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 12 as a product of its prime factors.
(a)2² × 3
(b)2 × 3²
(c)2 × 3
(d)2 × 6
2.A recipe uses flour, sugar and butter in the ratio 8 : 3 : 5. Write the ratio of flour to the rest of the mixture (sugar and butter combined) in its simplest form.
(a)3 : 5
(b)8 : 3
(c)1 : 2
(d)1 : 1
3.2.4 kg of cheese costs £36. Work out the cost of 1.5 kg of the same cheese.
(a)£15
(b)£57.60
(c)£22.50
(d)£54
4.At an animal shelter, the ratio of cats to dogs is 2:5. There are 18 more dogs than cats. Work out the number of cats.
(a)6
(b)12
(c)9
(d)30
5.Work out an estimate for 8,900 ÷ 29, by rounding each number to 1 significant figure.
(a)300
(b)307
(c)450
(d)3,000
6.A recipe uses 160 g of flour. Sam wants to increase the amount by 1/4. Work out the new amount of flour.
(a)200 g
(b)128 g
(c)240 g
(d)40 g
7.Work out 250 ÷ 1000.
(a)25
(b)0.025
(c)2.5
(d)0.25
8.40% of a number is 12 more than 25% of the same number. Work out the number.
(a)48
(b)80
(c)15
(d)30
9.Work out 3 × (−2)² − 5
(a)7
(b)−3
(c)31
(d)−17
10.Find the missing number: ▢ ÷ 15 = 24
(a)360
(b)39
(c)9
(d)1.6
11.A fruit bowl contains 9 apples and 21 oranges. Write down the ratio of apples to oranges in its simplest form.
(a)9 : 12
(b)9 : 21
(c)7 : 3
(d)3 : 7
12.Grace's mean mark in her maths tests rises from 70 to 84. Work out the percentage increase in her mean mark.
(a)20%
(b)120%
(c)17%
(d)14%
13.A cinema has 250 seats. 12% of the seats are reserved. Work out how many of the seats are reserved.
(a)3
(b)30
(c)25
(d)24
14.£120 is shared between three cousins in the ratio 3:4:5. Work out the largest share.
(a)£10
(b)£50
(c)£30
(d)£40
15.Work out 35% of 180.
(a)45
(b)63
(c)145
(d)126
16.A student writes 0.08 as the fraction 8/10, reading the 8 as if it stood in the tenths column and ignoring the zero. Work out the correct fraction that 0.08 is equal to, giving your answer in its simplest form.
(a)25/2
(b)1/125
(c)4/5
(d)2/25
17.Work out 100 − 4 × 5²
(a)0
(b)2400
(c)60
(d)−300
18.Work out 3/8 of 96.
(a)72
(b)12
(c)32
(d)36
19.A company's turnover this year is £180,000. Last year's turnover was £120,000. Write down this year's turnover as a percentage of last year's turnover.
(a)50%
(b)180%
(c)150%
(d)66.7%
20.An amount of money is shared in the ratio 1:2:3. The largest share is £90 more than the smallest share. Work out the total amount that was shared.
(a)£180
(b)£540
(c)£135
(d)£270

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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