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.A cylinder has a volume of 942 cm³ and a height of 12 cm. Using π = 3.14, work out the radius of the cylinder.
- 2.There are 30 students in a Year 10 maths class. There are 2 more boys than girls. Work out the number of boys and the number of girls.
- 3.A recipe for 4 people needs 300 g of rice. Work out how much rice is needed for 6 people, assuming the amount is in direct proportion to the number of people.
- 4.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.
- 5.A box contains 12 red counters and 18 blue counters. Write the number of red counters as a fraction of the number of blue counters. Give your answer in its simplest form.
- 6.Work out an estimate for 6.8 × 41, by rounding each number to 1 significant figure.
- 7.Ravi has 5 pears. He has 4 times as many apples as pears. Write the number of pears as a fraction of the number of apples.
- 8.The highest common factor of two numbers is 4 and their lowest common multiple is 60. One of the numbers is 20. Work out the other number.
- 9.Write 0.25 as a fraction in its simplest form.
- 10.A geometric sequence starts at 3, and each term after that is found by multiplying the term before it by 2. Write down the first four terms.
- 11.Spinner A has 4 equal sections, numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4. Spinner B has 5 equal sections, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Both spinners are spun once, and the two numbers are multiplied together. Work out the probability that the product is 12.
- 12.Two games at a school fete are played independently. The probability of winning game X is 3/8. The probability of winning game Y is 0.4. Which statement correctly compares the two games?
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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