Currency Conversion & Units
Dr. Davinder Bhachu & Nick Featherstone
Teachers
Contents
Introduction - Currency Conversion & Units
How do I do currency conversions?
Amount in New Currency = Amount in Original Currency x Exchange Rate.
Example
What is in USD?
Why are currency and unit conversions tested in the UCAT?
Conversions are something that students typically find challenging and can help distinguish top-performing candidates.
Explainer Video
Filmed by our Maths department, this video walks through currency and unit conversions from first principles.
Worked Examples
Question 1 - Easy
Liam is traveling from the UK to Italy and wants to buy euros. The exchange rate is: At the airport, there's a commission fee applied to the amount exchanged.
Liam exchanges .
How many euros does Liam receive after the commission is applied?
Answer
Worked solution
Commission of
Total exchanged
Convert to euros
Question 2 - Medium
An event agency is promoting concerts in two countries: the UK and the USA. The table below shows the cost to run promotional banners of different sizes in each country’s main media outlets.
Advertisement Prices
The current exchange rate is . How much more does it cost in GBP to run two ads and one ad in the USA than to run four ads in the UK?
Answer
Worked Solution
USA Ads Total
Total
Convert to GBP
UK Ads Total
Difference
Question 3 - Hard
A UK-based design firm books a conference booth and catering in Canada and Japan, paying in GBP but dealing with CAD and JPY suppliers.
Exchange Rates:
They initially pay:
for the booth
for catering
Later, they cancel the catering and receive a refund, which is returned in GBP using the current exchange rate of .
There is a processing fee applied only to the refunded amount in GBP.
What is the final total amount paid in GBP after the refund and fee are accounted for?
Answer
Worked Solution
Booth in GBP
Catering in GBP
Refund (Catering in Canadian Dollars)
Convert to GBP
5% processing fee applied to refund =
Actual Refund received
Final amount paid
Worked Examples Video