20 questions with no calculator: the four operations, fractions, percentages, order of operations, factors and estimation.
✏️ Paper 1 non-calculator warm-up — Foundation
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.Work out (−6) + (−4) × 3
- 2.Work out (−3) × 4 + 10
- 3.Write the ratio 27 : 45 in its simplest form.
- 4.Work out an estimate for 2.9² + 3.1², by rounding each number to the nearest whole number.
- 5.2.4 kg of cheese costs £36. Work out the cost of 1.5 kg of the same cheese.
- 6.Work out 50% of 60.
- 7.Write the ratio 3/4 : 1/2 as a ratio of whole numbers in its simplest form.
- 8.Which of these numbers is a common factor of 18 and 24?
- 9.Isla and her brother share £60 in the ratio 1:2. Work out Isla's share.
- 10.Write down the reciprocal of 5/8
- 11.Write 0.36 as a fraction in its simplest form.
- 12.Write 45 minutes : 2 hours as a ratio in its simplest form.
- 13.Work out how many factors 36 has.
- 14.Work out 0.6 × 0.04.
- 15.Work out −7 − (−3).
- 16.The price of a jacket increases by 50% and then decreases by 50%. Describe the overall change from the original price.
- 17.A country's population is 8,340,000, and it is estimated that 1,950,000 of them live in the capital city. By rounding each number to 1 significant figure, work out an estimate for the number of people who do not live in the capital city.
- 18.A class has 28 pupils. 16 of the pupils are girls and the rest are boys. Write the ratio of girls to boys in its simplest form.
- 19.Work out √144 − 2 × 3 + √25
- 20.A café buys 18 boxes of teabags at £3.45 each, and sells all the teabags for £108 in total. Work out the café's profit.
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.
Similar worksheets worth a look
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- 🎯 Grade 4 pass booster · 25 questions · ~40 min
- ⚖️ Foundation to Higher crossover check · 20 questions · ~35 min
- 💷 Percentages and compound interest · 22 questions · ~40 min