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.A jar contains 24 green sweets and 16 orange sweets. Write the ratio of green sweets to orange sweets in its simplest form.
(a)3:2
(b)3:5
(c)2:3
(d)6:4
2.A concert hall has 300 seats. 20% of the seats are in the balcony. Work out how many of the seats are in the balcony.
(a)15
(b)6
(c)30
(d)60
3.A jumper costs £45 at Shop A, where it is reduced by 20%. The same jumper costs £34 at Shop B, where a further 10% reduction is then applied. Work out the difference between the two reduced prices.
(a)£11.00
(b)£66.60
(c)£1.60
(d)£5.40
4.Work out the value of √(16 + 9)
(a)5
(b)12
(c)7
(d)−5
5.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
6.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
7.At midday the temperature in the Lake District was 3 °C. By midnight it had fallen to −6 °C. Work out the fall in temperature.
(a)9 °C
(b)6 °C
(c)3 °C
(d)−9 °C
8.A charity raffle sells 240 tickets at £1.85 each. 40% of the money raised is given to a local hospital. Work out how much money the hospital receives.
(a)£177.60
(b)£444.00
(c)£88.80
(d)£266.40
9.In the number 3.472, work out the value of the digit 7.
(a)0.007
(b)0.7
(c)0.07
(d)7
10.A mortar mix is made from sand and cement in the ratio 5 : 3. Write the ratio of sand to the total mix in its simplest form.
(a)8:5
(b)5:8
(c)3:8
(d)5:3
11.At a bus station one bus leaves every 6 minutes and another leaves every 9 minutes. The two buses leave together at the start of the day. Work out how long it is until they next leave together.
(a)18 minutes
(b)54 minutes
(c)3 minutes
(d)15 minutes
12.The ratio of Josh's savings to Mia's savings is 4:7. Mia has £39 more than Josh. Work out Josh's savings.
(a)£39
(b)£52
(c)£91
(d)£13
13.Work out an estimate for 37 × 84, by rounding each number to 1 significant figure.
(a)3200
(b)2400
(c)120
(d)3108
14.Work out an estimate for 89 + 52, by rounding each number to the nearest 10.
(a)141
(b)130
(c)150
(d)140
15.A sum of £150 is divided between Ben and Chloe in the ratio 2:3. Work out Chloe's share.
(a)£60
(b)£75
(c)£90
(d)£30
16.Write the ratio 18:22 in its simplest form.
(a)9:11
(b)9:22
(c)11:9
(d)9:13
17.A country's population is 8,340,000, and it is estimated that 1,950,000 of them live in the capital city. By rounding each number to 1 significant figure, work out an estimate for the number of people who do not live in the capital city.
(a)6,300,000
(b)8,000,000
(c)6,390,000
(d)6,000,000
18.A pair of trainers is priced at £80 online. The shop takes 25% off the price and then adds £10 for next-day delivery. Work out the total cost.
(a)£65
(b)£67.50
(c)£60
(d)£70
19.A ribbon of length 90 cm is cut into two pieces in the ratio 4:5. Work out the length of the shorter piece.
(a)50 cm
(b)10 cm
(c)40 cm
(d)45 cm
20.Priya adds 3.6 and 0.45 on paper and writes down 3.65 as her answer. Work out the correct value of 3.6 + 0.45.
(a)3.65
(b)4.05
(c)4.5
(d)0.81

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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