20 questions with no calculator: the four operations, fractions, percentages, order of operations, factors and estimation.

✏️ Paper 1 non-calculator warm-up — Foundation

Maths · GCSE Foundation · 20 questions · ~25 min

MathsUKwww.geekhero.co.uk

Paper 1 is worth exactly as much as each calculator paper, and it is the one most Foundation students practise least. This sheet is a warm-up for it: twenty questions drawn from the number and ratio statements that turn up on the non-calculator paper year after year — column arithmetic with decimals and negatives, adding and subtracting fractions, percentages of amounts, priority of operations, factors and multiples, and estimating by rounding to one significant figure. Do it with a pen and nothing else. Twenty-five minutes is about right, but do not stop early if you need longer; the point is to find out which of these have quietly gone rusty, not to score well. Mark it, then go back to the topic page for whichever one cost you the most.

1.Write down a prime number between 30 and 40.
(a)33
(b)31
(c)36
(d)34
2.Work out 100 − 4 × 5²
(a)0
(b)2400
(c)60
(d)−300
3.Work out 18 − 4 × 2
(a)12
(b)−10
(c)10
(d)28
4.Simplify the ratio 45 : 30 : 75 to its simplest form.
(a)2 : 3 : 5
(b)15 : 10 : 25
(c)9 : 6 : 15
(d)3 : 2 : 5
5.Work out 0.6 × 0.04.
(a)2.4
(b)0.24
(c)0.024
(d)0.0024
6.The width, the length and the height of a box are in the ratio 3:4:5. The length of the box is 16 cm. Work out the height of the box.
(a)20 cm
(b)80 cm
(c)4 cm
(d)12 cm
7.Divide 84 in the ratio 3:4. Work out the smaller share.
(a)42
(b)48
(c)36
(d)28
8.A charity collects donations from adults and children in the ratio 5:2. Altogether, £238 is collected. Work out how much more the adults donate than the children.
(a)£102
(b)£68
(c)£136
(d)£170
9.Work out 10% of 30% of £200.
(a)£60
(b)£80
(c)£20
(d)£6
10.Work out 3 + 4 × 2²
(a)28
(b)67
(c)196
(d)19
11.Oliver uses his calculator to work out 25% of 80 and writes down 320. Without using a calculator, work out the correct value of 25% of 80.
(a)16
(b)20
(c)3.2
(d)25
12.A fruit punch is made from orange juice, pineapple juice and lemonade in the ratio 5:3:2. A jug holds 3.5 litres of punch in total. Work out the volume of pineapple juice needed.
(a)1.75 litres
(b)0.35 litres
(c)1.05 litres
(d)0.7 litres
13.Work out (−6) + (−4) × 3
(a)−30
(b)−18
(c)18
(d)6
14.Write 200 as a product of its prime factors, using index notation.
(a)2 × 5³
(b)2³ × 5
(c)2² × 5³
(d)2³ × 5²
15.A charity raffle sells 240 tickets at £1.85 each. 40% of the money raised is given to a local hospital. Work out how much money the hospital receives.
(a)£177.60
(b)£444.00
(c)£88.80
(d)£266.40
16.Work out 2 × (−3 + 7)
(a)1
(b)6
(c)−20
(d)8
17.2/3 of an amount of money is £30. Work out the amount.
(a)£15
(b)£45
(c)£20
(d)£90
18.Freya uses her calculator to work out 7² and writes down 14. Work out the correct value of 7².
(a)49
(b)14
(c)9
(d)77
19.The angles of a triangle are in the ratio 2:3:4. Work out the size of the smallest angle.
(a)80°
(b)60°
(c)40°
(d)20°
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%

What is on this worksheet?

The sheet holds 20 questions drawn from the MathsUK bank — the content areas covered: Number, Ratio, proportion and rates of change (statements N2, N3, N4, N10, N12, N14, R4, R5, R9). It is pitched at GCSE Foundation and takes about 25 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 20 questions before checking — about 25 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.

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