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.In quadrilateral ABCD, side AB is parallel to side DC. Which statement correctly uses geometric notation to show this?
(a)AB ∥ BC
(b)AB = DC
(c)AB ∥ DC
(d)AB ⊥ DC
2.The universal set is {1, 2, 3, ..., 15}. A = {multiples of 3}. Work out n(A′), the number of elements not in A.
(a)5
(b)10
(c)12
(d)11
3.A novel has 312 pages. A comic has 48 pages. Write the number of pages in the novel as a fraction of the number of pages in the comic, giving your answer in its simplest form.
(a)11/2
(b)13/2
(c)2/13
(d)13/15
4.A lorry travels 105 miles in 1 hour 45 minutes. Work out its average speed in miles per hour.
(a)183.75 mph
(b)52.5 mph
(c)72.4 mph
(d)60 mph
5.A scatter graph shows the number of hours of sunshine, x, and the number of visitors, y, at an outdoor swimming pool in Torquay on each of 15 days. The line of best fit passes through the points (5, 150) and (15, 350). Work out the estimated number of visitors on a day with 8 hours of sunshine, using the line of best fit.
(a)250
(b)240
(c)160
(d)210
6.Lines JK and LM are parallel. A straight line crosses JK at point P and crosses LM at point Q. Angle KPQ = 118°. Angle KPQ and angle MQP are co-interior (allied) angles. Work out angle MQP.
(a)62°
(b)59°
(c)90°
(d)118°
7.n is a whole number and 2 ≤ n < 6. Write down all the possible values of n.
(a)2, 3, 4, 5
(b)3, 4, 5
(c)1, 2, 3, 4, 5
(d)2, 3, 4, 5, 6
8.A shop records the colour of every car that uses its car park one Tuesday. Its frequency table reads: black 44, silver 37, blue 26, red 18, white 12. Write down the frequency of black cars.
(a)37
(b)137
(c)5
(d)44
9.A parallelogram has a base of 9 cm and a perpendicular height of 6 cm. Work out the area of the parallelogram.
(a)30 cm²
(b)54 cm²
(c)15 cm²
(d)27 cm²
10.Two ordinary fair dice are rolled, one after the other. Work out the probability that the first dice shows a 6 and the second dice shows an even number.
(a)1/12
(b)1/36
(c)1/6
(d)1/2
11.Work out −7 − (−3).
(a)4
(b)−4
(c)10
(d)−10
12.The probability that Isla answers a quiz question correctly is 0.8. She answers three questions, and her answers are independent of each other. Work out the probability that she answers all three correctly.
(a)0.0512
(b)0.8
(c)0.512
(d)0.64

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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