12 short questions across all six content areas, designed as a lesson starter or a daily warm-up.
⏱️ Ten-minute starters — Foundation
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.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.
- 2.A table of values is being drawn for the graph of y = x³. Work out the value of y when x = −2.y = x
- 3.Look at the statement 2x + 5 = 17. Considering whether it is an expression, an equation, a formula, or an identity, which classification is correct?
- 4.A taxi firm charges a fixed fee of £3.50 plus £2.20 per mile. Work out the total cost of a journey of 6 miles.
- 5.In a choir, 2/9 of the members are boys and the rest are girls. Write down the ratio of girls to boys, in its simplest form.
- 6.Solve 2x − 2 = 2
- 7.A concert hall has 54 seats in total, of which 24 are reserved and the rest are free. Write the number of free seats as a fraction of the number of reserved seats. Give your answer in its simplest form.
- 8.A material has a density of 2 g/cm³. Work out the mass of 5 cm³ of this material.
- 9.Solve the simultaneous equations 3x + y = 14 and x + y = 6. Work out the value of x.
- 10.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.
- 11.A cyclist's journey is shown on a distance–time graph. The graph is a straight line from (0 minutes, 0 km) to (40 minutes, 12 km). Work out her speed in kilometres per hour.
- 12.A laptop costs £720. A carrying case for it costs 1/9 of the price of the laptop. Work out the cost of the carrying case.
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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