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Year 6

Use knowledge of calculating common percentages of a number to solve problems in a range of contexts

I can use common percentages of a number to solve problems.

icon-background-square
New
New
Year 6

Use knowledge of calculating common percentages of a number to solve problems in a range of contexts

I can use common percentages of a number to solve problems.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division can be used to calculate a new percentage from known percentages.
  2. For example, if I know 10% of a number, I can halve it to find 5%
  3. If I know 10% and 5% of a number, I can add them to find 15%

Keywords

  • Efficient - Efficient means working in an organised way without wasting time or effort.

  • Percentage - A percentage is a proportion of a whole.

Common misconception

Pupils may find calculating 75% of a number difficult.

First focus on teaching one strategy for finding 75% of a number. Pupils may find it easiest to add 50% and 25% together. Show representations of this (e.g. bar models showing the proportion of the whole) alongside calculations.


To help you plan your year 6 maths lesson on: Use knowledge of calculating common percentages of a number to solve problems in a range of contexts, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Pupils need to be familiar with finding 50% and 10% of an amount before accessing this lesson. Throughout, make links between percentages and fractions explicit to support calculation (e.g. 10% is equal to one-tenth, 75% is equal to three-quarters).
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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the percentages and fractions that are equivalent.
Correct Answer:50%,$$ {1} \over {2} $$
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$$ {1} \over {2} $$

Correct Answer:10%,$$ {1} \over {10} $$
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$$ {1} \over {10} $$

Correct Answer:1%,$$ {1} \over {100} $$
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$$ {1} \over {100} $$

Q2.
100% of a number is 240 Use this to match the percentages to the value.
Correct Answer:1% of 240,2.4
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2.4

Correct Answer:50% of 240,120
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120

Correct Answer:10% of 240,24
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24

Q3.
One of the stages of the Tour de France race is 205 km long. Match the percentage of the race to the number of km.
Correct Answer:100% of 205 km,205 km
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205 km

Correct Answer:50% of 205 km,102.5 km
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102.5 km

Correct Answer:10% of 205 km,20.5 km
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20.5 km

Correct Answer:1% of 205 km,2.05 km
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2.05 km

Q4.
A rider has completed 50% of a different stage of the race. If they have ridden 88 km, what is the length of the whole race? km
Correct Answer: 176
Q5.
If 100% of a number is 110, what is 1% of the number?
Correct Answer: 1.1
Q6.
If 10% of a number is 46.5, what is 100% of the number?
Correct Answer: 465

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the fractions and the percentages.
Correct Answer:one-half,50%
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50%

Correct Answer:one-quarter,25%
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25%

Correct Answer:one whole,100%
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100%

Correct Answer:three-quarters,75%
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75%

Q2.
What is one half of 50%? %
Correct Answer: 25
Q3.
Find 25% of these numbers.
Correct Answer:25% of 100,25
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25

Correct Answer:25% of 88,22
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22

Correct Answer:25% of 200,50
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50

Correct Answer:25% of 160,40
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40

Correct Answer:25% of 140,35
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35

Q4.
75% is three one-quarters or $$ {3} \over {4} $$ so what is 75% of 240 km? km
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: 180
Q5.
Use this fact to calculate other percentages. 100% is 120 km
Correct Answer:50 % of 120 km,60 km
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60 km

Correct Answer:10% of 120 km,12 km
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12 km

Correct Answer:70% of 120 km,84 km
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84 km

Correct Answer:20% of 120 km,24 km
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24 km

Correct Answer:5% of 120 km,6 km
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6 km

Q6.
If 100% is 250 km, use an efficient method to find 20% of 250 km km
Correct Answer: 50