A quant plan for LIC AAO

Quant matters twice in LIC AAO. In the prelims, Quantitative Aptitude is 35 questions in 20 minutes, and it is one of the two sections used for shortlisting. In the mains, Data Analysis & Interpretation is 30 questions worth 90 marks, three marks each, in 40 minutes. Almost every question in both ends in the same few operations: percentages, ratios, averages and division. That is why this plan starts with calculation speed, not topics.

What the two sections demand

The minimums are floors, not targets. The 2025 UR prelims cut-off was 58 out of the 70 marks from Reasoning and Quant. That is roughly 29 correct in each section.

Topic priorities

A six-week order

The calculation shortcuts that pay off most

These five habits save seconds on almost every question, including DI.

• Split percentages. 35% = 30% + 5%, and 5% is half of 10%. Work from 10% and 1%, which need only a shifted decimal point.
• Know fraction–percentage pairs. 1/8 = 12.5%, 3/8 = 37.5%, 1/6 ≈ 16.67%, 1/7 ≈ 14.29%, 1/9 ≈ 11.11%, 1/11 ≈ 9.09%. Division by 8 or 7 then becomes a percentage you already know.
• Compare fractions by cross-multiplying. For a/b and c/d with positive numbers, a/b > c/d exactly when a × d > c × b. It works because multiplying both sides by b × d, a positive number, does not change the direction of the inequality.
• Average by deviation. Pick a base near the middle, average the differences and add. The differences are small, so the arithmetic is small.
• Successive change. A change of a% followed by b% is a net change of a + b + (a × b)/100 per cent. It comes from (1 + a/100)(1 + b/100) = 1 + (a + b)/100 + ab/10,000.

Worked examples

Example 1. Find 35% of 640.
10% of 640 = 64, so 30% = 192.
5% is half of 10% = 32.
35% = 192 + 32 = 224.

Example 2. Which is larger, 47/68 or 53/77?
Cross-multiply: 47 × 77 = 3,619 and 53 × 68 = 3,604.
3,619 > 3,604, so 47/68 is larger. As a check, 47/68 ≈ 69.1% and 53/77 ≈ 68.8%.

Example 3. Sales rose from 1,250 units to 1,450 units. Find the percentage increase.
Increase = 200. Percentage = 200 ÷ 1,250 × 100.
Since 1/1,250 = 0.08%, 200 × 0.08 = 16%.

Example 4. Find the average of 42, 47, 51, 38 and 52.
Take 45 as the base. Deviations: −3, +2, +6, −7, +7. Their sum is 5.
5 ÷ 5 = 1, so the average is 45 + 1 = 46. Check: the sum is 230, and 230 ÷ 5 = 46.

Example 5. A price rises by 20% and then falls by 10%. Find the net change.
20 + (−10) + (20 × −10)/100 = 10 − 2 = 8% increase. Check: 100 → 120 → 108.

Example 6. A DI-style question. A branch sold 480 policies in 2024 and 560 in 2025. In 2025, 3/8 of the policies were term plans. (a) By what percentage did sales rise? (b) How many more term plans would have made term plans half of 2025's policies?
(a) Increase = 80. 80 ÷ 480 = 1/6 ≈ 16.67%.
(b) Term plans = 3/8 × 560 = 210. Half of 560 = 280. So 70 more were needed.
Knowing 1/6 ≈ 16.67% and 3/8 = 37.5% turns both parts into quick mental steps.

Daily drills: 15 minutes

• Ten simplification or approximation questions, timed.
• Five mental percentage or fraction comparisons.
• From week 5, one DI set in about six minutes.

Record your time for each drill. The number should fall week by week. If it does not, slow down and work on accuracy first; speed follows accuracy, not the other way round.

Choosing questions in the exam

Prelims, 20 minutes: simplification and approximation first, then series and quadratics, then one DI set with clean numbers, then arithmetic you recognise at a glance. Skip any word problem that needs a second reading to understand. In the final minute, with no negative marking, mark every remaining question.

Mains, 40 minutes: spend the first minute scanning every set. Start with the cleanest table or bar graph, leave calculation-heavy caselets for later, and give each set a time budget. A five-question set is worth 15 marks, so abandoning a stuck set is often the right call.

Common mistakes

• Doing topic practice for weeks but never timing a full DI set.
• Calculating exactly when the options are far enough apart to approximate.
• Staying with a DI set that has become slow because of time already spent on it.
• Reading "per cent of" as "per cent more than". 150 is 150% of 100, but only 50% more than 100.

Practice set

1. Find 45% of 380. 171. 10% = 38, so 40% = 152, and 5% = 19. 152 + 19 = 171.
2. Which is larger, 29/41 or 36/49? 36/49. 29 × 49 = 1,421 and 36 × 41 = 1,476. The larger product belongs to 36/49.
3. A figure falls from 1,600 to 1,360. Find the percentage change. 15% decrease. 240 ÷ 1,600 = 0.15.
4. A value rises 25% and then falls 20%. Find the net change. No change. 25 − 20 + (25 × −20)/100 = 5 − 5 = 0. Check: 100 → 125 → 100.
5. Find the average of 64, 71, 58, 69 and 73. 67. Base 65: deviations −1, +6, −7, +4, +8 sum to 10. 10 ÷ 5 = 2, and 65 + 2 = 67.
6. Find 125 × 48. 6,000. 125 = 1,000/8, so 48 × 1,000 ÷ 8 = 6,000.
7. Approximately, 49.8% of 3,202 ÷ 7.97 = ? About 200. 50% of 3,200 = 1,600, and 1,600 ÷ 8 = 200.
8. What percentage of 72 is 27? 37.5%. 27/72 = 3/8 = 37.5%.

What to do next

• Learn the fraction–percentage pairs and squares to 50 this week.
• Start the daily 15-minute drill and log your times.
• Work through simplification and approximation and number series next.
• From week 5, move to table DI for LIC AAO.