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.ABCD is an isosceles trapezium. The sides AB and DC are parallel, and the two sloping sides AD and BC are equal in length. Angle D is 112°. Work out the size of angle B.
- 2.Two straight lines AB and CD cross at point O. Angle AOC = 74°. Work out angle AOD.
- 3.A pump fills a paddling pool at a rate of 130 litres per hour. Work out the rate in litres per minute, to 2 decimal places.
- 4.y = 5 − 2x. Work out the value of x when y = 11.
- 5.A solid cylinder is lying on its curved side on a table, with its circular ends facing left and right. What shape is its plan view, looking down from above?
- 6.A sequence has the position-to-term rule n² + 2, where n is the position number. Work out the 6th term.
- 7.A children's slide is built as a right-angled triangle: the vertical ladder side is 2.4 m, the horizontal base along the ground is 3.2 m, and the sloping slide is the third side. Work out the exact length of the sloping slide.
- 8.Write the ratio 4x : 6x in its simplest form, where x is a positive number.
- 9.Solve the inequality 2(x − 1) ≤ 8.
- 10.Two ordinary fair dice are rolled, one after the other. Work out the probability that the first dice shows a 6 and the second dice shows an even number.
- 11.A sector of a circle has radius 8 cm and takes up three-quarters of the full circle. Work out the perimeter of the sector, in terms of π.
- 12.Which expression means the same as 3 × a × b?
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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