22 questions on percentage change, reverse percentages, simple and compound interest, and depreciation.
💷 Percentages and compound interest
Percentages appear on all three papers and in more contexts than any other single topic — prices, wages, interest, VAT, population, depreciation. This sheet covers the whole of it in order. It begins with percentage of an amount and percentage change, including finding the percentage rather than applying it; moves to multipliers, which make everything after this easier; then to reverse percentages, where you are given the value after the change and asked for the original, and where subtracting instead of dividing is the commonest error in the topic; then to simple interest, compound interest and depreciation, where the multiplier is raised to a power rather than multiplied by the number of years. The last few questions mix the types without labelling them, because on the paper they are not labelled either.
- 1.A pair of trainers is priced at £80 online. The shop takes 25% off the price and then adds £10 for next-day delivery. Work out the total cost.
- 2.A car is bought for £9000. Its value decreases by 8% each year. Work out its value after 2 years.
- 3.A charity raffle sells 240 tickets at £1.85 each. 40% of the money raised is given to a local hospital. Work out how much money the hospital receives.
- 4.The price of a games console is reduced by 10%. In a later sale the reduced price is reduced by 10% again. Work out the overall percentage decrease.
- 5.A box holds 140 pens. 25% of the pens are red. Work out how many of the pens are red.
- 6.A washing machine costs £320 before VAT. VAT is charged at 20%. Work out the total price including VAT.
- 7.Priya invests £750 in a savings account that pays simple interest. After 3 years, the account contains £840. Work out the annual rate of simple interest.
- 8.A cycle route is 350 m long. A footpath runs alongside it for 3/7 of that length. Work out the length of the footpath.
- 9.There are 400 students at a school. 25% of them have a brother, 40% have a sister and 15% have both a brother and a sister. Work out how many of the students have neither a brother nor a sister.
- 10.A sponsored walk raised £350 for charity. 20% of the money raised is spent on equipment. Work out how much is spent on equipment.
- 11.The rent on a flat increases by 10% one year and by a further 10% the following year. Work out the overall percentage increase over the two years.
- 12.A company's profit this year is 130% of last year's profit. Last year's profit was £40,000. Work out this year's profit.
- 13.£2000 is invested in a savings account that pays 5% compound interest each year. Work out the value of the investment at the end of 2 years.
- 14.A laptop is bought for £600. Its value decreases by 20% after 1 year. Work out the value of the laptop after 1 year.
- 15.£5000 is invested in an account paying 4% compound interest each year. Work out the total interest earned after 3 years.
- 16.Work out 35% of 180.
- 17.A quiz has 50 questions. Freya answers 10% of them incorrectly. Work out how many questions she answers incorrectly.
- 18.In a class, 1/3 of the pupils are girls. There are 12 girls in the class. Work out how many pupils are in the class.
- 19.Before a charity campaign, donations were £6400 per month. Donations grew by 8% in the first year after the campaign, and then fell by 3% in the second year as interest faded. Work out the amount donated per month at the end of the second year, to the nearest pound.
- 20.A jumper costs £45 at Shop A, where it is reduced by 20%. The same jumper costs £34 at Shop B, where a further 10% reduction is then applied. Work out the difference between the two reduced prices.
- 21.A charity fun run raises money through entry fees and donations. Entry fees raise £1,260, which is 60% of the total amount raised. Work out how much money was raised through donations.
- 22.Work out 8% of £250.
What is on this worksheet?
The sheet holds 22 questions drawn from the MathsUK bank — the content areas covered: Ratio, proportion and rates of change, Number (statements R9, R16, N12). It is pitched at GCSE Foundation and takes about 40 minutes to work through in full. It is built for independent practice, with full answers at the end for self-marking.
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 22 questions before checking — about 40 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 22 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.
Similar worksheets worth a look
- ✏️ Paper 1 non-calculator warm-up — Foundation · 20 questions · ~25 min
- 🎯 Grade 4 pass booster · 25 questions · ~40 min
- ⚖️ Foundation to Higher crossover check · 20 questions · ~35 min
- ⚗️ Ratio and proportion mastery — Higher · 24 questions · ~45 min