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Maths test - to think Civil Service have it wrong?

1000 replies

Sharingaroomtinightthen · 01/08/2025 21:58

I’ve just applied for a Civil Service test. Part of it is passing a numerical test.

This is the question.

The answer is 125%. I’m sure of it.

If you start with £100, and in the first year it doubles it’s £200. So at the of year one it’s £200.

In year two it trebles to £600.

It then falls by a quarter in the third year to £450.

So end of year 1 - £200.

End of year 3 - £450.

It’s increased by 125%.

125% isn’t an answer option.

WIBU to email and tell them they’ve got it wrong?

Maths test - to think Civil Service have it wrong?
OP posts:
Thread gallery
12
Shittyhouse · 01/08/2025 22:51

The answer is 225. The calculation is easy — the problem is in the wording and understanding what they actually want you to calculate.
It’s stupid.

Sharingaroomtinightthen · 01/08/2025 22:51

tachetastic · 01/08/2025 22:45

@Sharingaroomtinightthen is correct. The increase from the end of Year 1 is 125%, but from the available options I would choose 225% rather than arguing that the question is incorrect.

Work to change the system from the inside once you have the job rather than have the moral high ground when telling people in the Job Centre about the career that got away. 😄

Yes, this is what I’ll do. I passed the test anyway but annoying that it should’ve been with a higher percentage!

OP posts:
cakeorwine · 01/08/2025 22:52

lucertola28 · 01/08/2025 22:50

Perfectly explained with a mathematical formula.

Obviously it is up to you OP what answer you give and if you email them.

Might be worth trying to think less rigidly and trying to understand how they are giving a different answer than you expected.

That can be a beneficial mindset to have rather than I'm definitely right, they're definitely wrong.

Maybe you could highlight to them that some of their questions were not worded as well as possible and were left open to interpretation.

It's not really that open to interpretation

ElfAndSafetyBored · 01/08/2025 22:52

Sharingaroomtinightthen · 01/08/2025 22:45

It isn’t and I spent an insane amount of time checking every last detail before resolving that the only solution left was that they’re wrong. It was extremely irritating submitting what I knew was a wrong answer.

I think you should tell them. Maybe it’s part of a secret test.

I’d definitely employ you if I needed someone with a good maths brain.

Sharingaroomtinightthen · 01/08/2025 22:52

lucertola28 · 01/08/2025 22:50

Perfectly explained with a mathematical formula.

Obviously it is up to you OP what answer you give and if you email them.

Might be worth trying to think less rigidly and trying to understand how they are giving a different answer than you expected.

That can be a beneficial mindset to have rather than I'm definitely right, they're definitely wrong.

Maybe you could highlight to them that some of their questions were not worded as well as possible and were left open to interpretation.

It’s maths, not judgement or whatever. I am right, they are wrong. That’s the nature of maths.

OP posts:
irredeemablyperfidious · 01/08/2025 22:52

Sharingaroomtinightthen · 01/08/2025 22:18

One of the things I love about maths is that the correct answer is the correct answer and not influenced by opinion. It has riled me that it can’t be answered correctly.

That may be true for Pure Maths when the question is tightly defined.

Decades later I still remember a conversation between 2 colleagues who both had read Maths at Cambridge. One had been Senior Wrangler, that is top in the exams in the third year. They were discussing a Probability question (something to do with playing cards I think, it was way beyond me) but they agreed that there was no single right answer to the question.

YanTanTetheraPetheraBumfitt · 01/08/2025 22:53

To throw a spanner in the works/split hairs. The wording is confusing but the question talks about from the end of year 1 to year 3. It states it doubled in a year from 100 to 200. Maybe the doubling there occurred in one go bang on day 1 of year 2? So maybe at the end of year one it was still a 100? 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

shuggles · 01/08/2025 22:53

OP is correct. The answer is 125%.

First of all, just to be clear, OP's hypothetical numbers are correct. In essence, it's comparing £200 to £450.

The question is specifically worded as a "percentage increase." £450 is a 125% percentage increase above £200.

Similarly, £400 would be a 100% increase over £200.
£300 would be a 50% increase over £200, etc.

Removing the words "percentage increase"... then £450 is 225% of £200. But that's not what the question says.

I am extremely concerned that 69% of mumsnetters disagree with OP. That level of numerical illiteracy is astonishing, given the number of mumsnetters on very high salaries and working in financial jobs.

Sharingaroomtinightthen · 01/08/2025 22:54

Shittyhouse · 01/08/2025 22:51

The answer is 225. The calculation is easy — the problem is in the wording and understanding what they actually want you to calculate.
It’s stupid.

The correct answer is 125%.

OP posts:
cakeorwine · 01/08/2025 22:54

Shittyhouse · 01/08/2025 22:51

The answer is 225. The calculation is easy — the problem is in the wording and understanding what they actually want you to calculate.
It’s stupid.

So the answer to a different question compared to the one they asked is 225?

Blueraccoon · 01/08/2025 22:54

Sorry to be pedantic, but what do you mean you’ve applied for a Civil Service test?

Do you mean you’ve applied for a job with the Civil Service and you had to take a test?

If so, you need to get that right first

UsingAMansNameInAWomensWorld · 01/08/2025 22:55

Sharingaroomtinightthen · 01/08/2025 22:48

You do not start with 100%.

Yes, you do

Because the initial figure is 100% of what you're working up from

You start with 100% of the thing
Increase it by 200% to get 300%
Decrease that 300% by 75% to get 225% as the final amount

The Increase from 100% to 225% is 125%

So you are right

KillerMounjaro · 01/08/2025 22:56

murasaki · 01/08/2025 22:17

As i see it, the end of year one is 100%. Doesn't matter that it doubled in the previous year. You then treble it and take a quarter off that leaving 225%.

But that then means at the end it is 225% of the amount at the starting point. The question asks for the increase. It was 100% to start off with and now it’s 225%, so the increase is 125% (although I would have worked it out the same way the OP did).

Sharingaroomtinightthen · 01/08/2025 22:57

Blueraccoon · 01/08/2025 22:54

Sorry to be pedantic, but what do you mean you’ve applied for a Civil Service test?

Do you mean you’ve applied for a job with the Civil Service and you had to take a test?

If so, you need to get that right first

Test was clearly a typo for job.

First before what??

OP posts:
Bronze0 · 01/08/2025 22:57

Let’s break down the question step by step.

Given:

  • End of year 1: circulation doubled
  • End of year 2: circulation trebled
  • End of year 3: circulation fell by a quarter

We are asked:

What was the percentage increase from the end of year 1 to the end of year 3?

Step-by-step Calculation:

Assume the circulation at the start of year 1 is 100 (for simplicity).

End of Year 1:

  • Doubled:
  • 100 \times 2 = 200

End of Year 2:

  • Trebled from end of year 1:
  • 200 \times 3 = 600

End of Year 3:

  • Fell by a quarter:
  • 600 \times \left(1 - \frac{1}{4}\right) = 600 \times \frac{3}{4} = 450

Percentage increase from end of
Year 1 (200)
to end of
Year 3 (450)
:

\frac{450 - 200}{200} \times 100 = \frac{250}{200} \times 100 = 125%

🔴 But the question asks:

From the end of the first year to the end of the third year, and the options start at 150%, so there’s a misreading!

Wait — rereading the question carefully:

In one year the circulation doubled → Year 1
The next year circulation trebled → Year 2
Before falling by a quarter in the third year → Year 3

So:

  • Year 0: 100 (assumed)
  • End of Year 1: 100 × 2 = 200
  • End of Year 2: 200 × 3 = 600
  • End of Year 3: 600 × 0.75 = 450

Now, we are asked:

Percentage increase from end of Year 1 (200) to end of Year 3 (450)

So:

\frac{450 - 200}{200} \times 100 = \frac{250}{200} \times 100 = 125%

But 125% is not an option, and the smallest is 150%.

🔍 However — reading more carefully — the question might be asking from Year 0 to end of Year 3, not Year 1. Let’s re-check.

Let’s try
from the beginning
(start of Year 1) to
end of Year 3
:

  • Start: 100
  • After Year 1 (doubled): 200
  • After Year 2 (trebled): 600
  • After Year 3 (fell by 25%): 450

So from 100 to 450.

\frac{450 - 100}{100} \times 100 = 350%

So the increase is 350%

But 350% is not one of the answer choices either.

Let’s double-check exactly what it says in the image:

“What was the percentage increase in circulation of News Today from the end of the first year to the end of the third?”

✅ So yes — it’s from end of Year 1 to end of Year 3

Which is from 200 to 450 → percentage increase is 125%

➡️ There is a problem with the answer choices in the question.
125% should be an option, but the lowest is 150%, which is incorrect.

✅ Final Answer:

Percentage increase from end of Year 1 to end of Year 3 is 125%
None of the given answer options are correct.

Bronze0 · 01/08/2025 22:57

Chat GPT agrees with you!

LeopardPants · 01/08/2025 22:57

Some v dodgy maths on display here!!!! Agree with you OP. Clearly some mumsnetters don’t understand what percentage increase even means.

InWalksBarberalla · 01/08/2025 22:58

The answer is 125%. Somebody has stuffed up the question.

Bronze0 · 01/08/2025 22:59

LeopardPants · 01/08/2025 22:57

Some v dodgy maths on display here!!!! Agree with you OP. Clearly some mumsnetters don’t understand what percentage increase even means.

Yep - looking at the voting, 66% of MNetters can’t do the maths either! Scary.

cakeorwine · 01/08/2025 23:00

Let X = start of Year 1
End of year 1 = 2X
End of year 2 = 6x (tripled)
End of year 3 = 4.5x (reduced by 25%)

So we had 2X and now we have 4.5X

An increase of 2.5X.

2X = 100% of 2X
2.5X = 125% of 2X

k1233 · 01/08/2025 23:00

For 200 to increase to 450, it's increases 225%.

The math is
200 x 225/100
= 200 x 2.25
= 450

If you don't know the % increase then the math to find that out is 450/200. You'll get 2.25, which is 225%.

PhoenixReincarnated · 01/08/2025 23:00

123ZYX · 01/08/2025 22:19

is it definitely asking for the % increase or could it be asking what the end result is as a % of the starting figure? Are you able to share the exact wording of the question?

The question is in the photo in the OP

Negroany · 01/08/2025 23:01

150%

InWalksBarberalla · 01/08/2025 23:01

It's quite concerning how many people think you'll get an incorrect answer in by inserting numbers! The answer is 125% no matter which number you choose as a starting point for your working out!!

lucertola28 · 01/08/2025 23:01

Sharingaroomtinightthen · 01/08/2025 22:52

It’s maths, not judgement or whatever. I am right, they are wrong. That’s the nature of maths.

Well you think you are right based on how you interpreted the question, the test writer(s) and other people here think you are wrong based on how they interpreted the question.

Email them if you want to give them feedback that is up to you.

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