Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Mathematics (Specification A) · 4MA1 · Free · no account needed
Percentage Basics — exam questions
11 original Incandio exam-style questions on Percentage Basics, 27 marks, about 32 minutes of writing. Each one carries the command word, the tariff and the specification statement it assesses, exactly as a paper presents them. This is an original Incandio practice question, written to reflect the structure and demands of the qualification. It is not an official Pearson Edexcel past-paper question.
This is the practice set for Percentage Basics — the module that teaches it. Read the module first if the idea is new; come here when you want to find out whether you can turn it into marks. Completely free, no account needed to read.
What these questions ask of you
6 command words run through this set, and on Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Mathematics A each one means something precise. Answering the wrong command is the commonest way a candidate who understands the module still loses the mark.
- Write down (1–2 marks)
- a value that needs no working — read off, recalled or stated
- Work out (1–5 marks)
- a calculated result, with the working that produced it
- Explain why (1–2 marks)
- one short justification — mathematics almost never asks for extended explanation
- Show that (2–5 marks)
- every step of a derivation to a value that is already printed in the question Misread as: stating the printed answer again instead of deriving it
- Find (1–5 marks)
- a value or expression obtained by a method the learner chooses
- Calculate (1–5 marks)
- a numerical answer obtained by calculation
Assessed on Paper 1 and Paper 2.
Where these sit in the specification
Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Mathematics A (4MA1) — statement 1.6. Incandio is aligned to this specification; it is not published by, endorsed by or affiliated with Pearson, and it reproduces none of Pearson's wording.
The 11 questions
Answer them on paper, then open the module's exam practice to have them marked. The mark scheme, the accepted and rejected answers and the annotated model answer are in Incandio and are not printed here — an answer beside its question is not practice.
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(1)Write down
Write down 35% as a decimal.
(Total for Question 1 = 1 mark)
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(1)Work out
Work out 20% of 340.
(Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)
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(2)Work out
A charity raised £14620. It gave 38% of this to a local hospital. Work out how much the hospital received.
(Total for Question 3 = 2 marks)
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(2)Work out
In a test a student scored 37 out of 50. Work out the score as a percentage.
score as a percentage = ............................
(Total for Question 4 = 2 marks)
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(1)Explain why
A price of £40 is increased by 5%. A price of £80 is increased by 5%. Explain why the two increases are not the same amount of money.
(Total for Question 5 = 1 mark)
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(3)Work out
A school has 2400 students. 55% of them are girls. 35% of the girls walk to school. Work out how many girls walk to school.
(Total for Question 6 = 3 marks)
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(3)Work out
A house was bought for £186000 and sold for £214900. Work out the percentage increase in the price, correct to 1 decimal place.
percentage increase = ............................
(Total for Question 7 = 3 marks)
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(3)Show that
A jacket has a price of £64. In a sale the price is reduced by 15%. Show that the sale price is £54.40.
(Total for Question 8 = 3 marks)
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(4)Find
A television costs £529 at Ardley Electricals and £562 at Brenlow Retail. Ardley offers 12% off and Brenlow offers 18% off. Find which shop sells the television more cheaply, and by how much.
(Total for Question 9 = 4 marks)
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(2)Calculate
The population of a village is 8600. It decreases by 4%. Calculate the new population.
new population = ............................
(Total for Question 10 = 2 marks)
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(5)Work out
A shop buys a jacket for £48 and sells it at a profit of 35%. In a sale the selling price is then reduced by 20%. Work out the profit the shop makes on the jacket in the sale.
profit = ............................ £
(Total for Question 11 = 5 marks)
Have them marked, then defend the answer
Practice tells you the mark; teaching it back tells you whether you understand it. On Incandio a topic counts as mastered only once you have taught it and defended it.
- Mark these questions — 11 questions, marked on Incandio against the authored scheme, with the mistake you actually made named.
- Teach it — explain Percentage Basics to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against Luca Pacioli over three rounds, marked against descriptors you can read first.
Completely free. No subscriptions, no paywalls, no account needed to start.
Back to the module
- Percentage Basics — What 'per cent' actually means, finding a percentage of an amount, and writing one number as a percentage of another.
- All of Incandio Mathematics · Incandio Exam Practice