VA Math // Worked Example
Why 50% Plus 30% Does Not Equal 80%
If 50 plus 30 looks like 80, the whole-person rule is about to wreck that shortcut. The second percentage hits only what remains after the first rating does its damage.
01 // First rating
The first 50 takes half the board off the table.
Start with the highest rating: 50 percent. Under the whole-person model, 50 percent remains unaffected for the next calculation. The next rating does not get a fresh 100 just because that would be easier.
02 // Second rating
The 30 percent only gets what survived the first hit.
Thirty percent of the remaining 50 is 15. Add that 15 to the first 50 and the combined value is 65.
The official table reaches the same 65 combined value at the intersection of 50 and 30.
03 // What the result means
Final answer: 70. Not 65. Definitely not 80.
Section 4.25 converts the final combined value to the nearest number divisible by 10, with final values ending in 5 adjusted upward.
This is why adding the printed percentages will often overstate the combined rating and why stopping at the raw value will understate or misstate the final rounded evaluation.
Source rack
Trust, but verify. Mostly verify.
These official sources carry the factual load. Rules and public guidance change; screenshots and confident strangers do not receive automatic grandfather status.