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Maths•Percentages

Percentage increase & decrease

Junior High 8 questions
AI-drafted from platform data — specialist review scheduledBy DigiTransact Mastermind editorial teamLast updated
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What percentage increase & decrease means

You learn how to change an amount by a given percentage, either up or down. This helps you work out new prices, scores, marks, and other everyday values quickly and correctly.

What you will practise

  • Find the increase as a fraction of the original amount
  • Add the increase to get the new amount
  • Find the decrease as a fraction of the original amount
  • Subtract the decrease to get the final amount
  • Check answers using simple percentage calculations

Before you start

You should be comfortable with multiplying and dividing whole numbers. You should also know how to find a percentage of a number.

Not confident yet? Work through Fractions, decimals & percentages first.

Worked example

One question from this skill's own question bank, shown with its full working.

Question

Increase 50 by 10%. What is the result?

Answer: 55

Working: 10% of 50 is 5, so 50 + 5 = 55.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Using the changed amount instead of the original amount to find the percentage
  • Adding when the question asks you to decrease the amount
  • Forgetting to turn the percentage into a fraction or decimal first
  • Leaving out the final addition or subtraction after finding the change

Curriculum and exam alignment

Ghana GES Basic 7 to 9 syllabusBECE

This topic normally appears in Junior High School number work on percentages. It supports common BECE-style questions that ask you to find a new amount after a percentage change.

Curriculum notes are a general guide to where this work normally sits. Always check the syllabus your school or examination body is currently using.

Related skills

Other Percentages skills in Maths, at the same point in the course.

Other Maths topics

Early NumeracyNumber BasicsSHS Core MathematicsUniversity MathematicsAlgebraGeometry

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Exams that assess percentage increase & decrease

Junior High work on this skill feeds directly into these exam papers. Each page lists the Maths topics that appear on it.

BECEBECE practice questionsFree BECE practice across the subjects at this stage, with worked answers.GESGES practice questionsFree GES practice across the subjects at this stage, with worked answers.WASSCEWASSCE practice questionsListed as a related subject on the WASSCE practice page.

How this page was produced

This text was drafted with AI assistance from the questions and topics already stored on the platform. A subject-specialist review is scheduled but has not yet been recorded, so we do not claim it here.

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DigiTransact Mastermind editorial team
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Practise percentage increase & decrease

8 questions with a worked answer after every attempt, and a SmartScore that tracks how close you are to mastery.

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