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.ABCD is a parallelogram. A has coordinates (−3, 1), B has coordinates (2, 1) and C has coordinates (4, 4). Work out the coordinates of D.
(a)(1, 3)
(b)(−1, 3)
(c)(9, 4)
(d)(−1, 4)
2.A support strut for a shed roof is in the shape of a right-angled triangle. The two shorter sides of the strut are 5 m and 9 m. Work out the length of the sloping strut (the hypotenuse). Give your answer correct to 1 decimal place.
(a)106 m
(b)10.2 m
(c)14 m
(d)10.3 m
3.Angle ABC is 130°. The line BF divides angle ABC into two equal parts. Work out the size of angle FBC.
(a)65°
(b)32.5°
(c)50°
(d)130°
4.The probability that it rains on a given morning is 0.3. If it rains, the probability that Priya's bus is late is 0.8. If it does not rain, the probability that her bus is late is 0.1. Work out the probability that her bus is late.
(a)0.27
(b)0.24
(c)0.31
(d)0.9
5.A geometric sequence begins 162, 54, 18, 6, ... Work out the next term in the sequence.
(a)2
(b)3
(c)−6
(d)18
6.80 people are asked whether they drink tea and whether they drink coffee, and the results are recorded on a frequency tree. The first pair of branches splits the 80 people into 50 tea drinkers and 30 non-tea-drinkers. Of the 50 tea drinkers, 32 also drink coffee. Of the 30 non-tea-drinkers, 6 drink coffee. Work out n(T ∩ C), the number of people who drink both tea and coffee.
(a)6
(b)38
(c)18
(d)32
7.A square tile has an area of 144 cm². Work out the side length of the tile.
(a)12 cm or −12 cm
(b)72 cm
(c)12 cm
(d)36 cm
8.The masses of eight school bags, in kilograms, are 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 11. Work out the median mass.
(a)5 kg
(b)5.5 kg
(c)8 kg
(d)4 kg
9.A perpendicular bisector is drawn through the midpoint of a line segment AB. Which set of points does this construction show?
(a)the single point exactly halfway along AB
(b)points as far from A as the length AB
(c)points twice as far from A as from B
(d)points the same distance from A as from B
10.At a gym, 45 members are surveyed. 24 use the running machines, 20 use the weights machines, and 9 use both. Work out how many of the 45 members use neither machine.
(a)15
(b)10
(c)9
(d)1
11.The bearing of a campsite B from a walker's position A is 070°. What is the bearing of A from B?
(a)250°
(b)160°
(c)180°
(d)110°
12.A café in York counts the number of customers in each of the nine hours it is open on one day: 4, 4, 4, 11, 13, 15, 18, 22 and 25. The owner says that a typical hour has about 4 customers, because 4 is the mode. Is the owner right? Give a reason for your answer.
(a)Yes, the mode is the value that occurs most often
(b)Yes, the mode is the best average for a list of numbers
(c)No, the mode here is the lowest value of the nine
(d)No, the mode can only be used when no value repeats

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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