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 journey to school takes 12 minutes. A journey to the gym takes 20 minutes. Write the time for the journey to school as a fraction of the time for the journey to the gym, giving your answer in its simplest form.
(a)2/5
(b)5/3
(c)3/8
(d)3/5
2.Paint costs £14.40 for every 20 m² of wall it covers. Assuming the same rate, work out the cost of the paint needed to cover 56 m² of wall.
(a)£40.32
(b)£5.14
(c)£50.40
(d)£0.72
3.The perimeter of a rectangle is given by the formula P = 2(l + w), where l is the length and w is the width. A rectangular garden has a perimeter of 46 m and a length of 14 m. Rearrange the formula to make w the subject, then work out the width of the garden.
(a)9 m
(b)18 m
(c)37 m
(d)16 m
4.Work out 20 − 8 ÷ 2 + 1
(a)16
(b)15
(c)7
(d)17
5.A rectangular tile measures 45 cm by 0.6 m. Work out its area, in square centimetres.
(a)270 cm²
(b)27 cm²
(c)2700 cm²
(d)27000 cm²
6.A solution is made by dissolving 50 g of sugar in 200 g of water. Work out the concentration of sugar in the solution as a percentage.
(a)20%
(b)25%
(c)80%
(d)0.2%
7.An ice cream is made from a cone of radius 3 cm and height 10 cm, topped with a hemisphere of the same radius sitting exactly on top of the cone. Work out the total volume of the ice cream. Use π = 3.14. Give your answer to the nearest whole number. Volume of a cone = 1/3 × πr²h. Volume of a sphere = 4/3 × πr³.
(a)151 cm³
(b)94 cm³
(c)339 cm³
(d)207 cm³
8.n = 3. Work out the value of (2n)².
(a)12
(b)9
(c)18
(d)36
9.The point (−4, 7) is moved 4 units to the right and 9 units down. Write down the coordinates of the point it reaches.
(a)(0, 16)
(b)(0, −2)
(c)(−8, −2)
(d)(5, 3)
10.A bag contains counters that are red, blue or green only. The probability that a counter taken at random is not red is 0.8. The bag contains 25 counters in total. Work out how many of the counters are red.
(a)4
(b)8
(c)20
(d)5
11.The formula for converting a temperature in Fahrenheit, F, to Celsius, C, is C = 5(F − 32) ÷ 9. Work out C, to 1 decimal place, when F = 98.6.
(a)119.9
(b)54.8
(c)66.6
(d)37.0
12.A garden water trough is a prism whose cross-section is a right-angled triangle with base 40 cm and height 30 cm. The trough is 120 cm long. Work out the volume of water needed to fill the trough completely.
(a)36 000 cm³
(b)72 000 cm³
(c)144 000 cm³
(d)720 cm³

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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