Percentage Practice Test Worksheets
Percentage questions test whether you can find part of a whole quickly and accurately. Most of these problems ask for a percentage of a total, so the key is choosing a reliable method and keeping the units clear.
For children who know what a percentage is, but get stuck choosing the right shortcut under test conditions.
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What Do Percentage Questions Look Like?
Percentage questions test whether you can find part of a whole quickly and accurately. Most problems ask for a percentage of a total, which can be solved by converting the percentage to a simple fraction or building from 10%. Here is a worked example.
Convert to a Simple Fraction
Question: 20% of school children like chess. If the school has 150 children. How many children like chess?
Worked Method
Step 1: 20% = 20100 = 15.
Step 2: Find 15 of 150: 150 ÷ 5 = 30.
Tip: Simple percentages like 20%, 25%, 50%, and 75% are often fastest as fractions.
Rules to Help You Solve Percentage Questions
A percentage is a fraction out of 100. Using the structure from the example above, once you turn the percentage into a multiplier, the calculation becomes a short divide-and-multiply problem.
💯 Rule 1: Percent means out of 100
Write the percentage over 100, then simplify if that helps.
Example: 20% = 20100 = 15.
🧮 Rule 2: Divide first when the fraction is simple
If the percentage simplifies to a fraction, divide the total by the denominator, then multiply by the numerator. For a unit fraction such as 1/5, the numerator is 1, so dividing is enough.
Example: 20% of 150 = 15 of 150 = 30.
🔟 Rule 3: Use 10% as a shortcut
For 10%, divide by 10. For 70%, find 10% and multiply by 7.
Example: 70% of 80: 10% is 8, so 70% is 56.
✅ Rule 4: Check the size of the answer
For the same positive total, a smaller percentage gives a smaller amount and a larger percentage gives a larger amount. A size check can reveal an error, but does not prove an answer is correct.
Example: 40% of 210 is 84, which is less than half of 210.
Two More Worked Examples
Here are two additional problems showing how to scale from 10% and handle fractions with numerators greater than one.
Scale from 10%
Question: At a math quiz competition with 80 participants, 70% scored more than 50%. How many participants scored above 50% in math?
Worked Method
Step 1: Find 10% of 80: 80 ÷ 10 = 8.
Step 2: 70% is 7 lots of 10%, so 8 × 7 = 56.
Tip: This method works well for percentages like 30%, 40%, 60%, 70%, 80%, and 90%.
Multiplying by the Fraction’s Numerator
Question: Out of 210 students, 40% submitted their science homework on time. How many students submitted on time?
Worked Method
Step 1: 40% = 40100 = 25.
Step 2: Find 25 of 210: 210 ÷ 5 = 42 gives one fifth. Multiply by the numerator, 2, to find two fifths: 42 × 2 = 84 students.
Tip: Do not stop at 42—that is only one fifth, or 20%. As a size check, 40% is less than half, so the answer should be less than 105. Both 42 and 84 pass that check, so you still need the full calculation to establish the correct answer.
Additional Percentage Practice
Try these 3 additional practice questions, created for this page rather than taken from the papers. The final question extends the multiples of 10% used in the current papers to 15%. Enter your answers below for instant feedback.
A toy car costs £15. The price is reduced by 20%. How much money is saved?
Out of 80 children at a summer camp, 70% can swim. How many children can swim?
A bakery makes 120 muffins. 15% of the muffins are blueberry. How many muffins are blueberry?
3 / 3 Correct! Outstanding!
You have completed all three practice questions. Try the full pack of 75 questions for more practice finding percentages of amounts.
