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 spinner lands on red, on blue or on green, and it cannot land on more than one colour at a time. The probability that it lands on red is 0.3 and the probability that it lands on blue is 0.5. Work out the probability that it lands on red or on blue.
(a)0.8
(b)0.2
(c)0.15
(d)0.4
2.A spinner has 4 colours and a coin has 2 sides. Work out how many different outcomes are possible when the spinner is spun once and the coin is tossed once.
(a)6
(b)4
(c)8
(d)2
3.A charity collects donations from adults and children in the ratio 5:2. Altogether, £238 is collected. Work out how much more the adults donate than the children.
(a)£102
(b)£68
(c)£136
(d)£170
4.A regular polygon has 5 lines of symmetry. What is the order of rotational symmetry of this polygon?
(a)5
(b)6
(c)10
(d)4
5.A ball's height, h metres, t seconds after being thrown follows h = (t − 1)(9 − t). Given that the ball is at ground level at t = 1 and t = 9, work out at what time t the ball reaches its maximum height, using symmetry.
(a)t = 4
(b)t = 8
(c)t = 10
(d)t = 5
6.An ordinary fair dice is rolled once. Set A is the set of even scores and set B is the set of scores greater than 4. Work out the probability that the score rolled is in set A or in set B or in both.
(a)2/3
(b)1/2
(c)1/6
(d)5/6
7.A window display has red baubles, gold baubles and green baubles in the ratio 4 : 5 : 6. What fraction of the baubles are not green?
(a)9/10
(b)3/5
(c)4/15
(d)2/5
8.Work out −(−3)⁴ + (−3)³
(a)−108
(b)54
(c)−54
(d)108
9.At a tombola stall, each ticket wins a toy, wins a sweet or wins nothing, and no ticket can win more than one of these. The probability that a ticket wins a toy is 0.15 and the probability that it wins a sweet is 0.4. Work out the probability that a ticket wins neither a toy nor a sweet.
(a)0.55
(b)0.45
(c)0.6
(d)0.85
10.Work out ∛64.
(a)21.3
(b)4
(c)192
(d)8
11.A straight-line graph shows the distance travelled, d kilometres, against the time taken, t hours, for a cyclist. The line passes through the origin and has a gradient of 18. Write down what the gradient of this line represents.
(a)The distance the cyclist travels in 18 hours
(b)The total distance the cyclist travels, in kilometres
(c)The time the cyclist takes, in hours
(d)The cyclist's speed, in kilometres per hour
12.A necklace is made from red beads and gold beads in the ratio 7 : 3. What fraction of the beads are gold?
(a)3/7
(b)7/3
(c)7/10
(d)3/10

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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