English
English in the 11+ is comprehension plus vocabulary plus grammar — in roughly that order of importance. The single highest-leverage thing a parent can do is build the habit of reading widely from Year 4. No amount of revision substitutes for a child who actually reads.
Comprehension
Most 11+ comprehensions test the same set of skills: literal retrieval, inference, vocabulary in context, author's craft, and personal response. The difficulty isn't usually the question itself — it's the speed at which children must read a passage, work back through it for evidence, and write a clear answer. Train this by always reading the passage twice, with a pencil marking up anything tricky, before looking at the questions.
- Literal retrieval (find and copy)
- Inference (read between the lines)
- Vocabulary in context
- Word-class / parts of speech
- Author's purpose and tone
- Effect of figurative language
- Personal response with evidence
- Compare/contrast across paragraphs
Vocabulary
Vocabulary is the single biggest score lever in CEM-style English and a major one in GL. The aim isn't to memorise word lists — it's to encounter words in context often enough that the meaning sticks. Subscribe to a children's newspaper, read challenging fiction, and discuss new words at the dinner table.
Synonyms
Closest in meaning. Watch for register — "happy" vs "elated" vs "gleeful" matter.
Antonyms
Opposites. Beware near-antonyms (e.g. quiet vs loud, not quiet vs angry).
Word families
Cluster around roots — generous / generosity / regenerate / degenerate.
Grammar & punctuation (SPaG)
Knowing word classes and clause structures helps children answer faster and with more precision. Drill the Year 5/6 SPaG content from the National Curriculum: word classes, phrases vs clauses, the four sentence types, direct speech punctuation, apostrophes for contraction and possession.
- Word classes (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction, determiner)
- Main vs subordinate clauses
- Direct speech punctuation
- Active vs passive voice
- Apostrophes (contraction + possession)
- Subjunctive mood (e.g. "If I were…")
Free practice: 200 English worksheets covering every topic above.
Open English worksheets →Maths
11+ Maths is the Year 5/6 National Curriculum tested at speed — the topics are familiar, but the time pressure is real. Most children lose marks not because they can't do the maths, but because they can't do it fast enough with full confidence. Mental Maths and times tables fluency are the foundation; problem-solving structure is the lever.
The non-negotiables
A child who has these solid scores well across every 11+ Maths paper. A child who doesn't will struggle no matter how much problem-solving prep they do.
- Times tables to 12 × 12 — instant recall
- Place value to millions and decimals
- The four operations — written + mental
- Fractions of amounts (½, ¼, ⅓, ⅗ etc.)
- Decimal–fraction–percentage equivalence
- Mental rounding to nearest 10/100/1000
- Reading clocks and 24-hour time
- Money — change, totals, decimal pence
Topics that come up every year
Number
Negative numbers, factors, multiples, primes, square & cube numbers, BODMAS.
Ratio & proportion
Sharing amounts, scaling, simple direct proportion.
Algebra (basics)
Letter-for-number, missing-number puzzles, simple linear sequences.
Geometry
Angles in shapes, lines of symmetry, nets of 3D shapes, perimeter and area.
Statistics
Reading tables, bar charts, pie charts, line graphs; basic probability.
Measurement
Metric conversions, time intervals, area of compound shapes.
Problem-solving — the four-step plan
Word problems are where 11+ Maths really separates pupils. Teach a deliberate four-step approach: Read carefully → Underline what's asked → Pick the operation → Sanity-check the answer. A child who follows the four steps reliably will gain 3–4 marks per paper over a child who jumps to compute.
Free practice: 200 Maths worksheets organised by topic and tier.
Open Maths worksheets →Verbal Reasoning
Verbal Reasoning rewards pattern recognition speed. GL Assessment uses 21 recognised question types — once a child can name the type, they can apply the method. CEM mixes question types together within a paper, so children must switch modes quickly. Both formats reward a strong vocabulary on top.
The 21 GL question types
Drilling these by name is faster than drilling at random — the brain spots the type, recalls the method, and moves on. Group them into four families when revising.
Letters & codes
Letter sequences · Letter analogies · Letter connections · Move a letter · Letters for numbers · Word codes · Number codes
Word puzzles
Hidden words · Closest in meaning · Opposite in meaning · Compound words · Two words most similar · Two words most opposite · Make a word
Number & logic
Make a number · Number series · Insert a number · Number analogies
Reasoning
Odd one out · Word relationships · Complete the sentence
Five-minute drills that move scores
- Daily 10 letter-code questions, timed for 5 minutes
- Vocabulary sprints — match 10 synonyms in 2 minutes
- Hidden-words: read newspaper headlines, hunt 4-letter words across joins
- Compound-word matching — list × list grid in 90 seconds
- Odd-one-out — explain why out loud, not just pick
- Make-a-word from random 7-letter scrambles, 90 seconds each
Free practice: 200 VR worksheets across all 21 GL types.
Open VR worksheets →Non-Verbal Reasoning
Non-Verbal Reasoning tests spatial pattern recognition without language. Children either find it intuitive or struggle for weeks before it clicks — but in both cases, the trick is the same: look at one feature at a time. Shape first, then shading, then size or position. Never all three at once.
The five families of NVR question
Odd one out
Four shapes share a feature, one doesn't. Test shape, shading, size, count, rotation in order.
Series & sequence
Continue the pattern. Look at what's changing step-by-step.
Analogy
A is to B as C is to ?. Identify the transformation in the first pair, apply to the second.
Matrix
2×2 or 3×3 grid with one missing cell. Look across rows AND down columns.
Reflection / rotation
Flip in a line or rotate around a point. Always ask "where do the dots go?" first.
Cubes / nets / 3D
Which net folds into the given cube. Hard at first; practice makes a huge difference.
How to spot the pattern
The fastest improver in NVR is the verbalisation trick — get children to say out loud what they're looking at. "Square, white, small, dot in top-left." Naming the features forces conscious analysis instead of staring. Within a couple of weeks, they don't need to say it aloud — but the habit of analysis sticks.
- Shape: circle / square / triangle / pentagon / hexagon / arrow
- Shading: filled, outline, dotted, hatched
- Size: small / medium / large / scaling pattern
- Count: how many of each shape — does the count change?
- Rotation: by 45° / 90° / 180° / each step
- Position: inside / outside / above / below
Free practice: 250 NVR worksheets including matrix and 3D questions.
Open NVR worksheets →