Numerical reasoning

Numerical reasoning questions present a short scenario with one or two given numbers — a price, a headcount, a growth figure — and ask you to derive a value: a percentage change, a ratio split, an average, a discounted price. Unlike matrix puzzles, there's no hidden visual rule to spot; the challenge is picking the right calculation and executing it accurately under time pressure.

Most numerical items fall into a handful of recurring calculation types: percentage-of-a-total, percentage change (increase or decrease), ratio splits, averages (sometimes with an outlier to exclude), and discount-then-tax style multi-step problems. Recognising which type you're looking at within the first few seconds is most of the battle — once you know it's a 'percentage change' question, the formula is fixed, you just need to plug in the right numbers.

The most common trap is misreading which number is the 'base' — calculating a percentage against the wrong original value, or forgetting a value has already changed once before the second step applies. Reading the scenario twice before calculating anything is worth the extra few seconds it costs.