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 250 g : 2 kg as a ratio in its simplest form.
(a)1:8
(b)5:40
(c)125:1
(d)8:1
2.Four students work out 6 + 2 × 3. Which student has worked it out correctly?
(a)Chen: 6 × 2 = 12, then 12 + 3 = 15
(b)Dev: 2 × 3 = 5, then 6 + 5 = 11
(c)Ben: 2 × 3 = 6, then 6 + 6 = 12
(d)Amy: 6 + 2 = 8, then 8 × 3 = 24
3.In a school choir the ratio of boys to girls is 3:4. When 6 more boys join the choir, the ratio of boys to girls becomes 1:1. Work out how many girls are in the choir.
(a)18
(b)24
(c)42
(d)30
4.A washing machine costs £320 before VAT. VAT is charged at 20%. Work out the total price including VAT.
(a)£340.00
(b)£326.40
(c)£384.00
(d)£64.00
5.Work out 20 − 8 ÷ 2 + 1
(a)16
(b)15
(c)7
(d)17
6.Write 0.35 as a fraction in its lowest terms.
(a)7/25
(b)35/10
(c)3/10
(d)7/20
7.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
8.A rectangular field measures 19.6 m by 48.3 m. Work out an estimate for the area of the field, by rounding each length to 1 significant figure.
(a)800 m²
(b)70 m²
(c)1,000 m²
(d)140 m²
9.A box holds 140 pens. 25% of the pens are red. Work out how many of the pens are red.
(a)35
(b)105
(c)25
(d)70
10.The number 24 can be written as 2³ × 3, and the number 60 can be written as 2² × 3 × 5. Work out the lowest common multiple of 24 and 60.
(a)120
(b)12
(c)1440
(d)60
11.Work out √144 − 2 × 3 + √25
(a)35
(b)11
(c)1
(d)7
12.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
13.Work out −6 × (−3).
(a)−18
(b)18
(c)−9
(d)9
14.Work out 8% of £250.
(a)£25
(b)£2
(c)£200
(d)£20
15.A recipe uses 0.625 kg of flour. Write this mass as a fraction of a kilogram, in its simplest form.
(a)31/50
(b)25/4
(c)5/8
(d)8/5
16.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
17.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
18.Write the fraction 47/50 as a decimal.
(a)0.094
(b)4.7
(c)0.94
(d)0.47
19.Work out (−2/5) × (−10/3). Give your answer as a fraction in its simplest form.
(a)−56/15
(b)3/25
(c)−4/3
(d)4/3
20.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

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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