Survey Table Practice Test Worksheets
Survey table questions ask you to find missing numbers from a two-way table. The key is to decide whether the question is giving a row total, a column total, or the total number of pupils in the survey.
For students who can read a table, but lose marks when survey totals, row comparisons, and missing entries have to be combined.
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What Do Survey Table Questions Look Like?
Survey table questions ask you to find missing numbers from a two-way grid representing survey results. By checking row totals, column totals, and the overall survey total, you deduce the missing values step by step. Here is a worked example.
Find a Missing Row Total
Question: In total 34 pupils took the survey. How many girls took part?
| Geography | Art | Computing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boys | 2 | 7 | 3 |
| Girls | ? | ||
Worked Method
Step 1: Add the boys row: 2 + 7 + 3 = 12.
Step 2: Subtract the boys from the survey total: 34 - 12 = 22.
Check: 12 boys + 22 girls = 34 pupils.
Answer: 22 girls took part.
Tip: Here, the wide question-mark cell represents the girls' combined total across all three subjects. The individual girls' subject counts cannot be determined from the information given.
Rules to Help You Solve Survey Table Questions
These school survey tables use boys and girls as rows and favourite subjects as columns. Each pupil selected one favourite subject and appears in exactly one cell. Find missing values by adding or subtracting the relevant row, column, or whole-table totals:
➕ Rule 1: Add a known row
If a whole row is shown, add the numbers across that row.
Example: Boys choosing Geography, Art and Computing are 2, 7 and 3, so the boys total is 12.
➖ Rule 2: Subtract from the total
Subtract all the other relevant parts from a total to isolate the missing part. With two rows, subtracting one row total gives the other. With three subject columns, subtracting just one column total gives the combined total of the other two columns.
Example: 34 pupils in total and 12 boys means 34 - 12 = 22 girls.
↕ Rule 3: Use column totals carefully
When a subject's column total is given, subtract its known entries to find the missing entry. If only the whole-survey total is given, you may need values from other columns too.
Example: 24 pupils chose Computing and 15 were boys, so 9 girls chose Computing.
🔎 Rule 4: Read the target first
Underline whether the answer should be boys, girls, a subject total, or one single cell.
Example: "girls chose Science" means one cell, not the whole girls row.
Two More Worked Examples
Work Down One Column
Question: There are 24 pupils who chose Computing as their favourite subject. If 15 of them were boys, how many girls chose Computing?
| Geography | Computing | Music | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boys | 15 | 15 | 8 |
| Girls | 6 | ? | 4 |
Worked Method
Step 1: The question is only about Computing, so use the Computing column.
Step 2: Computing total = 24. Boys choosing Computing = 15.
Step 3: 24 - 15 = 9 girls.
Check: 15 boys + 9 girls = 24 pupils who chose Computing.
Answer: 9 girls chose Computing.
Tip: The Computing column total and its boys' count are both given, so no values from other subjects are needed.
Find One Missing Cell
Question: In total 34 pupils took the survey. How many girls chose Science as their favourite subject?
| English | Science | Art | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boys | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| Girls | 6 | ? | 6 |
Worked Method
Step 1: Add every known value: 3 + 3 + 10 + 6 + 6 = 28.
Step 2: The survey total is 34, so the missing Science value is 34 - 28 = 6.
Check: 28 pupils in the known cells + 6 in the missing cell = 34 pupils.
Answer: 6 girls chose Science as their favourite subject.
Tip: The answer is one cell, not the total number of girls.
