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 50% of 60.
(a)6
(b)3000
(c)120
(d)30
2.The price of a share falls by 10% on Monday and then rises by 10% on Tuesday. Work out the overall percentage change from Monday's starting price.
(a)0%
(b)−1%
(c)−2%
(d)+1%
3.Write down the reciprocal of 5/8
(a)−8/5
(b)8/5
(c)5/8
(d)3/8
4.Work out 250 ÷ 1000.
(a)25
(b)0.025
(c)2.5
(d)0.25
5.A shade of paint is made by mixing blue paint and white paint. To make 5 litres of the shade, 2 litres of blue paint is used and the rest is white paint. Write the ratio of blue paint to white paint in its simplest form.
(a)5:3
(b)2:5
(c)2:3
(d)3:2
6.Work out 100 − 4 × 5²
(a)0
(b)2400
(c)60
(d)−300
7.Two lighthouses flash at the start of the same minute. The first lighthouse flashes every 8 minutes and the second flashes every 12 minutes. Work out how many minutes it will be until they next flash together.
(a)4
(b)24
(c)96
(d)20
8.Work out (−6) + (−4) × 3
(a)−30
(b)−18
(c)18
(d)6
9.In a test, Amelia answered 18 of the 24 questions correctly. Work out the percentage of the questions she answered correctly.
(a)75%
(b)133%
(c)25%
(d)18%
10.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
11.A shop buys boxes of pens for £4 each. It sells each box on to a school for £3 more than it paid, and charges an extra £2 delivery fee for the whole order. A school orders 5 boxes. Work out the total cost of the order.
(a)£45
(b)£37
(c)£25
(d)£22
12.Find the missing number: 17 × ▢ = 391
(a)23
(b)374
(c)17
(d)6647
13.A charity bake sale sells 187 cakes at £2.95 each. By rounding each number to 1 significant figure, work out an estimate for the total amount raised.
(a)£600
(b)£400
(c)£561
(d)£570
14.Write 60 as a product of its prime factors, using index notation.
(a)2 × 3 × 5
(b)2² × 3 × 5
(c)2 × 3 × 5²
(d)2² × 3² × 5
15.A bag contains 7 red counters and 15 blue counters. Write down the ratio of red counters to blue counters in its simplest form.
(a)7:5
(b)15:7
(c)1:2
(d)7:15
16.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
17.Find the missing number: ▢ ÷ 15 = 24
(a)360
(b)39
(c)9
(d)1.6
18.After a 20% discount, a jacket costs £48. Work out the original price of the jacket.
(a)£40
(b)£60
(c)£57.60
(d)£38.40
19.A sponsored walk raised £350 for charity. 20% of the money raised is spent on equipment. Work out how much is spent on equipment.
(a)£35
(b)£280
(c)£70
(d)£17.50
20.Work out 35% of 180.
(a)45
(b)63
(c)145
(d)126

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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