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.In a class, 1/3 of the pupils are girls. There are 12 girls in the class. Work out how many pupils are in the class.
- 2.£96 is shared between Ben, Cara and Dev in the ratio 2:3:7. Work out how much Cara receives.
- 3.Grace rolls two ordinary fair dice at the same time and works out the total of the two scores. Work out the probability that the total is greater than 10.
- 4.There are 50 adults on a coach to the Lake District. Every adult is either a man or a woman. There are 10 more men than women. Work out the number of men.
- 5.A solid is a single cube. Its plan view (from above), front elevation (from the front) and side elevation (from the side) are drawn separately. What shape is each of these three views?
- 6.The first four terms of a sequence are 6, 13, 20, 27. Work out an expression, in terms of n, for the nth term.
- 7.In a right-angled triangle, θ is one of the acute angles. Write down the trigonometric ratio, in terms of the opposite and adjacent sides, that is used to find θ.
- 8.Four locations each record a temperature one winter morning. Which of these temperatures is the coldest?
- 9.A scale drawing of a park has a scale of 1 : 2500. On the drawing, the distance between the entrance and the lake is 4.4 cm. A jogger runs from the entrance to the lake and then back to the entrance. Work out the total distance the jogger runs, in kilometres.
- 10.y is always the same multiple of x. When x = 6, y = 15. Work out the value of y when x = 10.
- 11.A necklace is made using gold beads and silver beads in the ratio 7:3. There are 40 more gold beads than silver beads. Work out the total number of beads in the necklace.
- 12.Work out the exact value of sin 45° × cos 45°.
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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