(d)The median, because 100 becomes the largest value, so the middle value moves from 7 to 12.
23.In triangle ABC, angle A is 2x°, angle B is 3x° and angle C is 4x°. Work out the size of angle B.
(a)60°
(b)20°
(c)120°
(d)80°
24.Solve (3x + 2)/5 = (x + 4)/3
(a)x = 3.5
(b)x = 4.5
(c)x = 10
(d)x = 1
25.A small pack contains 5 cards, numbered 1 to 5. One card is drawn at random from the pack, and a fair coin is flipped. Every outcome is listed as a pair, such as (3, H). Work out how many equally likely outcomes there are in total.
(a)5
(b)20
(c)10
(d)7

What is on this worksheet?

The sheet holds 25 questions drawn from the MathsUK bank — the content areas covered: Ratio, proportion and rates of change, Geometry and measures, Algebra, Statistics, Probability (statements R5, R9, G16, G3, A17, S4, P7). It is pitched at GCSE Foundation and takes about 40 minutes to work through in full. It is built for independent practice, with full answers at the end for self-marking.

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 25 questions before checking — about 40 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 25 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
⚖️ Foundation to Higher crossover check · 20 questions · ~35 min
⚗️ Ratio and proportion mastery — Higher · 24 questions · ~45 min
💷 Percentages and compound interest · 22 questions · ~40 min