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.Work out 4368 ÷ 12.
(a)346
(b)364
(c)304
(d)36.4
2.A school orders 187 packed lunches for a trip. Each packed lunch costs £4.85. The school has £900 to spend. By rounding each number to 1 significant figure, work out an estimate for the total cost and decide whether £900 is enough.
(a)£935, so £900 is not enough
(b)£1,000, so £900 is not enough
(c)£800, so £900 is enough
(d)£950, so £900 is not enough
3.Find the missing number: ▢ ÷ 15 = 24
(a)360
(b)39
(c)9
(d)1.6
4.Write down the reciprocal of 5/8
(a)−8/5
(b)8/5
(c)5/8
(d)3/8
5.Work out the value of √(16 + 9)
(a)5
(b)12
(c)7
(d)−5
6.Work out 3/8 of 96.
(a)72
(b)12
(c)32
(d)36
7.Write 0.35 as a fraction in its lowest terms.
(a)7/25
(b)35/10
(c)3/10
(d)7/20
8.A quiz has 50 questions. Freya answers 10% of them incorrectly. Work out how many questions she answers incorrectly.
(a)5
(b)10
(c)500
(d)45
9.Grace works out 7 × 99 by writing 99 as 100 − 1. Use her method to work out 7 × 99.
(a)707
(b)700
(c)693
(d)699
10.2.4 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
11.In a recipe the mass of chocolate to the mass of milk is in the ratio 1:4. Amelia uses 200 g of milk. Work out the mass of chocolate she needs.
(a)800 g
(b)250 g
(c)40 g
(d)50 g
12.Tickets for a fairground ride are sold in packs of 6. Tokens for the dodgems are sold in packs of 10. Yusuf wants to buy the smallest number of packs of each so that he ends up with the same number of ride tickets as dodgem tokens. Work out how many ride tickets that is.
(a)16
(b)30
(c)60
(d)2
13.Tickets to a theme park cost £38.50 for an adult and £19.75 for a child. A family estimates the total cost for 4 adults and 3 children, by rounding each ticket price to the nearest £5. Work out their estimate for the total cost.
(a)£160
(b)£220
(c)£213.25
(d)£200
14.Work out 250 ÷ 1000.
(a)25
(b)0.025
(c)2.5
(d)0.25
15.2/3 of an amount of money is £30. Work out the amount.
(a)£15
(b)£45
(c)£20
(d)£90
16.After a price increase of 10%, a laptop costs £330. Work out the original price.
(a)£3,300
(b)£300
(c)£363
(d)£297
17.A carpenter has a plank of wood 4.8 m long. She cuts off 3 pieces, each 0.9 m long, to make shelves. Work out the length of wood remaining.
(a)7.5 m
(b)2.1 m
(c)3.0 m
(d)2.7 m
18.A minibus can carry 16 passengers. A school is taking 179 pupils on a trip. By rounding 179 to the nearest 10, work out an estimate for the number of minibuses needed, given that the school cannot hire part of a minibus.
(a)180
(b)12
(c)10
(d)11
19.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
20.The price of a cycling helmet rises from £80 to £116. Work out the percentage increase.
(a)45%
(b)145%
(c)36%
(d)31%

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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