GCSE & IGCSE maths practice

Compound interest questions and answers

With compound interest, interest is added each year and then earns interest itself. Use a multiplier: amount after $n$ years $= \text{original} \times (1 + r)^n$ . Depreciation (losing value) works the same way with a multiplier less than 1.

8 questions · Foundation tier · Every answer is checked as you type it, with a full worked solution. Updated 27 Oct 2026.

Start the questions Compound interest calculator

Where compound interest comes up

GCSE (AQA, Edexcel, OCR)	Foundation and Higher: set up, solve and interpret growth and decay problems, including compound interest.
Cambridge IGCSE (0580)	Core and Extended: calculate with simple and compound interest (formulas are not given).

The method

Multiplier: 5% growth → 1.05; 15% depreciation → 0.85.
Value after n years = original × multiplierⁿ.
Interest earned = final − original.
How many years: keep multiplying until you pass the target.

Compound interest questions

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Warm-up

Question 1Warm-upFoundation

£1000 is invested at 5% compound interest per year. How much is it worth after 2 years?

Question 2Warm-upFoundation

£2000 is invested at 3% compound interest. What is it worth after 3 years, to the nearest penny?

Exam-style

Question 3Exam-styleFoundation

£5000 is invested at 2% compound interest for 10 years. What is it worth, to the nearest penny?

Question 4Exam-styleFoundation

£800 is invested at 6% compound interest for 2 years. How much interest is earned?

Question 5Exam-styleFoundation

A car worth £12 000 depreciates by 15% each year. What is it worth after 3 years?

Question 6Exam-styleFoundation

Which multiplier gives the value after 4 years of 3% compound interest?

Challenge

Question 7ChallengeFoundation

£1000 is invested at 10% compound interest. After how many whole years is it first worth more than £1500?

years

Question 8ChallengeFoundation

After 2 years at 5% compound interest, an investment is worth £1323. How much was invested?

Common mistakes

Multiplying by 1.05 × 3 instead of 1.05³.
Adding the same interest each year (that's simple interest).
Forgetting to subtract the original when asked for the interest only.

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Sources

The questions are our own. The “where it comes up” notes are from each board's published specification, checked on 26 October 2026:

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