MKS CMAT · Quantitative Ability
Percentage for CMAT: Increase, Decrease and Common Mistakes
Percentage for CMAT becomes easier when you ask one question before calculating: percentage of which amount? The base matters as much as the rate. A discount uses the marked price; a percentage increase uses the original value; a second change uses the new value.
This lesson contains six original MKS practice questions. They are learning examples, not TU past-paper questions or a prediction of the next examination.
YOUR LEARNING ROUTE
Build the skill. Then test it.
Percentage for CMAT: start with the base
“Per cent” means “per hundred.” To find 15% of 800, calculate 15 ÷ 100 × 800 = 120. For mental calculation, you can combine 10% of 800, which is 80, and 5%, which is 40.
Keep these relationships together:
| Task | Calculation |
|---|---|
| Find a percentage of an amount | Rate ÷ 100 × amount |
| Find what percentage one value is of another | Part ÷ whole × 100 |
| Find percentage change | Change ÷ original value × 100 |
| Increase by 20% | Original value × 1.20 |
| Decrease by 20% | Original value × 0.80 |
For example, a price rises from NPR 500 to NPR 600. The increase is NPR 100, so the percentage increase is 100 ÷ 500 × 100 = 20%. Dividing by 600 would answer a different question.
सम्झनुहोस्: पहिले “कुन रकमको प्रतिशत?” भनेर आधार रकम छुट्याउनुहोस्।
Six percentage questions to try
Write your calculation before checking the answers. A calculator is unnecessary for these examples; this is practice advice, not a claim about official exam rules.
Q1. Finding the percentage
A student answers 36 of 45 practice questions correctly. What percentage are correct?
- A. 75%
- B. 80%
- C. 85%
- D. 90%
Q2. Percentage increase
A reference book’s price rises from NPR 800 to NPR 920. What is the percentage increase?
- A. 12%
- B. 13%
- C. 15%
- D. 20%
Q3. Discounted price
A bag marked NPR 1,500 is sold at a 12% discount. What is the selling price?
- A. NPR 1,280
- B. NPR 1,300
- C. NPR 1,320
- D. NPR 1,380
Q4. Successive changes
A practice club has 200 members. Membership first increases by 20%, then decreases by 20% of the increased number. How many members remain?
- A. 160
- B. 192
- C. 200
- D. 208
Q5. Reverse percentage
After a 15% discount, a jacket costs NPR 1,700. What was its marked price?
- A. NPR 1,955
- B. NPR 2,000
- C. NPR 2,150
- D. NPR 2,550
Q6. Percentage points or percentage increase?
The percentage of students completing a worksheet rises from 40% to 50%. What is the relative percentage increase in the completion rate?
- A. 10%
- B. 20%
- C. 25%
- D. 50%
PAUSE · CHECK · UNDERSTAND
Make each attempt count.
Try the questions before reading the explanations. Keep your working, note what felt uncertain, and use each correction to choose your next practice task.
Answers and worked solutions
Q1 — B, 80%. The whole is 45 questions. Calculate 36 ÷ 45 × 100 = 80%. A useful simplification is 36/45 = 4/5. Dividing the whole by the part reverses the relationship.
Q2 — C, 15%. The increase is 920 − 800 = NPR 120. Divide by the original price: 120 ÷ 800 × 100 = 15%. The new price, NPR 920, is not the base for this calculation.
Q3 — C, NPR 1,320. The discount is 0.12 × 1,500 = NPR 180. Subtract it: 1,500 − 180 = 1,320. Alternatively, the buyer pays 88% of the marked price: 0.88 × 1,500.
Q4 — B, 192. After the increase, membership is 200 × 1.20 = 240. The later decrease removes 20% of 240, which is 48: 240 − 48 = 192. Equal percentage increases and decreases do not cancel because their bases differ.
Q5 — B, NPR 2,000. The final price is 85% of the marked price. Therefore, marked price = 1,700 ÷ 0.85 = 2,000. Adding 15% to 1,700 gives 1,955, but that uses the discounted amount as its base.
Q6 — C, 25%. The rate rises by 10 percentage points. Relative to its original 40%, the increase is (50 − 40) ÷ 40 × 100 = 25%. State which type of change you mean; the two measurements are different.
Turn each mistake into a useful note
Do not record only “Q5 wrong.” Write the cause: “I added the discount to the final price instead of dividing by the remaining percentage.” Then solve a fresh version with a different price.
Before moving on, check three habits: label the base, keep intermediate values exact, and state the final unit. If you selected the right option but cannot explain your calculation, revisit that question. The goal is a method you can repeat when the numbers change.
For the wider preparation route, visit MKS CMAT.
Practice questions and explanations are original MKS learning material. The accompanying study scenes are AI-generated illustrations.
Keep your preparation moving.
Explore the wider CMAT learning route or find current class information with MKSPrep.
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