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.A rectangular garden has its length and width in the ratio 5:3. Given that the perimeter of the garden is 64 m, work out the width of the garden.
(a)8 m
(b)24 m
(c)12 m
(d)20 m
2.Write 0.35 as a fraction in its lowest terms.
(a)7/25
(b)35/10
(c)3/10
(d)7/20
3.Write 200 as a product of its prime factors, using index notation.
(a)2 × 5³
(b)2³ × 5
(c)2² × 5³
(d)2³ × 5²
4.A café orders 340 bread rolls at 24p each and 85 cakes at £1.35 each. Work out the total cost of the order.
(a)£114.75
(b)£81.60
(c)£196.35
(d)£122.91
5.A water tank holds 80 litres when full. It currently contains 60 litres. Work out what fraction of the tank is empty.
(a)1/4
(b)1/3
(c)3/4
(d)1/5
6.Write £3.60 : £2.40 as a ratio in its simplest form.
(a)360 : 240
(b)36 : 24
(c)2 : 3
(d)3 : 2
7.Work out √25 + 4² − 12 ÷ 3
(a)9
(b)17
(c)3
(d)37
8.A bag contains red counters and blue counters in the ratio 5:3. There are 56 counters in the bag altogether. Work out how many counters are blue.
(a)35
(b)7
(c)28
(d)21
9.A charity fun run raises money through entry fees and donations. Entry fees raise £1,260, which is 60% of the total amount raised. Work out how much money was raised through donations.
(a)£504
(b)£1,890
(c)£840
(d)£2,100
10.Write 0.25 as a percentage.
(a)2.5%
(b)0.25%
(c)250%
(d)25%
11.Write 0.06 as a fraction in its simplest form.
(a)3/5
(b)3/50
(c)1/6
(d)3/500
12.Is 120 divisible by 5? Give a reason for your answer.
(a)Yes, because 120 ends in 0
(b)No, because 1 + 2 + 0 = 3 is not a multiple of 5
(c)Yes, because 120 is even
(d)No, because 5 does not divide into 12
13.Which of these ratios is equivalent to 6 : 10 : 14?
(a)8:12:16
(b)3:5:8
(c)9:15:21
(d)12:20:14
14.Work out 3.7 × 24.
(a)8.88
(b)88.8
(c)888
(d)87.8
15.Four students work out 6 + 2 × 3. Which student has worked it out correctly?
(a)Chen: 6 × 2 = 12, then 12 + 3 = 15
(b)Dev: 2 × 3 = 5, then 6 + 5 = 11
(c)Ben: 2 × 3 = 6, then 6 + 6 = 12
(d)Amy: 6 + 2 = 8, then 8 × 3 = 24
16.A plank of wood is 5 1/4 m long. Pieces of length 3/4 m are cut from it. Work out how many complete pieces of 3/4 m can be cut from the plank.
(a)7
(b)3
(c)1
(d)6
17.A jug holds 3 1/3 litres of juice. Each glass holds 2/3 of a litre. Work out how many glasses can be filled from the jug.
(a)5
(b)20/9
(c)5/3
(d)2
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.
(a)300 g
(b)540 g
(c)450 g
(d)270 g
19.Work out the reciprocal of (2 + 3)
(a)1/5
(b)5/6
(c)5
(d)−1/5
20.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

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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