Functional Skills Level 1 Maths practice questions
A free 150-page Exam Practice Notebook with 31 topic sets, 124 questions worth 434 marks, 6 mixed challenges and two complete 60-mark practice mocks. Every question has a worked solution and original marking guidance.
The questions are newly written, not past papers or copies of them with the numbers changed. Use them to practise each Level 1 topic, then finish with an official sample paper from your own awarding organisation.
Free to download. No sign up, no email required. Independent resources for the shared England content, not produced, approved or endorsed by any awarding organisation, Ofqual or the DfE.
What is in the Level 1 practice notebook?
One PDF with a practice set for every Level 1 topic and two full mocks. Learn a topic first with the Level 1 learning guide, which uses the same topic numbers.
Exam Practice Notebook
31 topic sets of 14 marks, 6 mixed challenges worth 60 marks and two 60-mark mocks, all with worked solutions.
Download the Exam Practice NotebookTwo practice mocks
Each mock has a 15-mark non-calculator Section A and a 45-mark calculator Section B, with suggested timings of 30 and 90 minutes and full solutions.
Learn it first
The Level 1 Student Learning Guide teaches every topic in this notebook, in the same order and with the same numbers.
See the learning guideHow is each practice set organised?
Every topic set follows the same pattern. Part A has two questions worth 2 marks each, usually without a calculator. Part B has two calculator questions worth 4 and 6 marks. That is 14 marks per topic. The worked solution page shows where each mark is earned.
Working through a topic set
- Attempt: complete Part A and Part B before looking at any solution
- Show the chain: write what each number means, show the steps and include units
- Mark: use the worked solutions, award each stage once and accept other correct methods
- Repair: name the cause of each lost mark, such as reading, method, units or accuracy
- Retry: cover the solution and try the question again on another day
What else is inside
- a 12-question, 16-mark non-calculator diagnostic to choose a starting topic
- three extra practice sets on line graphs, measuring and patterns, 21 marks with solutions
- visual answer guides for the drawing, chart and construction questions
- a score tracker and error review pages
- 6 mixed challenges of 10 marks with the topic labels removed
- 150 printable A4 pages
Which topics have practice sets?
There is one set for each of the 31 Level 1 content points, numbered exactly as in the learning guide. The mixed challenges and mocks then combine topics without telling you which one is being tested.
Topic sets 1 to 17: Number, fractions, percentages and ratio
- Whole numbers to one million
- Positive and negative numbers
- Multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1,000
- Multiplication and division facts
- Simple word formulae
- Squares of numbers
- Order of operations
- Common fractions and mixed numbers
- Fractions of quantities
- Decimals to three decimal places
- Decimal calculations to two decimal places
- Rounding for a stated purpose
- Reading and comparing percentages
- Percentages of quantities and simple changes
- Estimation with fractions and decimals
- Equivalent fractions, decimals and percentages
- Simple ratio and direct proportion
Topic sets 18 to 31: Money, measures, shape and data
- Simple interest
- Discounts and sale prices
- Converting everyday units
- Simple map and drawing scales
- Perimeter, area and composite rectangles
- Volume of cubes and cuboids
- Drawing shapes, symmetry and angle size
- Plans, elevations and nets
- Measuring angles and describing direction
- Tables, bar charts, pie charts and line graphs
- Grouping discrete data
- Mean and range
- The probability scale
- Simple events and equally likely outcomes
How should a learner use it?
Start with the diagnostic to choose a topic, then work through the sets for the weak topics before the mixed challenges. Save the two mocks for timed practice once most topics are secure.
After learning a topic
Do the matching topic set without notes, mark it with the worked solutions and record the score out of 14. Any lost marks point back to the lesson to reread.
Getting close to the exam
Sit one mock under timed conditions, non-calculator section first, then mark it and list the topics that lost marks. Fix those and sit the second mock a week or two later.
Choosing what to revise
The diagnostic and the score tracker show which topics are costing marks, so revision time goes to the smallest gaps that will make the biggest difference.
Functional Skills Level 2 Maths tutoring
What Level 2 Maths covers, why learners lose marks on it, and how one to one lessons work, starting with a free 30-minute skills check.
See Level 2 Maths tutoringFunctional Skills Level 2
An overview of our Functional Skills Level 2 tutoring in maths and English, for adults, apprentices and college learners.
Read about Level 2GCSE Maths resit
When a GCSE Maths resit is the better route than Functional Skills, and how resit tutoring is planned.
See GCSE resit tutoringPractice question questions
The notebook is free, covers every Level 1 topic and works for every board in England. These answers cover marks, mocks, past papers and licensing.
Are these real past papers?
No. Every question, context and solution is newly written for this notebook. Official papers were studied for the kind of thinking they ask for, but no questions are reproduced or copied with new numbers. Use your awarding organisation’s own sample papers as well.
Which exam boards are these for?
All of them in England. Functional Skills Maths Level 1 has shared subject content set by the Department for Education, and every Ofqual-regulated awarding organisation assesses it, including Pearson Edexcel, City & Guilds, NCFE, NOCN, Open Awards and Highfield. Paper layout, timing, onscreen tools and equipment differ by board, so check those with your centre.
How are the questions marked?
Every question shows its marks, and the worked solutions show which step earns each one. These are the notebook’s own original allocations, not an official mark scheme, so equivalent correct methods are accepted.
What is the pass mark?
There is no pass mark for this notebook, and the mocks deliberately do not give one. Each awarding organisation sets its own, and a workbook score cannot predict a live result. Use the scores to find weak topics rather than to forecast a pass.
Is there a non-calculator section?
Yes. Ofqual requires 25% of the marks to be gained without a calculator and 75% with one, so every board has a non-calculator section. The books mark which work is non-calculator, and the practice mocks put that section first, as the real assessments do.
Are they free? What is the licence?
The books are free to download for personal and household educational use, with no sign up and no email. Tutors and schools need permission before copying them for learners, and resale, paid redistribution and third-party uploading are not permitted.
What should I do after Level 1?
Once the mocks feel comfortable, Level 2 is the usual next step. It has its own practice notebook with 168 topic questions. We tutor Level 2 Maths one to one, and the first 30 minutes are a free skills check.
Practice finds the gaps. A tutor closes them
Our Functional Skills tutoring is at Level 2, the usual next step once Level 1 is secure. Lessons are one to one on Zoom at £30 each, and the first 30 minutes are a free skills check with no card details, which also shows whether a learner is ready to move up.