Guide to verbal reasoning for eleven-plus (11+) exams

Whether your child is taking the GL Assessment or the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM) 11+ exam, they’ll come across verbal reasoning questions. That said, preparing for each exam board requires a different approach. Due to how the GL 11+ exam is developed, mock tests can be done with past year’s exams. The CEM, on the other hand, is known for not recycling past questions, and requires a more theoretical approach.

With all this, it’s worth mentioning that the most common exam board used for 11+ exams is GL Assessment. In the following article, we’ll cover a general overview of what to expect, regardless of exam board. In addition, you’ll find helpful links on where to find free resources. If you find this process becomes overwhelming, you might want to consider our 11+ course. While primarily focusing on the GL 11+ exam, our curriculum is applicable to other exam boards.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, read on to learn more about the following topics.

• What does 11+ verbal reasoning test?

• Typical verbal reasoning questions

• 11+ exams verbal reasoning preparation

•  Practicing for 11+ exams

What does 11+ verbal reasoning test?

Focused on problem solving, verbal reasoning primarily tests your child’s ability to read and understand vocabulary, among other language comprehension skills. In addition to words, numbers and symbols are presented in the context of decoding patterns. Therefore, your child must be adept in logic and problem solving for this part of the 11+ exams. It’s for this reason that the CEM 11+ exam relies heavily on theory and concepts, rather than answering specific questions. 

Typical verbal reasoning questions

When taking the 11+ exams, your child will encounter the following types of questions to test how they process written information.

• Vocabulary: synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, word grouping (and removing ones that don’t fit), and identifying patterns between words.

• Word patterns: unjumbling words and sentences.

• Word creation: creating new words by joining two words, changing one letter, or adding one letter. 

• Finding the missing letter or letters from one or two words.

• Decoding and sequencing with letters, numbers, and/or symbols.

• Finding which answer is true based on contextual information.

• Choosing the correct answer through deductive reasoning. 

• Understanding the letter or number described by a statement.

11+ exams verbal reasoning preparation

Since verbal reasoning heavily tests on reading comprehension, it goes without saying that the more books your child can read, the better. The key with this is to make sure they’re exposed to various writing styles. Through this process, the goal is to broaden your child’s vocabulary with a better understanding of how words are used in different contexts. 

In addition to this, you’ll want your child to practice logic and reasoning with interactive puzzles and games. This can be as simple as having them complete crossword puzzles. If time allows, you can make a weekly habit out of playing logic-based board games together, think Chess, Battleships, Backgammon. Work with what you have on hand, there’s no need to go out and get games for this purpose.

Practicing for 11+ exams

As mentioned in the introduction, practicing for either the CEM or GL Assessment 11+ exam is slightly different. Regardless of which one your child will take, we’ve compiled an article on free resources for 11+ exams. It covers all you need to know on where to find the best guides to help your child succeed. One of our favourites is the 11 Plus Guide. It even has examples of past CEM 11+ answers. 

We’d also like to remind you of our 11+ exam course, pointed out earlier. This is especially true if you’re pressed for time and can’t add more to your busy schedule. If this seems like a good option, feel free to sign up on our website.