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 rectangle has vertices A(1, 1), B(4, 1), C(4, 5) and D(1, 5). Work out the perimeter of the rectangle.
(a)18 units
(b)7 units
(c)14 units
(d)12 units
2.Square P has sides of length 3 cm. Square Q has sides of length 12 cm. Write the ratio of the area of square P to the area of square Q in its simplest form.
(a)1 : 64
(b)16 : 1
(c)1 : 16
(d)1 : 4
3.A recruitment agency in Manchester compares the weekly pay, in pounds, of seven employees at two branches. Branch A: £480, £495, £500, £505, £510, £515, £1,200. Branch B: £480, £490, £500, £510, £520, £530, £540. An advert for the agency claims 'Branch A pays more on average.' Decide whether this claim is fairly supported, using an appropriate average, and choose the correct conclusion.
(a)Yes — highest wage £1,200 at A vs £540 at B.
(b)Yes — mean £600.71 at A vs £510 at B.
(c)No — median £505 at A vs £510 at B.
(d)Yes — median £515 at A vs £510 at B.
4.Write down the exact value of sin 60°.
(a)1/2
(b)√2/2
(c)√3/2
(d)√3
5.A sequence has the position-to-term rule: the term is the position number multiplied by itself. Its first five terms are 1, 4, 9, 16, 25. Work out the 8th term.
(a)8
(b)64
(c)16
(d)81
6.A pin on a map is at grid reference (5, 2). It is moved by the vector $(4 - 3)$ . Write down its new grid reference.
(a)(2, 6)
(b)(8, 6)
(c)(9, −1)
(d)(2, 2)
7.Solve (2x + 1)/3 = 5
(a)7
(b)14
(c)8
(d)2
8.Triangle ABC has AB = 5 cm, BC = 7 cm and CA = 9 cm. Triangle DEF has DE = 5 cm, EF = 7 cm and FD = 9 cm. Which condition proves the two triangles are congruent?
(a)ASA - two angles and the included side equal
(b)SAS - two sides and the included angle equal
(c)RHS - right angle, hypotenuse and one side equal
(d)SSS - three sides equal
9.A ladder rests against a wall, making an angle of 60° with the ground. The ladder is 2 m long. Using the exact value of sin 60°, work out how high up the wall the ladder reaches, giving your answer in centimetres.
(a)200√3 cm
(b)√3 cm
(c)100√3 cm
(d)50√3 cm
10.A two-way table records 200 members of a gym. 80 of the members are women and the rest are men. 60 of the women attend yoga classes. Work out the percentage of the women who attend yoga classes.
(a)75%
(b)30%
(c)25%
(d)50%
11.Work out the gradient of the straight line with equation y = (2x/5) − 3.
(a)2/5
(b)5/2
(c)−2/5
(d)−3
12.A minibus can carry 16 passengers. A school is taking 179 pupils on a trip. By rounding 179 to the nearest 10, work out an estimate for the number of minibuses needed, given that the school cannot hire part of a minibus.
(a)180
(b)12
(c)10
(d)11

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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