Loading…
Compound interest builds on percentage multiplier methods to model growth and decay over time. Students apply repeated percentage change to financial contexts, population growth, and depreciation problems.
Tier
Exam Board
No questions match the current filters for Compound Interest.
Students make these errors again and again. Knowing them in advance gives you a head start.
Using simple interest calculations instead of compound (multiplying by n instead of raising to the power n)
Forgetting that a 3% increase uses a multiplier of 1.03, not 0.03
Not reading whether the question asks for the total amount or just the interest earned
Insights pulled from Cambridge IGCSE (0580) examiner reports — the exact mistakes candidates make every year.
For train-crossing-bridge problems: (1) Total distance = train length + bridge length, (2) Convert all units to be consistent (all metres + seconds, or all km + hours) BEFORE calculating.
Source: CIE 0580 · Feb/March 2024 · Paper 2 · Q14
If 5/13 are sold, then 8/13 remain. Set the remainder (96) equal to the remaining fraction (8/13 of total), not the sold fraction. A decimal answer in a whole-number context should alert you to an err
Source: CIE 0580 · Feb/March 2021 · Paper 1 · Q13
Percentage profit = (profit / COST PRICE) × 100 — divide by COST, not selling price. Profit = selling − cost. This is the most-missed type of percentage question.
Source: CIE 0580 · May/June 2021 · Paper 3 · Q1f(i)
Based on 3of 500+ insights extracted from CIE 0580 examiner reports (2018–2024).
This topic appears in the Cambridge IGCSE past papers. Our AI tutor can help with it on any question.
Useful for this topic:
Finding percentages of amounts is one of the most practical maths skills students learn. This includes calculating discounts, tax, tips, pay rises, and other real-world percentage applications that appear heavily in exam contexts.
Percentages link directly to fractions and decimals and are tested extensively across Cambridge IGCSE papers. Questions range from simple percentage-of-an-amount calculations to reverse percentages and repeated percentage change problems.
Index laws are a key algebra and number skill. Students must also handle negative indices, making this a topic that bridges number work with algebraic manipulation.
Online Maths Olympiad preparation opens doors to advanced problem-solving skills and mathematical thinking. This guide explores effective resources and strategi
Exam PreparationCambridge publishes a free examiner report for each IGCSE maths series, showing where students lost marks. Here is how to use them for targeted revision.
Take our free diagnostic quiz to find out exactly where you stand, then practise ratio, proportion & rates of change with our AI tutor.
Ratio, proportion, and percentage formulae