Numerical Reasoning
What the numerical section asks
Numerical Reasoning tests calculation and data interpretation at recruit level: percentages, ratios, averages, rates, unit conversions, and tables. You must choose the one correct answer, often after two steps, and work without a calculator unless the instructions say otherwise.
Core rules
- Convert everything to the same unit before calculating: minutes to hours, cents to euros, grams to kilograms.
- Percentage change = (new − old) ÷ old × 100. A drop from 80 to 60 is a 25% fall, not 20%.
- Percentage points are not percentages: 40% to 45% is +5 percentage points but +12.5%.
- For ratios, find one part: total ÷ sum of parts, then multiply.
- Weighted averages need group sizes; averaging two averages is wrong unless the groups are equal.
- Read table titles, row labels, and total rows before calculating; totals may already include subtotals.
Worked example
18 recruits pack 540 kits in 3 hours. At the same rate, how many kits do 12 recruits pack in 5 hours? Rate per recruit per hour = 540 ÷ (18 × 3) = 10 kits. Output = 12 × 5 × 10 = 600 kits. Scaling both factors gives the same result: 540 × (12/18) × (5/3) = 600. Mixing the ratios incorrectly produces 360 or 900.
Traps
Misreading "remaining" vs "original"; adding percentage changes instead of compounding; using the wrong base in a percentage increase; ignoring that a table's total may be in thousands; and rounding too early. Keep full values until the final line.