Stopping one step early
A multi-step question's intermediate result is almost always among the answer options. Computing the sum but not the difference, the total but not the share, the rearrangement but not the division — the work was right; it just wasn't finished.
Why your brain does this
Reaching A number releases the tension of the question, and under time pressure that feels like completion. Test writers harvest intermediate values as foils precisely because they know where you'll stop.
The fix
Re-read the question's last clause before answering — the actual ask usually lives there ("…per month", "…the difference", "…as a percentage"). Match units: if the question asks for £/month and your number is a raw total, you're one step short.
See the trap in a real question
| Year | £m |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 320 |
| 2022 | 320 |
| 2023 | 410 |
What was total revenue across the three years?
Add every value in the named row or column — include all periods, and don't average. The correct answer is 1,050. Traps to avoid: 730 comes from the "partial sum" error; 350 comes from the "mean not total" error; 1,370 comes from the "double count" error; 640 comes from the "partial sum" error.
Where it strikes
This trap appears in 59 of our questions, across: Totals · Share of hidden total · Fraction–decimal–percent · Rearranging formulas · Inequalities · Word problems.
Do you make this mistake?
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