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 rectangular tile measures 4.5 cm by 6 cm. Work out the area of the tile.
(a)10.5 cm²
(b)21 cm²
(c)27 cm²
(d)30 cm²
2.A vertical line passes through the point (5, 2). Write down the equation of this line.
(a)x = 2
(b)x = 5
(c)y = 2
(d)y = 5
3.A machine produces bolts. In a sample of 250 bolts, 15 are faulty. Work out the relative frequency of a bolt being faulty, giving your answer as a fraction in its simplest form.
(a)50/3
(b)3/47
(c)1/10
(d)3/50
4.A café in York counts the number of customers in each of the nine hours it is open on one day: 4, 4, 4, 11, 13, 15, 18, 22 and 25. The owner says that a typical hour has about 4 customers, because 4 is the mode. Is the owner right? Give a reason for your answer.
(a)Yes, the mode is the value that occurs most often
(b)Yes, the mode is the best average for a list of numbers
(c)No, the mode here is the lowest value of the nine
(d)No, the mode can only be used when no value repeats
5.A taxi fare, in pounds, for a journey of m miles is given by the formula F = 3 + 2.5m. A journey costs £15.50. Work out the distance travelled, m, by first rearranging the formula to make m the subject, then substituting F = 15.50.
(a)7.4
(b)6.2
(c)3.2
(d)5
6.A coach journey is 372 miles in total. After a stop, the coach has travelled 217 miles. Write the distance still to travel as a fraction of the total journey. Give your answer in its simplest form.
(a)5/12
(b)5/7
(c)145/372
(d)7/12
7.Two ordinary fair dice are rolled. Work out the probability that both dice show the same score.
(a)1/3
(b)1/6
(c)1/36
(d)1/2
8.Which expression is equivalent to 6x − (2x − 5)?
(a)8x + 5
(b)8x − 5
(c)4x − 5
(d)4x + 5
9.A cyclist rides 17.5 km on Saturday and 12.25 km on Sunday. Write the distance ridden on Saturday as a fraction of the distance ridden on Sunday, giving your answer in its simplest form.
(a)10/7
(b)7/10
(c)10/17
(d)3/7
10.Two straight paths cross at a junction in a park. One of the angles between them, measured with a protractor, is 76°. What is the size of the angle immediately next to it on a straight line?
(a)14
(b)104
(c)76
(d)90
11.In a fruit bowl, the ratio of apples to oranges is 5 : 3. Work out what percentage of the fruit in the bowl is apples.
(a)37.5%
(b)62.5%
(c)160%
(d)50%
12.A scale drawing of a park uses a scale of 1 : 2000. A path is drawn 8.5 cm long on the drawing. A cyclist rides the length of the path and then rides straight back again along the same path. How far does the cyclist travel in total, in metres?
(a)85
(b)340
(c)170
(d)680

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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