The given table shows the percentage of students passing out of college M over five years. What is the percentage increase in the number of students passing out of college M in the year 2022 as compared to the previous year?

Correct — C. The year before 2022 in this table is 2021, so those are the two figures to use.

2021 = 80 and 2022 = 92
Increase = 92 − 80 = 12

Percentage increase = increase ÷ original × 100
= 12/80 × 100

= 1200/80 = 15% → option (c)

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  10% — 10% of 80 is 8, which would put 2022 at 88. The table reads 92, and a rise of 12 is not a tenth of 80.
• (b)
  25% — 25% of 80 is 20, giving 100. For 92 to be a 25% rise the 2021 figure would have to be 73.6, and the table says 80.
• (d)
  20% — 20% of 80 is 16, giving 96 — above the 92 in the table. The base to divide by is 80, and 12/80 is 15%, not 20%.

Percentage increase always divides the rise by the earlier value:

increase % = (new − old) ÷ old × 100.

Here old = 80 for 2021 and new = 92 for 2022, so 12/80 × 100 = 15%.

Divide by the new value instead and you get 12/92 ≈ 13.04%, a figure no option carries — so a wrong base leaves you stranded rather than tempted, and the option set gives you no hint that the base was the mistake.

Key facts

• College M reads 68 in 2018, 72 in 2019, 40 in 2020, 80 in 2021 and 92 in 2022.
• The 2021 to 2022 rise is 12 on a base of 80, which is 15%.
• A rise of 12 points from 80 to 92 is a 15% relative increase, not a 12% one.

Common traps

• Dividing the rise of 12 by the 2022 value of 92 rather than the 2021 value of 80
• Treating a 12-point rise as a 12% rise
• Taking the previous year as 2020, whose value of 40 is the odd one in the column

No directly related past PYQ was found.