12 short questions across all six content areas, designed as a lesson starter or a daily warm-up.

⏱️ Ten-minute starters — Foundation

Maths · GCSE Foundation · 12 questions · ~10 min

MathsUKwww.geekhero.co.uk

Twelve short questions, two from each of the six content areas: number, algebra, ratio, geometry, probability and statistics. Nothing here needs more than a minute, and nothing needs a calculator. It is built as a lesson starter — print it, hand it out, take ten minutes, mark it together — and it works just as well as a daily warm-up at home in the fortnight before a mock. The value is in the spread rather than the depth: a student who has spent a week on algebra can find out in ten minutes what a week away from statistics has cost. Generate a new sheet whenever you want a fresh twelve on the same pattern.

1.The number of members of a running club increases from 45 to 54. Work out the percentage increase.
(a)9%
(b)120%
(c)20%
(d)16.7%
2.Yuki is y years old. Her brother is 4 years younger than Yuki. Write down an expression, in terms of y, for the brother's age in 5 years' time.
(a)y + 1
(b)y − 4
(c)y − 9
(d)y + 9
3.A charity bake sale tracked 240 items sold using a frequency tree. The first branch splits sales into 150 cake sales and 90 biscuit sales. Of the cake sales, 100 were bought by adults and the rest by children. Of the biscuit sales, 54 were bought by children. Each item sold for £1.20. Work out the total amount of money raised from sales to children.
(a)£124.80
(b)£163.20
(c)£60.00
(d)£136.80
4.A survey of 90 people records which of two apps, X and Y, they use. 55 people use app X, 42 people use app Y, and 20 people use neither app. Work out the probability that a randomly chosen person uses both apps, giving your answer as a fraction in its simplest form.
(a)7/90
(b)3/10
(c)2/9
(d)7/9
5.Water flows into a tank at a constant rate. After 8 minutes the tank holds 200 litres. Write the ratio of time in minutes to volume in litres, in its simplest form.
(a)25:1
(b)1:25
(c)25:8
(d)8:25
6.Triangle DEF is isosceles, with DE = DF. Angle E = 58°. Work out angle F.
(a)64°
(b)32°
(c)58°
(d)122°
7.A lift has a safe working load of 500 kg. Four people get in the lift and the lift's display records their total mass as 493 kg, correct to the nearest kg. Decide whether the four people are definitely within the safe working load.
(a)No — 493 kg is only an estimate, so it may be over 500 kg
(b)Cannot be decided without the exact total
(c)Yes — the greatest possible total is 493.5 kg, under 500 kg
(d)No — the true total could be as high as 498 kg
8.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
9.A parallelogram has an area of 84 cm² and a base of 12 cm. Work out the perpendicular height of the parallelogram.
(a)0.14 cm
(b)1008 cm
(c)3.5 cm
(d)7 cm
10.The mean of the numbers x, 20 and 30 is equal to the mean of the numbers 15 and 25. Work out the value of x.
(a)20
(b)−10
(c)10
(d)70
11.Which expression means 'triple c, then add double d'?
(a)6cd
(b)2c + 3d
(c)3c + 2d
(d)5(c + d)
12.The ratio of y to x is always 3 : 4. Write down which equation could represent this relationship.
(a)y = 3x + 4
(b)y = 3/(4x)
(c)y = 4x/3
(d)y = 3x/4

What is on this worksheet?

The sheet holds 12 questions drawn from the MathsUK bank — the content areas covered: Number, Algebra, Ratio, proportion and rates of change, Geometry and measures, Probability, Statistics. It is pitched at GCSE Foundation and takes about 10 minutes to work through in full. It works as a class handout, a homework, or a warm-up before a test.

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 12 questions before checking — about 10 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 12 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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