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 caterer uses the formula C = 6p + 20 to work out the total cost, £C, of a buffet for p people, where £20 covers fixed costs. A customer is charged £92. Work out how many people, p, the buffet was for.
- 2.In which quadrant does the point (−3, 0.5) lie?
- 3.Which of these numbers lies between −4 and −1 on a number line?
- 4.The times taken, in minutes, by 30 runners in a Portsmouth fun run are grouped in this table: 0 < t ≤ 20 — 5 runners, 20 < t ≤ 40 — 10 runners, 40 < t ≤ 60 — 10 runners, 60 < t ≤ 80 — 5 runners. Work out an estimate for the mean time, in minutes.
- 5.A gym increases its membership price by 1/5. The original price is £60. Work out the new price.
- 6.A scatter graph shows the number of pages, x, in a chapter and the time, y minutes, a pupil took to read it, for 15 chapters. The line of best fit has equation y = 2x + 3. Use the line of best fit to estimate the time taken to read a chapter of 10 pages.y = 2x + 3
- 7.A plumber charges a call-out fee of £45 and then £28 for each hour she works. She is at a house from 09:15 until 12:45. Work out the total charge.
- 8.Simplify 5x + 3y − 2x + y.
- 9.Point D is at (3, 4). It is rotated 90° clockwise about the origin (0, 0). Work out the coordinates of the image of point D.
- 10.A hiker's distance-time graph shows the following: he walks 5 km in the first 1 hour at a steady speed, rests for 1 hour, then walks a further 9 km in the next 2 hours, also at a steady speed. Work out his average speed for the whole journey, in km/h.
- 11.A statement contains an equals sign and one unknown letter, and it is only true for particular value(s) of that letter. What is this type of statement called?
- 12.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.
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.
Similar worksheets worth a look
- ✏️ Paper 1 non-calculator warm-up — Foundation · 20 questions · ~25 min
- 🧮 Paper 1 non-calculator warm-up — Higher · 20 questions · ~25 min
- 🎯 Grade 4 pass booster · 25 questions · ~40 min
- ⚖️ Foundation to Higher crossover check · 20 questions · ~35 min