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.The mean of four numbers is 12.5. Three of the numbers are 8, 15 and 19. Form an equation using n for the fourth number, and solve it to find n.
- 2.Write these three numbers in order of size, starting with the smallest: 0.7, 3/4, 0.72
- 3.On a number line, point A is at −1. Point B is 4 units from point A. Write down the two possible positions of point B.
- 4.1 litre = 100 centilitres. Work out how many centilitres there are in 6 litres.
- 5.p is the column vector with top number 4 and bottom number −3. Work out 2p, giving your answer as a column vector in the form (top, bottom).
- 6.A class has 28 pupils. 16 of the pupils are girls and the rest are boys. Write the ratio of girls to boys in its simplest form.
- 7.A map has a scale of 1 cm : 5 km. A road is drawn 3 cm long on the map. What is the real length of the road?
- 8.A pie chart shows how 180 shoppers at a supermarket paid for their shopping. The sector for card payments has an angle of 90° at the centre. Work out how many of the 180 shoppers paid by card.
- 9.A fair spinner is divided into 5 equal sections, 2 labelled win and 3 labelled lose. Zara spins it twice, and the two spins are independent. Work out the probability that she wins on the first spin and loses on the second spin.
- 10.A cone is cut by a flat plane parallel to its circular base, partway up between the base and the apex. What shape is the cross-section?
- 11.Work out 5⁰ + 5¹ + 5²
- 12.A rectangle has vertices at (2, 1), (9, 1), (9, 5) and (2, 5). Work out the area of the rectangle.
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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