12 short questions across all six content areas, designed as a lesson starter or a daily warm-up.
⏱️ Ten-minute starters — Foundation
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.Work out the value of 3a − 2b when a = 5 and b = 4
- 2.A sector of a circle has an angle of 90° and an area of 78.5 cm². Using π = 3.14, work out the radius of the circle.
- 3.Priya buys b balloons for a party. Each balloon costs 15p. Write down an expression for the total cost, in pence.
- 4.Amelia's mother is three times as old as Amelia. Four years ago her mother was five times as old as Amelia was then. Work out Amelia's age now.
- 5.Two ordinary fair dice are rolled. Work out the probability that the difference between the two scores is 1.
- 6.A circle has diameter 10 cm. Using π = 3.14, work out the circumference of the circle.
- 7.Solve 3(2x − 1) = 27
- 8.A rule turns each input x into an output y. An input of 1 gives an output of 1, an input of 2 gives an output of 4 and an input of 3 gives an output of 9. Work out the rule.
- 9.A trapezium has parallel sides of 5.6 cm and 8.4 cm, and a perpendicular height of 4 cm. Work out the area of the trapezium.
- 10.Two cars leave the same point at the same time and travel in opposite directions. One travels at 80 km/h and the other at 60 km/h. Work out how long it takes until the cars are 350 km apart.
- 11.A triangular prism has two triangular faces and three rectangular faces. How many vertices does a triangular prism have?
- 12.In a choir, 2/9 of the members are boys and the rest are girls. Write down the ratio of girls to boys, in its simplest form.
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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