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 probability that it rains in Manchester tomorrow is 1/12. Work out the probability that it does not rain in Manchester tomorrow.
(a)11/11
(b)11/12
(c)1/11
(d)1/12
2.The weekly wages of the five people who work at a small garage in Norwich are £420, £440, £460, £480 and £1,500. Write down which average better describes a typical wage at this garage, and give a reason for your answer.
(a)The median, as the one very large wage does not move it
(b)The median, as it is always larger than the mean
(c)The mean, as it is the only average using all five wages
(d)The mean, as £660 lies between the smallest and largest
3.A pack contains 6 cards, numbered 1 to 6. A card is drawn at random from the pack, and a fair coin is flipped. Work out the probability of drawing an even-numbered card and the coin landing on tails.
(a)1/8
(b)1/4
(c)1/12
(d)1/2
4.A dog walker's charge, C pounds, for walking a dog for m minutes is shown on a straight-line graph. The line passes through the points (20, 14) and (50, 26). Work out the charge for a 65-minute walk.
(a)£33.80
(b)£40
(c)£32
(d)£26
5.A market stall sells umbrellas. Over the last 250 days, it rained on 70 of them. Using this as an estimate of the probability of rain, work out how many rainy days would be expected in the next 365 days.
(a)70
(b)48
(c)102
(d)110
6.Two angles lie on a straight line. One angle is 118°. Which reason correctly explains why the other angle is 62°?
(a)angles round a point add up to 360°
(b)angles on a straight line add up to 180°
(c)vertically opposite angles are equal
(d)angles in a triangle add up to 180°
7.A laptop costs £800 when new. Its value decreases by 25% of its value at the start of each year. Work out how much value the laptop loses in the second year.
(a)£150
(b)£450
(c)£350
(d)£200
8.In a mix of mortar the ratio of the mass of sand to the mass of cement is 5 : 2. Write the mass of cement as a fraction of the total mass of the mix.
(a)5/7
(b)2/5
(c)2/7
(d)7/2
9.A rectangular gate is braced with a diagonal strut. The gate is 1.2 m wide and 0.9 m tall. Work out the exact length of the diagonal strut.
(a)2.1 m
(b)0.3 m
(c)2.25 m
(d)1.5 m
10.u is the column vector with top number 5 and bottom number 1. v is the column vector with top number 2 and bottom number 4. Work out u − v, giving your answer as a column vector in the form (top, bottom).
(a)(−3, 3)
(b)(3, −3)
(c)(3, 3)
(d)(7, 5)
11.The probability that a machine completes a task successfully is 0.85. Work out the probability that the machine does not complete the task successfully.
(a)0.85
(b)0.15
(c)0.25
(d)0.5
12.On Amelia's walk to school there are two sets of traffic lights. The probability that the first set is green when she reaches it is 0.4. The probability that the second set is green when she reaches it is 0.5. The two sets work independently of each other. Work out the probability that both sets are green.
(a)0.2
(b)0.1
(c)0.45
(d)0.9

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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