The moment pre-medical and arts students see "Mathematics — 5 marks" on the LAT syllabus, most of them make the same decision: I'll just guess these five and focus on the rest. It feels rational. It is, in fact, one of the most expensive mistakes in the whole exam.
Here is the reality. The LAT passing mark is 50 out of 100. Every year, students score 46, 47, 48 — and fail. The math section is not FSc calculus or trigonometry. The syllabus says "basic mathematics," and HEC means it: everyday arithmetic at roughly 8th-grade level. Five questions, five marks, each solvable in under a minute once you know the four core concepts. A student who scores 46 and skipped math didn't lose to a hard paper. They threw away their admission.
The 4 core concepts (this is the whole syllabus, practically)
Forget geometry, forget complex algebra. Past papers show HEC asks from the same four categories, year after year. Master these and the section is yours.
1. Percentages — the most tested topic
You will almost certainly be asked to find a percentage of a whole number. The method never changes: multiply the numbers and divide by 100.
Worked example
Q. What is 20% of 150?
20 × 150 = 3000. Then 3000 ÷ 100 = 30.
No-calculator trick: 10% of any number is just the number with one zero removed (10% of 150 = 15). So 20% is double that: 15 × 2 = 30. For 5%, halve the 10% value. You can build any percentage from 10% and 5% blocks in seconds.
2. Ratios and proportions
The classic question divides a total amount between people in a given ratio. The method: add the ratio numbers to get total parts, divide the total by total parts, then multiply by each person's share.
Worked example
Q. Divide Rs. 500 between Ali and Bilal in the ratio 2:3. What is Ali's share?
Total parts = 2 + 3 = 5. Value of one part = 500 ÷ 5 = 100. Ali's share = 100 × 2 = Rs. 200.
3. Age problems
These look confusing but are solved with simple addition and subtraction. The trick is to work backwards from the future age to the present age, then apply the difference.
Worked example
Q. A father is 30 years older than his son. In 5 years, the father will be 45. How old is the son now?
Father's age now = 45 − 5 = 40. Son's age now = 40 − 30 = 10 years.
4. BODMAS — the order of operations
BODMAS stands for Brackets, Orders (powers), Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction. It tells you the order in which to solve an equation — and HEC loves setting traps for students who just read left to right.
Worked example
Q. Solve: 10 + 10 × 0 + 10
Do not read left to right. Multiplication comes before addition: 10 × 0 = 0. Now the equation is 10 + 0 + 10 = 20. (The most common wrong answer is 10 — from students who add first.)
Formula table: everything you need on one page
| Concept | Formula / rule |
|---|---|
| Percentage of a number | (percentage × number) ÷ 100 |
| Number from its percentage | (given value × 100) ÷ percentage |
| Ratio division | Total parts = sum of ratio; one part = total ÷ total parts |
| Average | Sum of values ÷ number of values |
| Simple increase / discount | New value = old value ± (percentage × old value ÷ 100) |
| BODMAS order | Brackets → Orders → Division → Multiplication → Addition → Subtraction |
| Speed / distance | Distance = speed × time |
Three more question types you'll meet
Beyond the big four, past papers sprinkle in these — each takes one line of working once you've seen the pattern:
Averages
Q. The average of 5 numbers is 20. What is their sum?
Sum = average × count = 20 × 5 = 100. HEC loves this reversed framing — just flip the average formula.
Discounts
Q. A book priced at Rs. 400 is sold at a 10% discount. What is the sale price?
Discount = 10% of 400 = 40. Sale price = 400 − 40 = Rs. 360. Always compute the discount first, then subtract — students who try to do it in one step misplace zeros.
Speed and distance
Q. A car travels at 60 km/h for 2.5 hours. How far does it go?
Distance = speed × time = 60 × 2.5 = 150 km. The fastest mental route: 2 hours gives 120 km, plus half an hour gives 30 km — 150 total.
Notice the pattern: every one of these is a single formula applied once. LAT math never stacks two hard steps into one question. If a question looks complicated, you're overthinking it — step back, find the one formula it wants, and the numbers will be friendly.
No-calculator survival tips
Since calculators are banned, your hands and your head are the tools. Three habits make manual calculation fast and safe:
- Break numbers apart. 25% of 240? That's a quarter: 240 ÷ 4 = 60. 15% of 200? 10% (20) + 5% (10) = 30. Friendly fractions beat long multiplication every time.
- Cancel zeros early. In (20 × 150) ÷ 100, cancel a zero from 20 and 100 first: (2 × 150) ÷ 10 = 300 ÷ 10 = 30. Fewer digits, fewer mistakes.
- Estimate before you calculate. If the options are 30, 300, 3 and 3000, a rough estimate tells you the answer is 30 before you even finish the working. HEC options are usually far apart — use that.
Your one-evening math plan
You do not need a month for this section. You need one focused evening:
- Hour 1: Learn the four methods above. Solve 5 practice questions of each type with pen and paper — no phone calculator.
- Hour 2: Solve the math sections of 3–4 past papers. Circle any question type that slowed you down and redo it.
- Final 15 minutes: Memorize the formula table. Write it from memory once, check, repeat.
After that, just include 5 math questions in your weekly mixed drills until the exam. That is the entire investment for 5 marks — the best marks-per-hour ratio in the LAT.
On exam day
Do the math section when your concentration is high — many toppers do it right after English. Budget about 10 minutes for all 5 questions. Write the working in the rough space even for easy questions; under pressure, mental-only arithmetic is where silly mistakes happen. A thirty-second re-check of each answer — does the magnitude make sense? — catches most errors before you bubble the sheet. And if one question resists you, guess, mark it, and move on — there is no negative marking, and the subjective section needs your time more.
See every math question HEC has asked with step-by-step solutions on our mathematics past papers page, or drill them in timed mode in the MCQ practice section. The LAT360 full course adds a dedicated "Basic Math Hacks" video lecture that walks through each trick — details on the pricing page.