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.Solve 2x + 1 = 9
(a)x = 8
(b)x = 16
(c)x = 4
(d)x = 5
2.Write 1/5 as a percentage.
(a)20%
(b)5%
(c)50%
(d)25%
3.A charity shop and a school share collection-box money in the ratio 5 : 8. The charity shop receives £47.50. Work out how much the school receives.
(a)£29.69
(b)£76.00
(c)£57.00
(d)£123.50
4.Work out the median of these six numbers: 13, 21, 22, 36, 37, 47
(a)22
(b)36
(c)34
(d)29
5.The midday temperature in Leeds was recorded on each day of one week: 22 °C, 24 °C, 23 °C, 25 °C, 26 °C, 21 °C, 24 °C. Work out the mean midday temperature, giving your answer to 2 decimal places.
(a)24 °C
(b)5 °C
(c)27.5 °C
(d)23.57 °C
6.The rent on a flat increases by 10% one year and by a further 10% the following year. Work out the overall percentage increase over the two years.
(a)121%
(b)11%
(c)21%
(d)20%
7.The price of a cycling helmet rises from £80 to £116. Work out the percentage increase.
(a)45%
(b)145%
(c)36%
(d)31%
8.A regular polygon has an exterior angle of 45°. Work out the number of sides of the polygon.
(a)4
(b)45
(c)8
(d)315
9.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.
(a)−10
(b)47.5
(c)25
(d)20
10.A company's profit this year is 130% of last year's profit. Last year's profit was £40,000. Work out this year's profit.
(a)£12,000
(b)£52,000
(c)£5,200
(d)£40,130
11.A transversal crosses a pair of parallel lines. At one line, the angle is (5x + 4)°. The corresponding angle at the other line is (3x + 24)°. Work out the value of x.
(a)19
(b)10
(c)20
(d)14
12.A cylinder has a radius of 5 cm. Its volume is 471 cm³. Using π = 3.14, work out the height of the cylinder.
(a)150 cm
(b)24 cm
(c)30 cm
(d)6 cm
13.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
14.A trapezium has parallel sides of 16 cm and 24 cm, and a perpendicular height of 7 cm. Work out the area of the trapezium.
(a)280 cm²
(b)140 cm²
(c)168 cm²
(d)47 cm
15.Noah says that y = 3 is the solution of the equation y + 10 = 12. Noah is wrong. Work out the correct value of y.
(a)y = 22
(b)y = −2
(c)y = 2
(d)y = 12
16.A roof truss has two horizontal parallel rafters, one above the other. A straight strut crosses both rafters. Where the strut crosses the lower rafter, the angle above the rafter and to the left of the strut is 65°. Work out the size of the angle above the upper rafter and to the right of the strut, where the strut crosses it.
(a)65
(b)25
(c)115
(d)245
17.Write 0.25 as a percentage.
(a)2.5%
(b)0.25%
(c)250%
(d)25%
18.A trapezium has an area of 45 cm², a perpendicular height of 5 cm, and one parallel side of length 10 cm. Work out the length of the other parallel side.
(a)18 cm
(b)28 cm
(c)8 cm
(d)4 cm
19.A cylinder has a volume of 942 cm³ and a height of 12 cm. Using π = 3.14, work out the radius of the cylinder.
(a)25 cm
(b)8.9 cm
(c)5 cm
(d)17.3 cm
20.The same jumper is sold at two shops. Shop A charges £40 and Shop B charges £50. Write down the price at Shop A as a percentage of the price at Shop B.
(a)90%
(b)80%
(c)20%
(d)125%
21.A parallelogram has a base of 4 cm and a perpendicular height of 17 cm. Work out the area of the parallelogram.
(a)42 cm
(b)21 cm
(c)34 cm²
(d)68 cm²
22.A trapezium has parallel sides of 5.6 cm and 8.4 cm, and a perpendicular height of 4 cm. Work out the area of the trapezium.
(a)33.6 cm²
(b)28 cm²
(c)5.6 cm²
(d)56 cm²
23.The mean of the numbers x, 20 and 30 is equal to the mean of the numbers 15 and 25. Work out the value of x.
(a)20
(b)−10
(c)10
(d)70
24.Solve 4(x − 3) = 2x + 6.
(a)4.5
(b)−3
(c)3
(d)9
25.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.

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