Educational games for 11 plus (11+) preparation

Games for number and mental maths

These help most with the mental arithmetic underneath the maths paper: adding, subtracting and multiplying quickly and accurately without reaching for a written method every time.

• Yahtzee for quick mental arithmetic under a bit of pressure.
• Monopoly for change-making, percentages and running totals.
• Dominoes for number bonds and pattern spotting.
• Darts for subtraction and running scores in your head.
• Sudoku puzzles for logical number placement and working systematically.

None of these covers the harder end of KS2 maths on its own, but quick, confident number facts leave more headroom for the real problem-solving in a maths paper.

Games for words and vocabulary

Vocabulary lifts comprehension and verbal reasoning alike, and it’s one of the hardest things to build through worksheets alone. Word games add to it without it feeling like revision.

• Scrabble for vocabulary and spelling under a bit of constraint.
• Bananagrams for quick word-building without the scoring slowing things down.
• Boggle for spotting words fast, a useful habit for comprehension too.
• Articulate for quick definitions and description: good practice for explaining what a word means, rather than just recognising it.
• Codenames for word association and precise vocabulary, since a vague clue costs you in the game just as a vague word choice costs marks in a comprehension answer.

Games for logic and pattern spotting

Non-verbal reasoning rarely comes up at school, so games that build the underlying habits, spotting a rule, working through possibilities systematically, tend to earn their keep most of all here.

• Chess for sustained logical thinking and planning ahead.
• Draughts for a shorter, more accessible introduction to the same kind of thinking.
• Connect 4 for quick pattern recognition.
• Mastermind for logical deduction from limited information, close to what non-verbal reasoning questions ask for.
• Blokus for spatial thinking and fitting shapes together, useful for non-verbal and spatial reasoning.

A few of these double up: Mastermind and Connect 4 also touch the numerical side, and Chess or Draughts work just as well as a screen-free wind-down as they do as deliberate practice.

Top tips

• Keep games short and regular.
• Pick games that target whatever your child’s practice papers show as the weaker subject.
• Let your child choose sometimes. A game they enjoy gets played again.
• Keep some sessions as just a break; not everything needs to double as revision.
• Don’t let games crowd out timed practice papers closer to the exam; they belong around the routine rather than in place of it.
• Play alongside your child sometimes rather than only setting the game up and stepping away, so the session stays social rather than another task on their list.

How to prepare

One of the most effective ways to prepare for an 11+ entrance exam is to use practice tests written by experts. We publish a full range of 11+ revision resources: area and school-specific practice tests, subject-specific packs, spelling and vocabulary resources, and reading books.

Each of our practice tests:

• is available as a PDF download or in physical format
• familiarises your child with the types of questions they will face in the real exam
• includes answers to every question, with detailed, step-by-step explanations for the maths and reasoning questions
• builds your child’s confidence before the actual exam.

Use the finder below to jump straight to the papers for your child’s school or area.

Find papers for your school or area

Grammar schools and area tests

• Bexley
• Bishop Wordsworth’s
• Buckinghamshire
• CSSE
• Ermysted’s
• Gloucestershire
• Henrietta Barnett
• Kent
• QE Boys
• Redbridge
• Slough Consortium
• St Olave’s
• Sutton
• The Latymer School
• Tiffin School & Tiffin Girls’ School
• Trafford
• West Midlands

Independent schools

• City of London School for Girls
• Hampton
• Latymer Upper
• Merchant Taylors’
• St Paul’s Girls’ School
• St Paul’s Juniors