"Which grew most?" has two correct answers depending on the question: the biggest absolute change (in units) or the biggest relative change (in %). Picking the wrong kind is a full mark lost with flawless arithmetic.
Large numbers produce large absolute changes; small bases produce large percentage changes. Whichever you compute first feels like 'the growth', and the options include winners of both rankings.
Classify the question before computing: does it ask for change IN £/units (absolute) or change AS a percentage/proportion (relative)? Words like 'fastest', 'rate' and '%' signal relative; 'most', 'increase in revenue' with units signals absolute. When in doubt, the options' format (units vs %) tells you which race is being run.
| Year | Revenue (£m) |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 620 |
| 2024 | 760 |
By what percentage did Carraway plc's Revenue change from 2023 to 2024?
Percentage change = (new − old) ÷ old × 100. Always divide by the original (earlier) value. The correct answer is 22.6%. Traps to avoid: 20.3% comes from the "base as average" error; 10.1% comes from the "wrong base total" error; 122.6% comes from the "ratio not change" error; 18.4% comes from the "inverted base" error.
This trap appears in 62 of our questions, across: Percentage change · Multi-year change · Index comparison · Per-unit change · Revenue change · Weighted average change.
The free diagnostic doesn’t just score you — it names the mistakes behind your wrong answers, this one included.
Find out — free test