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.A triangular flag has a base of 40 cm and a perpendicular height of 25 cm. Work out its area.
(a)65 cm²
(b)1,000 cm²
(c)500 cm²
(d)2,000 cm²
2.Triangle ABC is right-angled at B. Triangle DEF is right-angled at E. AB = DE = 6 cm and AC = DF = 10 cm (AC and DF are the hypotenuses of their triangles). A student says this is not enough information to prove the triangles are congruent, because only two sides are given. Which reason shows the student is wrong?
(a)AAA applies, because both triangles have a right angle
(b)The triangles cannot be proved congruent from this information
(c)RHS applies: the right angle, hypotenuse and one matching side are all equal
(d)SSS applies, because all three sides must be equal in any right-angled triangle
3.Four sequences are shown below. Sequence P: 4, 8, 16, 32, ... Sequence Q: 4, 8, 12, 16, ... Sequence R: 4, 7, 12, 19, ... Sequence S: 4, 9, 16, 25, ... Work out which of the sequences P, Q, R and S is geometric.
(a)R
(b)Q
(c)P
(d)S
4.In triangle XYZ, the side opposite vertex X is labelled using the standard lowercase-letter convention. Which label is correct?
(a)y
(b)z
(c)x
(d)X
5.The first four terms of a sequence are 6, 13, 20, 27. Work out an expression, in terms of n, for the nth term.
(a)6n + 1
(b)7n
(c)7n − 1
(d)7n + 6
6.A conversion graph shows that 5 miles is equivalent to 8 kilometres. Use this to work out how many kilometres are equivalent to 20 miles.
(a)16 km
(b)32 km
(c)23 km
(d)24 km
7.A triangle has vertices at (1, 1), (1, 5) and (6, 1). Work out the area of the triangle.
(a)20
(b)15
(c)5
(d)10
8.The mass of a radioactive sample, in grams, n years after it was first weighed is modelled by M = 200 × (1/2)ⁿ. Work out the mass the model gives after 3 years.
(a)12.5 g
(b)25 g
(c)0.125 g
(d)300 g
9.A pie chart is divided into 10 equal sectors. 6 of those sectors stand for the people who chose purple. Altogether 120 people were asked. Work out how many of them chose purple.
(a)6
(b)48
(c)72
(d)60
10.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
11.Sara has a red T-shirt, a blue T-shirt and a green T-shirt. She has black shorts and grey shorts. By listing the combinations systematically, work out how many different outfits of one T-shirt and one pair of shorts she can make.
(a)3
(b)5
(c)6
(d)2
12.Noah says that y = 3 is the solution of the equation y + 10 = 12. Noah is wrong. Work out the correct value of y.
(a)y = 22
(b)y = −2
(c)y = 2
(d)y = 12

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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