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.The line y = 3x + 6 meets the x-axis at one point. Work out the coordinates of that point.
y = 3x + 6
(a)(2, 0)
(b)(−2, 0)
(c)(6, 0)
(d)(0, 6)
2.A fair six-sided dice is rolled 150 times. The table shows how many times each number came up: 1 came up 22 times, 2 came up 27 times, 3 came up 24 times, 4 came up 34 times, 5 came up 21 times and 6 came up 22 times. The theoretical probability of each number is 1/6. Which number is most over-represented compared with its theoretical probability?
(a)3
(b)4
(c)2
(d)6
3.An allotment is divided into two plots in the ratio 2:3. The larger plot has an area of 18 m². Work out the fraction of the total area taken up by the smaller plot.
(a)2/5
(b)3/5
(c)2/3
(d)1/2
4.A parcel of flour has a mass of 750 g. A sack of flour has a mass of 4 kg. Write the mass of the parcel as a fraction of the mass of the sack. Give your answer in its simplest form.
(a)15/8
(b)3/20
(c)16/3
(d)3/16
5.In a right-angled triangle, the two shorter sides are a and b, and the hypotenuse is c. Write down the correct statement of Pythagoras' theorem.
(a)a² − b² = c²
(b)a² + b² = c
(c)a + b = c
(d)a² + b² = c²
6.A cyclist's journey from her house to the shop is represented by the column vector with top number 2 and bottom number 5, where each unit is 1 km east and 1 km north. She then cycles from the shop to the park, represented by the column vector with top number 4 and bottom number −3. What single column vector represents her journey from her house directly to the park?
(a)(2, −8)
(b)(6, 2)
(c)(6, 8)
(d)(−2, 8)
7.Round 0.006852 to 2 significant figures.
(a)0.0069
(b)0.0068
(c)0.007
(d)0.00685
8.A sector of a circle has radius 6 cm and angle 150°. Using π = 3.14, work out the perimeter of the sector.
(a)15.7 cm
(b)21.7 cm
(c)27.7 cm
(d)31.4 cm
9.A colony of bacteria has 400 bacteria. The number increases by 15% each hour. Work out the number of bacteria after 1 hour.
(a)60
(b)460
(c)340
(d)415
10.A solid has 6 faces: one pentagon and five triangles that all meet at a single point above the pentagon. What is the name of this solid?
(a)Hexagonal pyramid
(b)Triangular pyramid
(c)Pentagonal pyramid
(d)Pentagonal prism
11.At an animal shelter, the ratio of cats to dogs is 2:5. There are 18 more dogs than cats. Work out the number of cats.
(a)6
(b)12
(c)9
(d)30
12.A right-angled triangle has a hypotenuse of 10 cm. One of its other angles is 45°. Work out the exact length of one of the two shorter sides.
(a)5√2 cm
(b)5√3 cm
(c)10√2 cm
(d)5 cm

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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