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.The manufacturing cost of a specialist lens, in pounds, is proportional to the square root of its diameter, in millimetres. A lens of diameter 9 mm costs £12 to manufacture. Construct the equation connecting cost C and diameter d, then work out the cost of manufacturing a lens of diameter 16 mm.
(a)£32
(b)£16
(c)£4
(d)£64
2.The price of a jacket increases by 50% and then decreases by 50%. Describe the overall change from the original price.
(a)no change
(b)an increase of 25%
(c)a decrease of 25%
(d)a decrease of 50%
3.A printer prints at a constant rate. The time taken to print a batch of forms is inversely proportional to the printer's speed, in pages per minute. Printing at 20 pages per minute takes 15 minutes. Work out how long the same batch takes to print at 25 pages per minute. Give your answer in minutes.
(a)12
(b)10
(c)18.75
(d)20
4.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
5.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
6.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
7.A charity shop and a school share collection-box money in the ratio 5 : 8. The charity shop receives £47.50. Work out how much the school receives.
(a)£29.69
(b)£76.00
(c)£57.00
(d)£123.50
8.Simplify the ratio 12 : 18 : 30 to its simplest form.
(a)3:2:5
(b)4:6:10
(c)6:9:15
(d)2:3:5
9.Write £3.60 : £2.40 as a ratio in its simplest form.
(a)360 : 240
(b)36 : 24
(c)2 : 3
(d)3 : 2
10.A shop sells ribbon by the metre. 2 m costs £3.00, 4 m costs £6.00, and 7 m costs £10.50. Does this data show that the cost is directly proportional to the length of ribbon bought? Choose the correct verdict and reason.
(a)Yes — the cost per metre is £1.50 each time
(b)Yes — the cost increases as the length increases
(c)No — 10.50 ÷ 7 gives 1.05, unlike the other rates
(d)No — the cost must double whenever length doubles
11.A train travels at a constant speed of 90 km/h. Work out the speed in m/s.
(a)1.5 m/s
(b)25 m/s
(c)324 m/s
(d)90000 m/s
12.y is inversely proportional to x², and x is positive. When x = 2, y = 45. Construct the equation connecting x and y, then work out the value of x when y = 5.
(a)6
(b)36
(c)18
(d)30
13.Grace's mean mark in her maths tests rises from 70 to 84. Work out the percentage increase in her mean mark.
(a)20%
(b)120%
(c)17%
(d)14%
14.A factory machine produces bottles at a constant rate. In 45 minutes it produces 810 bottles. The factory needs 2,160 bottles for an order. Working at the same rate, work out how many minutes it will take to produce the order.
(a)48 minutes
(b)120 minutes
(c)108 minutes
(d)1,350 minutes
15.A gardener mixes 300 ml of plant feed concentrate with 1.2 litres of water to make a spray. Write the ratio of concentrate to water in its simplest form.
(a)4 : 1
(b)3 : 12
(c)1 : 4
(d)1 : 1.2
16.A cyclist rides 30 km in 1 hour 30 minutes. Work out the average speed of the cyclist in km/h.
(a)15 km/h
(b)30 km/h
(c)45 km/h
(d)20 km/h
17.Two mathematically similar cylinders have volumes 64 cm³ and 216 cm³. Work out the ratio of the height of the smaller cylinder to the height of the larger cylinder, in simplest form.
(a)2 : 3
(b)3 : 2
(c)64 : 216
(d)8 : 27
18.Write 250 g : 2 kg as a ratio in its simplest form.
(a)1:8
(b)5:40
(c)125:1
(d)8:1
19.A fixed job of fitting a solar array is shared between installers, and the time taken is inversely proportional to the number of installers working on it at once. With 4 installers the job takes 18 hours. Construct the equation connecting time T and number of installers n, then work out how long it would take with 6 installers.
(a)27 hours
(b)72 hours
(c)18 hours
(d)12 hours
20.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
21.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
22.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
23.In a science lesson Priya has 10 litres of a solution that is 30% salt. She adds water to make a solution that is 20% salt. Work out how many litres of water she adds.
(a)15 litres
(b)5 litres
(c)3 litres
(d)2 litres
24.A journey takes 4 hours at an average speed of 60 km/h. The time taken is inversely proportional to the average speed. Work out how long the same journey takes at an average speed of 80 km/h.
(a)4 hours
(b)2 hours 40 minutes
(c)3 hours
(d)5 hours 20 minutes

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.

Similar worksheets worth a look

🧮 Paper 1 non-calculator warm-up — Higher · 20 questions · ~25 min
🎯 Grade 4 pass booster · 25 questions · ~40 min
📈 Quadratics: factorise, complete the square, formula · 24 questions · ~45 min
⭕ Circle theorems practice · 18 questions · ~40 min