Study Material — 29 PYQs (2018–2023) · Concept Notes · Shortcuts
NDA Basic Percentage is a frequently tested subtopic — 29 previous year questions from 2018–2023 papers are included below with concept notes, key rules and shortcut tricks.
29 questions from actual NDA papers · all shown free · click option to reveal solution
Exam Q 12023Previous Year Pattern
A student scored 72 marks out of 120 in an exam. What is the percentage score?
Exam Q 22023Previous Year Pattern
A book's price was reduced by 30% and now costs ₹490. What was the original price?
Exam Q 32023Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper marks an item at ₹500. He offers a discount of 15% on the marked price. What is the selling price?
Exam Q 42023Previous Year Pattern
What is 25% of 480?
Exam Q 52020Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper marks an item at ₹500. He offers a discount of 12% on the marked price. What is the selling price of the item?
Exam Q 62023Previous Year Pattern
The price of a commodity increased by 25%. If the new price is ₹750, what was the original price?
Exam Q 72023Previous Year Pattern
In an examination, a student scored 72% and obtained 360 marks. What is the total marks of the examination?
Exam Q 82023Previous Year Pattern
A shirt costs ₹800. Its price is increased by 20%. What is the new price?
Exam Q 92023Previous Year Pattern
If 45% of a number is 360, what is 20% of that number?
Exam Q 102023Previous Year Pattern
In a class of 200 students, 45% are boys. How many girls are there?
Exam Q 112023Previous Year Pattern
If 15% of a number is 45, what is the number?
Exam Q 122020Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper marks up the cost price of an item by 40%. He then offers a discount of 10% on the marked price. If the cost price is ₹500, what is his profit percentage?
Exam Q 132023Previous Year Pattern
A number is increased by 25%. If the new number is 500, what was the original number?
Exam Q 142023Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper marks an item at ₹500. He offers a discount of 12% on the marked price. What is the selling price?
Exam Q 152023Previous Year Pattern
A product's price was reduced by 15%, and then the reduced price was increased by 15%. What is the net percentage change from the original price?
Exam Q 162023Previous Year Pattern
The price of petrol increased by 20% and then decreased by 10%. What is the net percentage change?
Exam Q 172018Previous Year Pattern
A student scored marks in three subjects: 75 out of 100 in Maths, 80 out of 100 in English, and 65 out of 100 in Science. What is the overall percentage scored by the student?
Exam Q 182023Previous Year Pattern
In an examination, 65% of students passed. If 455 students passed, how many students appeared in total?
Exam Q 192023Previous Year Pattern
The price of a commodity increased by 20%, and then decreased by 10%. What is the net percentage change in the price?
Exam Q 202023Previous Year Pattern
A student scored 72% in English and 88% in Mathematics. If English has a weightage of 40% and Mathematics has a weightage of 60%, what is the weighted average percentage?
Exam Q 212023Previous Year Pattern
In an examination, a student scored 75% marks and obtained 300 marks. What are the total marks for the examination?
Exam Q 222023Previous Year Pattern
A container has 120 litres of a mixture containing 40% alcohol. How many litres of pure alcohol must be added to make the alcohol content 60%?
Exam Q 232023Previous Year Pattern
A student scored 72% in English, 68% in Mathematics, and 80% in Science. The maximum marks for each subject are 150, 120, and 100 respectively. What is the overall percentage of marks obtained across all three subjects?
Exam Q 242020Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper marks up goods by 60% above cost price. He then offers a discount of 25% on the marked price during a sale. Later, he realizes his profit margin is lower than expected and increases the selling price by 20%. What is his final profit percentage?
Exam Q 252023Previous Year Pattern
A person's salary is increased by 25% in January and then decreased by 20% in February. If his salary in February is ₹12,000, what was his original salary in December?
Exam Q 262023Previous Year Pattern
A quantity increases by 20%, then decreases by 25%, and finally increases by 10%. What is the net percentage change from the original quantity?
Exam Q 272023Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper marks up goods by 60% above cost price. He then offers a discount of 25% on the marked price. If the cost price of an item is ₹800, what is his profit percentage?
Exam Q 282023Previous Year Pattern
The price of a commodity increases by 20% in the first year and decreases by 15% in the second year. If the final price is ₹1224, what was the original price?
Exam Q 292023Previous Year Pattern
In an election, candidate A received 45% of votes, candidate B received 35% of votes, and the remaining votes were invalid. If the total number of valid votes was 8000, how many invalid votes were cast?
Concept Notes
Basic Percentage— Rules & Concept
Core ConceptRead this first — the foundation of the topic
Basic Percentage is the foundation of all percentage problems in SSC CGL. It measures parts per hundred. The word 'percent' comes from Latin 'per centum' meaning 'by hundred'. Understanding this concept is crucial as it appears in 2-3 questions in every SSC CGL paper. Core Concept: Percentage is a way to express a fraction with denominator 100. When you say 25%, it means 25 out of 100 parts. Think of it as cutting a pie into 100 equal slices and taking some of them.
Key RulesCore rules you must know cold
First, percentage is always calculated on a base value. Second, 100% means the complete quantity. Third, percentages can exceed 100% when the part is larger than the whole. Fourth, percentage change and percentage of a number are different concepts.
Formula BlockMemorise — at least one formula appears in every paper
• Percentage = (Part/Whole) × 100
• Part = (Percentage/100) × Whole
• Whole = (Part × 100)/Percentage
• Percentage to Fraction: x% = x/100
• Percentage to Decimal: x% = x/100 = 0.0x
Exam PatternsWhat examiners ask — read before attempting PYQs
Powerful Shortcuts for Quick Calculation
Shortcut 1 - Common Percentage Conversions:
• 50% = 1/2, 25% = 1/4, 20% = 1/5, 10% = 1/10
• 33.33% = 1/3, 66.67% = 2/3, 12.5% = 1/8, 16.67% = 1/6
Memorize these to solve faster without calculations
Shortcut 2 - Quick Mental Math Trick
• For 15% of any number: Take 10% + 5%
• For 35% of any number: Take 30% + 5%
• Break complex percentages into easier chunks
Worked ExampleSolve this step-by-step before moving on
1
Step 1
Convert percentage to decimal: 24% = 24/100 = 0.24
Add: 170 + 34 = 204
Answer: 24% of 850 = 204
Worked Example 2: What percentage is 156 of 240?
1
Step 1
Use formula: Percentage = (Part/Whole) × 100
2
Step 2
Substitute values: (156/240) × 100
3
Step 3
Simplify fraction: 156/240 = 13/20 (dividing by 12)
4
Step 4
Convert to decimal: 13/20 = 0.65
5
Step 5
Multiply by 100: 0.65 × 100 = 65%
Answer: 156 is 65% of 240
Shortcut 3 - The Unitary Method for Percentages:
If x% = y, then 1% = y/x, and 100% = (y × 100)/x
This eliminates complex calculations in competitive exams.
Exam TrapsCommon mistakes students make — avoid these
- The #1 Trap: Students confuse 'percentage of' with 'percentage more than'. For example, if A is 20% of B, it does NOT mean A is 20% more than B. '20% of B' means A = 0.20 × B. But '20% more than B' means A = B + 0.20 × B = 1.20 × B.
This confusion costs precious marks in exams.
Another frequent error is forgetting to convert percentage back to the required form. Always check if the answer needs to be in percentage, decimal, or fraction format.
Key Points to Remember
Percentage means parts per hundred, always calculated on a base value
If 45% of a number is 360, what is 25% of that number?
Practice 2easy
A student scored 72 marks out of 120 in an exam. What is his percentage score?
Practice 3easy
A shopkeeper marks an item at ₹500. He offers a 20% discount. What is the selling price?
Practice 4easy
A student scored 72% in an exam and obtained 360 marks. What were the total marks?
Practice 5easy
In an exam, 65% of students passed. If 260 students passed, how many students took the exam?
Practice 6easy
A shirt costs ₹800. Its price is increased by 20%. What is the new price?
Practice 7easy
If 15% of a number is 45, what is the number?
Practice 8easy
What is 25% of 480?
Practice 9easy
A shopkeeper marks the price of an item at ₹500. He offers a discount of 12% on the marked price. What is the selling price of the item?
Practice 10easy
A book's price is reduced from ₹500 to ₹400. What is the percentage decrease?
Practice 11easy
In a class of 80 students, 35% are girls. How many boys are there in the class?
Practice 12medium
A shopkeeper marks up the cost price of an item by 40%. He then offers a discount of 10% on the marked price. If the cost price is ₹500, what is his profit percentage?
Practice 13medium
In an examination, 65% of students passed. If 455 students passed, how many students appeared in total?
Practice 14medium
A number is increased by 25%, and then the result is decreased by 20%. What is the net percentage change from the original number?
Practice 15medium
A number is increased by 30%, and then the result is decreased by 30%. Is the final number greater than, less than, or equal to the original number?
Practice 16medium
A shopkeeper marks an item at ₹500. He offers a discount of 12% on the marked price. What is the selling price?
Practice 17medium
A shopkeeper buys goods for ₹800 and sells them at a profit of 35%. What is the selling price?
Practice 18medium
A student's marks increased from 45 to 54. What is the percentage increase in marks?
Practice 19medium
The price of a commodity increases by 25% and then decreases by 20%. What is the net percentage change in the price?
Practice 20medium
In an examination, a student scored 72% marks and obtained 360 marks. What are the total marks of the examination?
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