Difficulty: Rating: GCSE Marks:

GCSE Text:
Two competing garages are advertising their prices. Greg’s is a low cost garage with no frills, whereas Fred’s Luxury Garage has fancy seating, free refreshments and a more convenient location. Fred has decided to base his prices on Greg’s, to show customers that the additional cost is quite small. Below are the signs displayed outside the garages:

a) How much does Fred charge for a minor service?

b) How much does Fred charge for a minor service?

Suggestions:
A typical percentage increase/decrease question that could appear on a GCSE Foundation paper. Students would needs to be able to solve these without a calculator. Common mistakes are either in finding the right percentage, or forgetting to add it on to get the final price.  Usually students take between 6 and 10 minutes to answer this question.  As always with a high marks question, even if the answer is incorrect, marks would be awarded for:

• Correct calculation of 5% and/or 12% of Greg’s prices

Extension Ideas:
Teachers could extend the learning by considering:

• Fred is considering increasing his minor service premium to 10% above Greg’s. How much extra would this add to the price of Fred’s minor service?
• Simon’s Garage wants to be priced in between these two garages. Simon advertises that his minor services will cost 5% less than Fred’s minor service price, and that his major service will cost 12% less than Fred’s major service price. Explain why these are aren’t the same values as Greg’s prices.