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.Three friends share a raffle prize of £360 in the ratio 2:3:4. Work out the share of the friend whose part of the ratio is 3.
(a)£160
(b)£40
(c)£80
(d)£120
2.A pack contains 20 stickers. Noah gives 1/5 of the pack to his sister. Work out how many stickers he gives away.
(a)4
(b)5
(c)100
(d)16
3.Work out an estimate for 6.4 × 3.9, by rounding each number to the nearest whole number.
(a)18
(b)25
(c)24
(d)28
4.Work out an estimate for 37 × 84, by rounding each number to 1 significant figure.
(a)3200
(b)2400
(c)120
(d)3108
5.Work out 250 ÷ 1000.
(a)25
(b)0.025
(c)2.5
(d)0.25
6.A rectangular patio measures 90 cm by 120 cm. Ben wants to cover it exactly with identical square tiles, as large as possible, with no tiles cut. Work out the side length of the largest square tile he can use.
(a)30 cm
(b)360 cm
(c)15 cm
(d)10 cm
7.Amelia has 49 boxes of apples with 21 apples in each box. Work out an estimate for the total number of apples, by rounding each number to 1 significant figure.
(a)1,029
(b)1,500
(c)800
(d)1,000
8.In a class, 1/3 of the pupils are girls. There are 12 girls in the class. Work out how many pupils are in the class.
(a)18
(b)4
(c)24
(d)36
9.Write down the decimal that is equal to 3/5.
(a)1.67
(b)0.6
(c)0.35
(d)0.53
10.Work out (5 + 2) × 3²
(a)147
(b)63
(c)23
(d)441
11.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
12.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
13.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
14.A charity shop buys a coat for £24 and sells it for a profit that is 3/8 of the buying price. Work out the selling price.
(a)£27.00
(b)£15.00
(c)£9.00
(d)£33.00
15.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
16.Insert one pair of brackets into 2 + 3 × 5 − 1 so that the calculation is equal to 24. Which calculation is correct?
(a)(2 + 3 × 5) − 1
(b)(2 + 3) × 5 − 1
(c)2 + 3 × (5 − 1)
(d)(2 + 3) × (5 − 1)
17.Two investors put money into a business in the ratio 3:5. The first investor puts in £1,200. Work out the total amount invested by both investors.
(a)£2,400
(b)£2,000
(c)£3,200
(d)£6,000
18.Write 400 g : 1.5 kg as a ratio in its simplest form.
(a)4 : 15
(b)40 : 150
(c)4 : 1.5
(d)15 : 4
19.Work out 1/2 of 1/4 of 80.
(a)20
(b)10
(c)60
(d)40
20.Write the ratio 3/4 : 1/2 as a ratio of whole numbers in its simplest form.
(a)3:1
(b)3:2
(c)2:3
(d)2:1

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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