Grade 6 (age 11-12)

grade 6 Percentage

A percentage says how much of the whole a part is when the whole is counted as 100; it is written with the sign % and read as percent. Divide the part by the whole and multiply by 100: get 15 out of 20 questions right and you scored 15 ÷ 20 × 100 = 75%. Test scores, discounts and humidity are all given as percentages, because turning amounts with different totals into percentages lets you compare them on one scale. In the first picture, shade a 100-square grid to a percentage; in the second, change the part and the whole and watch how far the bar fills.

What is a percentage?

💡 Comparing out of 100

①A percentage is the size of a part when the whole is counted as 100, so one square of the grid in the first picture is exactly 1%

②At the starting 45%, 45 of the 100 squares are shaded, and at 50% exactly half are

③25% is a quarter of the whole, 25 squares, and 75% is three quarters, 75 squares

④Test scores, discounts and humidity are everyday rates usually given as percentages

Percentage45%

Finding a percentage

Part35

Whole100

📊 How to find a percentage

①Percentage = part ÷ whole × 100

②At the start the part is 35 and the whole is 100, so 35 ÷ 100 × 100 = 35%, and the bar fills to the 35% mark

③Change the whole to 200 and the same 35 becomes 35 ÷ 200 × 100 = 17.5%, because the whole you compare with has grown

④When it does not come out exactly, the value above the bar is rounded and shown with ≈

Summary

Finding a percentage

Percentage(%) = PartWhole × 100

The size of a part when the whole is counted as 100

Fraction to percentage

34 = 0.75 = 75%

Turn the fraction into a decimal, then multiply by 100

🎯 At a glance

①Percentage = part ÷ whole × 100

②50% is half, 25% is a quarter, 75% is three quarters

③With a 30% discount you pay 70% of the original price

④Percentages let you compare amounts with different totals

⑤Decimal to percentage: × 100; percentage to decimal: ÷ 100

Examples & Unit Review

Example 1

You got 15 out of 20 questions right. What percentage did you get right?

Percentage = part ÷ whole × 100 = 15 ÷ 20 × 100.

15 ÷ 20 = 0.75, and 0.75 × 100 = 75, so 75%.

▸ 75%

Set the part to 15 and the whole to 20 in the second picture and the bar fills to the 75% mark.

Example 2

You ran 20% of an 800 m track around the playground. How many metres did you run?

Distance run = whole distance × share = 800 × 20/100.

800 × 0.2 = 160, so you ran 160 m. The rest is 80% of the whole, 800 × 0.8 = 640 m.

▸ 160 m

To use a percentage in a calculation, divide it by 100 to make a decimal or fraction, then multiply.

Unit Review

30 of 50 people voted yes. What percentage voted yes?

①60%

②30%

③50%

④20%

▸ ① 60%

Percentage = 30 ÷ 50 × 100.

30 ÷ 50 = 0.6, and 0.6 × 100 = 60, so 60%.

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Last updated 2026-10-17