11+ Practice Questions: What to Expect and How to Prepare

Understanding the 11+ Exam Landscape

The 11+ exam is one of the most significant academic assessments a child will face, determining entry to grammar schools, selective state schools, and many independent schools across England. Yet for many parents, the process is shrouded in uncertainty. What subjects are tested? What format do the questions take? How early should preparation begin? And perhaps most importantly, how can parents support their child without creating unnecessary pressure?

The answers depend partly on where you live, because the 11+ is not a single national exam. Different regions and school groups use different test providers, different formats, and different combinations of subjects. Understanding your local exam is the essential first step — preparing for the wrong test can waste months of effort. This guide covers the main types of 11+ questions, what to expect from each, and how to build a structured preparation plan.

The Main Test Providers and Formats

Three main organisations provide 11+ tests across England, and each has a distinctive style. GL Assessment (formerly Granada Learning) is used by many county grammar school systems, including Kent, Buckinghamshire, and parts of Warwickshire. GL tests typically cover English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning, and Non-Verbal Reasoning in separate papers or combined into two papers. The questions tend to be in standard format with multiple-choice answers.

CEM (Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, part of Durham University) is used by several grammar school regions including Birmingham, parts of Devon, and some Lincolnshire schools. CEM tests are deliberately less predictable — they mix subjects within papers, change their format from year to year, and are designed to be less "coachable." Students encounter passages of text followed by comprehension and vocabulary questions, interspersed with mathematical problems and non-verbal reasoning. The shuffled format means children need to switch between subject modes quickly.

Independent School Entrance Examinations (ISEB) and school-specific tests are used by many private schools. These typically include English (comprehension and creative writing), Maths, and sometimes Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning. Some prestigious schools set their own entirely bespoke papers, which means researching the specific school's requirements is essential.

Verbal Reasoning: What It Tests and How to Practise

Verbal Reasoning (VR) tests a child's ability to work with words and language in logical ways. Question types include finding synonyms and antonyms, completing word analogies (cat is to kitten as dog is to ?), identifying odd words out, solving letter-number codes, rearranging jumbled sentences, and filling in missing words in passages. Some GL Assessment VR questions involve more complex codes where children must deduce the code system from examples before applying it.

Vocabulary is the single biggest predictor of VR success. Children who read widely and regularly have a significant advantage because they've encountered a broader range of words in context. Encouraging reading — especially slightly above the child's comfortable level — is the most effective long-term VR preparation. Beyond reading, explicit vocabulary building through word games, daily word learning, and discussing unfamiliar words at the dinner table all help.

For the more logic-based VR questions (codes, sequences, letter patterns), systematic practice is key. Children should learn to approach these questions methodically — looking for patterns, testing hypotheses, and working through elimination when stuck. Timed practice is important because the 11+ is a time-pressured exam, and children need to develop the confidence to move on from difficult questions rather than getting stuck on one problem.

Common VR question types include: letter series (what comes next: A, C, F, J, ?), word-within-word (find a word hidden in a sentence), number-letter codes (if ABLE = 1234, what is BALE?), and compound words (which word can follow both FIRE and DOOR?). Each type has a specific strategy that can be taught and practised.

Non-Verbal Reasoning: Patterns and Spatial Thinking

Non-Verbal Reasoning (NVR) tests a child's ability to recognise and manipulate visual patterns without relying on language or mathematical skills. It's often described as a test of "innate ability," but in practice, familiarity with question types and systematic approaches can significantly improve scores. The main question types include finding the odd one out from a set of shapes, completing visual sequences, identifying which shape completes a pattern or analogy, and working with reflections, rotations, and spatial folding.

Many children initially find NVR confusing because the questions seem abstract. The key is teaching them to analyse shapes systematically: look at the number of sides, shading, size, orientation, position within a frame, and any internal patterns. By breaking complex figures into these individual elements, children can identify the rule being applied and predict the next figure in a sequence.

Spatial reasoning questions — such as identifying which 3D shape a flat net would fold into, or determining which of several shapes is a rotation of a given figure — require particular practice. Children who enjoy puzzles, construction toys, or strategy games often have a head start with these question types, but targeted practice with specific NVR question formats is still necessary.

Paper folding and punching questions (where a piece of paper is folded, a hole is punched, and children must identify what the unfolded paper looks like) test spatial visualisation. Matrix completion questions (filling in the missing square in a 3×3 grid where rows and columns each follow a rule) require analytical thinking. Both types reward methodical approaches and can be practised effectively.

English in the 11+

The English component of the 11+ tests reading comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, and grammar. In GL Assessment tests, English questions are typically multiple-choice comprehension questions based on a passage, alongside separate questions on spelling, grammar, and vocabulary. CEM tests integrate English into mixed papers, with comprehension passages followed by questions that test both understanding and vocabulary.

Reading comprehension at 11+ level requires more than surface-level understanding. Children need to infer meaning from context, identify the author's purpose and attitude, understand figurative language (metaphors, similes, personification), and distinguish between fact and opinion. Practising with texts from a range of genres — fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and journalistic writing — builds the flexibility needed for unfamiliar exam passages.

Vocabulary questions test both breadth and precision. Children might need to identify the meaning of a word from context, choose a synonym or antonym, or select the most appropriate word to complete a sentence. Building vocabulary through reading is ideal, but direct learning of word roots (Greek and Latin prefixes and suffixes) can also help children decode unfamiliar words. For example, knowing that "bene" means good (benefit, benevolent, benediction) and "mal" means bad (malfunction, malicious, malcontent) allows children to make educated guesses about words they haven't encountered before.

Some school-specific 11+ exams include creative writing, asking children to write a short story, continue a narrative, or write descriptively based on a stimulus. This tests imagination, vocabulary in action, and the ability to write in an engaging, structured way under time pressure. Regular creative writing practice, with feedback on technique and style, is the best preparation.

Maths in the 11+

The Maths component tests content up to and slightly beyond Year 5 level. Core areas include arithmetic (including with fractions, decimals, and percentages), algebra (simple equations and sequences), geometry (area, perimeter, volume, angles, properties of shapes), data handling (reading and interpreting tables, charts, and graphs), and problem-solving (multi-step word problems requiring mathematical reasoning).

Speed and accuracy are both important. Many 11+ Maths papers are time-pressured, and children need to calculate efficiently. Mental maths skills — rapid recall of times tables, quick addition and subtraction strategies, and confident handling of fractions — save precious seconds on every question. Children who still count on their fingers or use column methods for simple calculations will be at a significant disadvantage.

Problem-solving questions are where the 11+ Maths goes beyond school curriculum. These questions present mathematical situations in unfamiliar contexts and require children to identify which operations and concepts to apply. Typical examples include working out how many different ways to arrange objects, calculating costs with percentage discounts, finding missing angles in complex shapes, and interpreting data to make comparisons. Practising these types of questions — not just calculation drills — is essential.

Building a Preparation Plan

The most effective 11+ preparation is structured, consistent, and starts early enough to avoid last-minute cramming. For most families, beginning focused preparation in Year 4 (approximately 18 months before the exam) strikes the right balance. This allows enough time to cover all areas thoroughly without the preparation period dragging on so long that children become fatigued or resentful.

A balanced weekly schedule might include two or three short practice sessions (20-30 minutes each) covering different subjects, plus regular reading for pleasure and vocabulary building. Little and often is more effective than long weekend cramming sessions. Children's concentration spans are limited, and associating exam preparation with stressful marathon sessions is counterproductive.

Mock exams under timed conditions become important in the final few months before the exam. These help children build stamina, manage their time, and develop strategies for dealing with questions they find difficult (such as moving on and coming back to them). The first mock exam often produces anxiety, which is normal — the purpose is to experience and manage that anxiety before the real exam day.

It's equally important to maintain balance. Children preparing for the 11+ should still have time for hobbies, sport, socialising, and relaxation. The 11+ is not the only route to academic success, and children who are happy, rested, and confident will perform better than those who are exhausted and stressed. If preparation is causing significant distress, it's worth reassessing the approach or the goal itself.