I find the percentage questions really hard, how do I answer the questions that will come up in exams?

Percentages are a common way you can use maths in every day life. That's why, at GCSE level, there are a lot of questions that put the skills into the context of a real-life problem. Let's use an example,Nicky buys a blender. 20% VAT is added to the price of the blender so Nicky has to pay £180 in total. What is the price of the blender with no VAT added?It might help us to think in terms of percentages bigger than 100%. The cost on the price tag of the blender is unknown, this is 100% of the cost of the blender. But, there is a type of tax called VAT added to it, and the question tells this is 20% of the cost of the blender.So we have 20% + 100% = 120%. 120% of the cost of the blender is £180. If we think of the price as made up of 120 equal parts, we can find out how much the blender without tax would cost. So £180 divided by 120 = £1.50. Each little part costs £1.50. Then the original cost of the blender is 100% so 100 equal parts x £1.50 = £150. The price of the blender with no VAT is £150.