Percentages appear on every Functional Skills Maths Level 2 paper, usually dressed up as a wage slip, a sale price or a budget question. This free worksheet covers the five skills the exam tests – percentage of an amount, increase and decrease, percentage change, reverse percentages and compound interest – in fourteen exam-style questions with worked answers.
Free to download, print and share for personal or classroom use. Answers included.
What’s in this worksheet
- Remember box: the multiplier method and reverse-percentage rule
- Section A – percentage of an amount, including income tax above a threshold (7 marks)
- Section B – increase, decrease, VAT and ‘is the budget enough?’ questions (11 marks)
- Section C – percentage change: increase, loss, attendance target (6 marks)
- Section D – reverse percentages, comparing two offers, compound interest (10 marks)
- Worked answers showing the method for every question
Common mistakes on this topic
From our tutors’ marking and the most recent examiner reports – check your work against these:
- Finding the discount but forgetting to subtract it from the original price.
- Using the original amount instead of the new amount as the base for a reverse percentage (e.g. 63 × 1.30 instead of 63 ÷ 0.70).
- Not stating a conclusion in “is it enough / which is cheaper” questions – the final mark is for the decision.
How to use it
- Print the worksheet (or work on screen) and attempt every question without looking at the answers. Give yourself a rough time limit – Level 2 exams are tight.
- Mark your work against the answer page. For maths, check the method as well as the final number; method marks are where most of the marks are.
- Read the ‘common mistakes’ notes below and check whether any of them happened to you. Then redo the questions you got wrong a day later.
Related free resources
- Functional Skills Maths Level 2 Ratio and Proportion Worksheet
- Functional Skills Maths Level 2: Mean, Median, Mode and Range Worksheet
- All free Functional Skills Maths Level 2 resources
Frequently asked questions
Is a calculator allowed for percentages in the Level 2 exam?
The Level 2 maths exam has a short non-calculator section and a longer calculator section. Most percentage questions – especially those involving money – appear in the calculator section, but you should be able to find 10%, 5% and 50% of an amount without one.
How do I do reverse percentages?
Divide by the multiplier. If £63 is the price after a 30% reduction, the original was 63 ÷ 0.70 = £90. The common error is multiplying by 1.30 instead.
What’s the difference between simple and compound interest?
Simple interest adds the same amount each year. Compound interest is calculated on the new total each year, so it grows faster: £2,000 at 3% compound for two years is 2,000 × 1.03 × 1.03 = £2,121.80, not £2,120.
Want a tutor to mark your work? Not sure where you stand? Take the free 15-minute mini mock test. Ready to get qualified? Our live 10-week Functional Skills Level 2 Maths course runs in small groups with a mock exam included, and the 5-day revision course is there if your exam is close.