Percentages in the 11+ — Questions, Worked Answers and Practice Papers

What examiners actually ask

Percentages appears in 86 of our 571 ready papers (151 tagged questions). It averages 1.8 questions a paper worth about 1.67 marks each. The typical question allows around 45 sec. It appears in 2 CSSE papers we hold.

Percentages appear steadily across 11+ Maths — often as “find 15% of…”, percentage increase or decrease, or conversion questions that link fractions and decimals. Children who only memorise “divide by 100” without understanding what 1% represents struggle when the percentage is awkward (12%, 17.5%) or when the question asks for the original amount after a change. Build from 10% and 1% building blocks, then move into multi-step word problems so the method survives exam wording. Independent papers especially like percentage change wrapped in shopping or population contexts. Always decide whether you need a percentage of an amount, or what percentage one amount is of another, before you calculate — those two question types look similar and trip children up under time pressure. Leave a quick estimate check for the end. Under timed 11+ conditions, children who pause to name the method before they calculate — and who check the form of the final answer — keep more marks than those who rush the first approach that comes to mind. Build that habit with short, mixed sets from real papers rather than endless textbook drills of one type.

Common mistakes

• Finding a percentage of the wrong base amount after an increase or decrease.
• Treating “increase by 20%” as multiply by 0.2 instead of 1.2.
• Rounding too early and drifting from the exact answer the mark scheme expects.
• Confusing “what percentage is A of B” with “what is A% of B”.

Papers with the most Percentages questions

Ranked from our tagged catalogue — open a paper to practise the questions that actually test this topic.

Related topics

• Fractions
• Decimals
• Ratio and Proportion
• Word Problems
• Money
• Algebra