English
11+ English
The English test covers skills taught at Key Stage 1 and 2 such as reading and writing, punctuation, spelling and grammar. In the 11+, the texts and vocabulary your child will need to read and understand may be more challenging than what they have seen at school.
The child will be given one long text or two shorter texts to read, followed by a series of questions about what they have read. These texts could be fiction or non-fiction.
For spelling and punctuation questions, the child will be asked to identify errors in a short text. In standard answer tests, they may also need to correct spellings or add punctuation marks to sentences.
For grammar questions, the child will need to choose the correct word from a list of options to complete a short text.
In some LAs, children do a writing task as part of their English test. They’ll have between 20 minutes and an hour to write an essay or short story. There is usually a choice of questions to answer.
Maths
11+ Maths
Your child will have studied Maths at both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, so they should already be familiar with the majority of the topics that come up in the 11+ Maths test. However, they might not have studied every topic at school yet, and the 11+ can also introduce some new types of question that may be unfamiliar.
The child may be asked to use addition, subtraction, multiplication or division (or a mixture of all four operations) to solve number problems. They may also have to use their knowledge of place value and rounding to solve number problems.
The child may be tested on their understanding of different numbers (e.g. prime numbers or square numbers) and their ability to recognise them. They may also be asked to work with ratios and proportions and use fractions, decimals and percentages.
The child will need to spot number patterns and be able to find the rule for a given number sequence. They might also be asked to work with algebraic expressions or equations. Number problems may also be in the form of written descriptions where they will need to interpret the information in the question to find the correct answer.
The child may be asked to find and interpret information in a table or a chart. They may be asked to spot why information is misleading. They may also be expected to calculate the mean.
The child may be tested on their understanding of the names and properties of 2D and 3D shapes. They could also be asked questions involving area, perimeter, volume and symmetry. They might be asked to use coordinates to find points on a grid and carry out transformations. They may also be asked to imagine shapes in different positions to solve visualisation problems.
The child may be asked to read scales and convert between different units. Questions on time may require your child to count on or back from one time to another and to understand both digital and analogue clocks.
The child may be asked to use their knowledge of two or more different 11+ Maths topics to work out the answer to a problem.
Verbal Reasoning
11+ Verbal Reasoning
11+ Verbal Reasoning questions are made up of words and/or numbers. They’re designed to test your child’s word knowledge, logic and basic maths skills. Verbal Reasoning is usually tested in combination with at least one other subject (Non-Verbal Reasoning, Maths or English).
These question types don’t appear on tests set by GL Assessment, but it’s still worth your child practising them as they provide a good introduction to the subject and may appear on other tests.
These questions involve changing words to make new words. There are seven ‘Key Question’ types in this group, as well as a number of other types. The ‘Key Questions’ are: Missing Letters, Move a Letter, Hidden Words, Find the Missing Word, Use a Rule to Make a Word, Compound Words and Complete a Word Pair.
This group of questions involves comparing words and understanding what they mean. There are five ‘Key Question’ types that appear on GL tests — Closest Meanings, Opposite Meanings, Multiple Meanings, Odd Ones Out and Word Connections.
This group of questions involves basic maths skills and accurate counting. There are five ‘Key Question’ types in this group — Complete the Sum, Letter Sequences, Number Sequences, Related Numbers and Letter-Coded Sums.
The final group of questions involves reading and interpreting information. There are five ‘Key Question’ types in this group — Letter Connections, Letter-Word Codes, Number-Word Codes, Explore the Facts and Solve the Riddle.
Non-Verbal Reasoning
11+ Non-Verbal Reasoning
11+ Non-Verbal Reasoning questions are made up of shapes and patterns instead of words or numbers. They’re designed to test your child’s problem-solving and spatial reasoning skills, but they also test basic maths skills (like symmetry, adding, subtracting and dividing). Non-Verbal Reasoning is usually tested in combination with at least one other subject (Verbal Reasoning, Maths or English).
The first group of questions involves finding the figure that is most like or most unlike some other figures. Question types in this group include Odd One Out, Find the Figure Like the First Two and Find the Figure Like the First Three.
The second group of questions involves finding the figure that completes a diagram. Question types in this group include Complete the Pair, Complete the Series and Complete the Grid.
The third group of questions involves finding out how a figure will look if it is rotated or reflected. Question types in this group include Rotate the Figure and Reflect the Figure.
The fourth group of questions involves working with 3D shapes and with 2D shapes that are folded. Question types in this group include 3D Rotation, 3D Building Blocks, 2D Views of 3D Shapes, Cubes and Nets, Fold Along the Line and Fold and Punch.
