Learning your percentages for the QTS Skills Test

Percentages is the number one nightmare among QTS students.

I have made some notes on what are the most important things to remember when dealing with this topic

First of all, it has to be emphasised that , percentages can be expressed using a fraction AND a decimal.

60% =   ?

15% is the same as 0.15 or

87% is the same as 0.87 or

Fractions with denominators of 10 or closely related to 10 can easily be converted to percentages.

0.07  = 7%

0.60    = 60%

0.28   = 28%

As mentioned in Adrian’s percentage post, you then need to know some of the basic percentages (memorize them!) they come in handy when solving word problems relating to percentages.

Using 10%

10% is the same as dividing by 10. It is therefore easy to work out 10% of an amount by moving decimal places.

Find 30% of 60.

10% of 60 is 6, so

30% of 60 is 3 × 6 = 18

Using 1%

1% is one hundredth of the original amount, so you can work out 1% by dividing the original amount by 100 (moving figures 2 decimal places to the right).  At Primary Schools children are taught not to do it this way.  Instead, they are told to move the numbers.  For the QTS Skills Test, it’s easier to just to move the point.

1% of £250

250 ÷ 100 =£2.50

So 4%, for example, would be four times as much.

1% of £250 = £2.50

4% of £250 = £2.50 × 4 = £10.00