How to improve your child’s 11 Plus (11+) verbal reasoning

Three things have to work together

• Vocabulary. Synonyms, antonyms and shades of meaning fill a large part of the paper, and no method compensates for not knowing the word.
• Spelling. Word puzzles, missing letters and compound words all depend on your child spelling accurately in their head.
• Method. Codes, letter sequences and logic questions each have a procedure, and working it out fresh every time is what runs the clock down.

Speed sits over all three. Verbal reasoning papers usually allow well under a minute per question, so a method that gets the right answer in two minutes still loses marks. Accuracy comes first in practice; speed is added once the method is secure.

Building the methods at home

Work on one question type at a time until it is secure, then mix. A full mixed paper every week from the start tends to leave every question type equally shaky.

• Pick one type and do ten together, talking the method through out loud on the first two.
• Have your child write the method down, one index card per question type, in their own words.
• Run vocabulary daily. Ten minutes a day, using our 11+ vocabulary list and vocabulary guide.
• Let them write the alphabet at the top of the page. Letter codes and sequences get much easier with it in front of them; check whether the real exam allows it.
• Bring in the clock last, once answers are reliably right without it.

If your child’s spelling is shaky, run our spelling guide alongside the verbal reasoning work rather than after it, because the word-based questions draw on both at once.

Top tips for your child

• Read the instruction line every time, even when the question type looks familiar. Papers change the wording deliberately.
• For letter codes, work out the move from the first pair before you look at the options.
• For odd one out, say to yourself the rule the other words share; don’t hunt for the word that feels wrong.
• If a question is taking more than about a minute, mark it and move on. One stubborn question can cost you three easy ones.
• In multiple choice papers, check your answer is among the options before filling anything in. If it isn’t there, the method slipped somewhere.
• Never leave a blank. An informed guess is always worth making.

The usual mistakes

Lost verbal reasoning marks are rarely random. The usual patterns:

• Guessing at an unfamiliar word instead of using the answer options to narrow it down.
• Miscounting letters in code and sequence questions, usually because the alphabet was being run from memory.
• Answering the expected question rather than the printed one, which happens most when a familiar type arrives in new wording.
• Spending too long on one hard question and never seeing the end of the paper.
• Practising only mixed papers, which report the score but hide the weak question type behind it.

How to prepare

Verbal reasoning practice has two jobs: teach the methods, then build speed. Our Verbal Reasoning Boost series works through the question types with the methods written out, and the verbal reasoning packs give timed practice once your child knows what they’re doing. Spelling and vocabulary material alongside is what lifts the score on the word-based questions, and those are the largest group in most papers.