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 scale drawing of a playground is drawn to a scale of 1 : 300. A slide measures 4 cm on the drawing. Work out the real length of the slide, in centimetres.
(a)304 cm
(b)600 cm
(c)0.013 cm
(d)1200 cm
2.Light travels at 2.998 × 10⁸ metres per second. A distant object in space is 3.1 × 10¹⁵ metres from Earth. Work out an estimate for the number of seconds light takes to travel from the object to Earth, by rounding each number to 1 significant figure.
(a)9 × 10²³ seconds
(b)3 × 10⁷ seconds
(c)1 × 10⁻⁷ seconds
(d)1 × 10⁷ seconds
3.On a map, where each grid unit represents 1 km, Ravi's house is at (−3, 4) and the library is at (6, 4). Work out the distance between Ravi's house and the library.
(a)9 km
(b)0 km
(c)−9 km
(d)3 km
4.A bag contains 20 counters. 8 of the counters are red and 12 are blue. A counter is taken at random, its colour is recorded, and it is put back in the bag. This is done 150 times. Work out how many red counters you would expect to be recorded.
(a)60
(b)75
(c)100
(d)90
5.Jack buys 3 books, each costing £4.25, and pays with a £20 note. Work out how much change he receives.
(a)£12.75
(b)£8.25
(c)£7.25
(d)£7.75
6.A vertical line passes through the point (4, 7). Write down the equation of this line.
(a)y = 7
(b)x = 4
(c)x = 7
(d)y = 4x
7.A length, L cm, has the error interval 24.5 ≤ L < 25.5. Write down the degree of accuracy to which the length was measured.
(a)to the nearest centimetre
(b)to 1 decimal place
(c)to the nearest 0.5 cm
(d)to the nearest 10 cm
8.Simplify x⁶ ÷ x²
(a)x¹²
(b)x³
(c)x⁸
(d)x⁴
9.The time taken for a train journey is inversely proportional to the average speed of the train. At an average speed of 60 km/h the journey takes 2 hours. Work out the time taken at an average speed of 40 km/h.
(a)2 hours
(b)1.5 hours
(c)3 hours
(d)1 hour 20 minutes
10.A charity raffle has three types of ticket: winning, near-miss and losing, and every ticket is exactly one of these. The probability that a ticket is winning is 1/8 and the probability that it is a near-miss is 1/4. Work out the probability that a ticket is losing.
(a)5/8
(b)3/8
(c)3/4
(d)7/8
11.A solid ball has a radius of 7 cm. Work out the surface area of the ball. Use π = 3.14.
(a)615.44 cm²
(b)1436.03 cm³
(c)153.86 cm²
(d)87.92 cm²
12.Priya wants to find out the favourite sport of the 900 pupils at her school. She asks 5 pupils, chosen at random. Give a reason why her sample may not give a reliable result.
(a)5 pupils are far too few to represent 900 pupils
(b)A sample must hold at least half of the population
(c)5 pupils were not chosen at random from the 900
(d)The 5 pupils may each name a different sport

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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