Civil Service Numerical Reasoning Test Data Interpretation Tables — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A government department's expenditure table shows the following quarterly spending (in £ thousands): Q1: £245, Q2: £312, Q3: £278, Q4: £365. What was the total annual expenditure?
- £1,200,000 (Correct answer)
- £1,100,000
- £1,150,000
- £1,250,000
Correct answer: £1,200,000
Adding all quarters: £245k + £312k + £278k + £365k = £1,200k = £1,200,000. When working with figures in thousands, remember to convert back to full values for the final answer.
Question 2: A staffing table shows Department A has 120 staff, Department B has 95 staff, and Department C has 85 staff. If Department B increases its headcount by 20%, how many staff will Department B have?
- 100
- 105
- 114 (Correct answer)
- 110
Correct answer: 114
20% of 95 = 0.20 x 95 = 19. Adding this to the original: 95 + 19 = 114 staff members.
Question 3: A table shows council tax collection rates across four boroughs: Northfield 94.2%, Eastdale 91.8%, Southmere 96.1%, Westbrook 89.5%. What is the range of collection rates?
- 4.3 percentage points
- 6.6 percentage points (Correct answer)
- 5.9 percentage points
- 7.2 percentage points
Correct answer: 6.6 percentage points
The range is the difference between the highest and lowest values: 96.1% minus 89.5% = 6.6 percentage points. The range measures the spread of data.
Question 4: A departmental budget table shows: Salaries £4.2m, IT £1.8m, Estates £2.1m, Travel £0.6m, Training £0.3m. What percentage of the total budget is spent on IT?
- 18%
- 22%
- 20% (Correct answer)
- 15%
Correct answer: 20%
Total budget = £4.2m + £1.8m + £2.1m + £0.6m + £0.3m = £9.0m. IT as a percentage: (£1.8m / £9.0m) x 100 = 20%.
Question 5: A table shows Freedom of Information requests received by a department: 2022: 1,450; 2023: 1,682; 2024: 1,935. What is the approximate percentage increase from 2022 to 2024?
- 29.5%
- 33.4% (Correct answer)
- 25.8%
- 38.1%
Correct answer: 33.4%
Increase = 1,935 minus 1,450 = 485. Percentage increase = (485 / 1,450) x 100 = 33.4% (to one decimal place).
Question 6: A performance table shows five teams' output scores: Team 1: 87, Team 2: 92, Team 3: 78, Team 4: 95, Team 5: 83. What is the mean score across all teams?
- 85
- 87 (Correct answer)
- 89
- 91
Correct answer: 87
Mean = (87 + 92 + 78 + 95 + 83) / 5 = 435 / 5 = 87. The mean is the sum of all values divided by the number of values.
Civil Service Numerical Reasoning Test Data Interpretation Tables
A government department's expenditure table shows the following quarterly spending (in £ thousands): Q1: £245, Q2: £312, Q3: £278, Q4: £365.
What was the total annual expenditure?