22 questions on percentage change, reverse percentages, simple and compound interest, and depreciation.

💷 Percentages and compound interest

Maths · GCSE Foundation · 22 questions · ~40 min

MathsUKwww.geekhero.co.uk

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.Work out 35% of 180.
(a)45
(b)63
(c)145
(d)126
2.A water tank holds 80 litres when full. It currently contains 60 litres. Work out what fraction of the tank is empty.
(a)1/4
(b)1/3
(c)3/4
(d)1/5
3.A savings account pays 3.5% compound interest each year. Bilal invests £1200. Work out how much interest, in total, he earns after 2 years, to the nearest penny.
(a)£85.47
(b)£1285.47
(c)£84.00
(d)£42.00
4.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.
(a)£504
(b)£1,890
(c)£840
(d)£2,100
5.Work out 1/2 of 1/4 of 80.
(a)20
(b)10
(c)60
(d)40
6.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.
(a)121%
(b)11%
(c)21%
(d)20%
7.Grace's mean mark in her maths tests rises from 70 to 84. Work out the percentage increase in her mean mark.
(a)20%
(b)120%
(c)17%
(d)14%
8.Maya buys a vintage car for £15000. Its value is expected to increase by 4% each year for 2 years. She then plans to sell the car and use £2000 of the money from the sale to buy a trailer. Work out how much money she will have left after selling the car and buying the trailer.
(a)£14224
(b)£13600
(c)£14200
(d)£18224
9.A company had 8000 employees. The number of employees decreased by 5% in the first year, and then increased by 5% in the second year. Work out the number of employees at the end of the second year, to the nearest whole number.
(a)8000
(b)7980
(c)8400
(d)7600
10.Work out 10% of 30% of £200.
(a)£60
(b)£80
(c)£20
(d)£6
11.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.
(a)18
(b)4
(c)24
(d)36
12.After a 20% discount, a jacket costs £48. Work out the original price of the jacket.
(a)£40
(b)£60
(c)£57.60
(d)£38.40
13.A charity shop buys a coat for £24 and sells it for a profit that is 3/8 of the buying price. Work out the selling price.
(a)£27.00
(b)£15.00
(c)£9.00
(d)£33.00
14.A textbook is reduced from £60 to £45. Work out the percentage reduction.
(a)33%
(b)15%
(c)75%
(d)25%
15.A sofa costs £800. Its price is increased by 25%. Work out the new price of the sofa.
(a)£1,000
(b)£600
(c)£825
(d)£200
16.40% of a number is 12 more than 25% of the same number. Work out the number.
(a)48
(b)80
(c)15
(d)30
17.A laptop is bought for £600. Its value decreases by 20% after 1 year. Work out the value of the laptop after 1 year.
(a)£120.00
(b)£580.00
(c)£480.00
(d)£720.00
18.A company's turnover this year is £180,000. Last year's turnover was £120,000. Write down this year's turnover as a percentage of last year's turnover.
(a)50%
(b)180%
(c)150%
(d)66.7%
19.Work out 8% of £250.
(a)£25
(b)£2
(c)£200
(d)£20
20.A pack contains 20 stickers. Noah gives 1/5 of the pack to his sister. Work out how many stickers he gives away.
(a)4
(b)5
(c)100
(d)16
21.3/5 of the students in a year group walk to school. 90 students walk to school. Work out the total number of students in the year group.
(a)54
(b)126
(c)150
(d)30
22.A laptop costs £720. A carrying case for it costs 1/9 of the price of the laptop. Work out the cost of the carrying case.
(a)£72
(b)£640
(c)£80
(d)£6480

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.

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