24 questions across ratio, direct and inverse proportion, compound measures and area and volume scale factors.

⚗️ Ratio and proportion mastery — Higher

Maths · GCSE Higher · 24 questions · ~45 min

MathsUKwww.geekhero.co.uk

Ratio, proportion and rates of change is 20% of a Higher paper and it is the area that rewards method over recall. This sheet works through it in one sitting: simplifying and sharing in a ratio, including the questions that give you one share or the difference rather than the total; expressing one quantity as a fraction or percentage of another; direct and inverse proportion, both numerically and as an equation with a constant k; compound measures — speed, density and pressure — with unit conversions built in rather than avoided; and the similar-shapes work where lengths, areas and volumes scale by the factor, its square and its cube. That last group is where Higher candidates lose the most marks in this area, so it is deliberately over-represented here.

1.Which of these ratios is equivalent to 6 : 10 : 14?
(a)8:12:16
(b)3:5:8
(c)9:15:21
(d)12:20:14
2.Write 45 minutes : 2 hours as a ratio in its simplest form.
(a)9:24
(b)8:3
(c)45:2
(d)3:8
3.A recipe for 8 muffins needs 200 g of sugar. Sam wants to make 20 muffins for a bake sale, and he already has 350 g of sugar. Work out how many more grams of sugar he needs to buy.
(a)150 g
(b)850 g
(c)0 g
(d)500 g
4.Paint costs £14.40 for every 20 m² of wall it covers. Assuming the same rate, work out the cost of the paint needed to cover 56 m² of wall.
(a)£40.32
(b)£5.14
(c)£50.40
(d)£0.72
5.The price of a games console is reduced by 10%. In a later sale the reduced price is reduced by 10% again. Work out the overall percentage decrease.
(a)21%
(b)81%
(c)20%
(d)19%
6.A machine fills bottles at a constant rate. It fills 18 bottles in 3 minutes. Working at the same rate, work out how many bottles the machine fills in 8 minutes.
(a)144
(b)18
(c)23
(d)48
7.A model car is built at a scale of 1 : 20 compared with the real car. Work out the factor by which the surface area to be painted on the real car is bigger than the surface area of the model.
(a)8000
(b)40
(c)20
(d)400
8.y is directly proportional to x. When x = 5, y = 18. Work out the value of y when x = 15.
(a)60
(b)28
(c)54
(d)6
9.3 builders put up a fence in 12 days. All the builders work at the same rate, so the number of days is inversely proportional to the number of builders. Work out how long 9 builders take to put up the same fence.
(a)4 days
(b)9 days
(c)6 days
(d)36 days
10.40% of a number is 12 more than 25% of the same number. Work out the number.
(a)48
(b)80
(c)15
(d)30
11.A jug of squash is made by mixing water and syrup in the ratio 6:1. Nia wants to make 8.4 litres of squash. Work out how much syrup she needs, in litres.
(a)0.84
(b)1.4
(c)1.2
(d)7.2
12.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
13.Simplify the ratio 45 : 30 : 75 to its simplest form.
(a)2 : 3 : 5
(b)15 : 10 : 25
(c)9 : 6 : 15
(d)3 : 2 : 5
14.Two mathematically similar cylinders have heights in the ratio 3 : 4. Write the ratio of their volumes in its simplest form.
(a)9 : 16
(b)27 : 4
(c)27 : 64
(d)3 : 4
15.The price of a cycling helmet rises from £80 to £116. Work out the percentage increase.
(a)45%
(b)145%
(c)36%
(d)31%
16.A metal alloy is made from copper and tin in the ratio 7:3. Work out the mass of tin in 250 g of the alloy.
(a)125 g
(b)75 g
(c)25 g
(d)175 g
17.Priya is paid £58.50 for working 7.5 hours on a Saturday. Work out her rate of pay, in £ per hour.
(a)£7.80
(b)£438.75
(c)£51.00
(d)£0.13
18.A garden centre sells two mathematically similar sacks of grass seed. The amount of lawn a sack can treat is proportional to the volume of seed inside it. The smaller sack is 20 cm tall and treats a lawn of area 30 m². The larger sack is 40 cm tall. A gardener needs to treat a lawn with an area of 500 m² using only the larger sacks. Work out the minimum number of larger sacks needed.
(a)2
(b)5
(c)3
(d)17
19.A shop sells rope by the metre. 3 m costs £7.50 and 5 m costs £11.00. Does this data show that the cost is directly proportional to the length of rope bought? Choose the correct verdict and reason.
(a)No — the cost per metre differs: £2.50/m vs £2.20/m
(b)Yes — because both amounts increase as length increases
(c)No — because 5 m costs more than 3 m in total
(d)Yes — the cost per metre is £2.50 in both cases
20.Maya is paid £105.30 for working 9 hours. Work out her rate of pay, in £ per hour.
(a)£11.70
(b)£117.00
(c)£947.70
(d)£96.30
21.A recipe uses flour, sugar and butter in the ratio 8 : 3 : 5. Write the ratio of flour to the rest of the mixture (sugar and butter combined) in its simplest form.
(a)3 : 5
(b)8 : 3
(c)1 : 2
(d)1 : 1
22.An architect builds a scale model of a staircase before construction. The model is mathematically similar to the real staircase, at a scale of 1 : 10. The model covers a floor area of 0.4 m² on the plan. Work out the floor area the real staircase will cover, giving your answer in m².
(a)40 m²
(b)0.04 m²
(c)400 m²
(d)4 m²
23.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
24.A car travels for 3 hours at an average speed of 80 km/h and then for 1 hour at an average speed of 40 km/h. Work out the average speed for the whole journey.
(a)70 km/h
(b)80 km/h
(c)60 km/h
(d)280 km/h

What is on this worksheet?

The sheet holds 24 questions drawn from the MathsUK bank — the content area covered: Ratio, proportion and rates of change (statements R4, R5, R9, R10, R11, R12, R13). It is pitched at GCSE Higher and takes about 45 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 24 questions before checking — about 45 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 24 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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