11+ Verbal reasoning practice
Verbal reasoning tests how well your child thinks with words, letters and numbers: spotting hidden words, cracking letter codes, finding patterns and working out logic puzzles. It isn't taught in most schools, so learning the question types is the quickest way to improve.
Try Paper 1 free See sample questions
What the test covers
Verbal reasoning papers mix many short question types, each with its own instructions. Our questions fall into six groups:
- Vocabulary: Meanings, opposites, links and odd ones out.
- Spotting words: Hidden, missing and moved letters in words.
- Codes: Letter codes, number codes and word rules.
- Series: Number and letter patterns that continue.
- Number sums: Letter sums and balancing both sides.
- Logic: Reading facts and working out answers.
How our verbal reasoning papers work
There are 20 verbal reasoning papers, each with 80 multiple-choice questions to answer in 50 minutes. Between them they use 20 different question types, grouped into sections with a worked example at the start of each. Standard papers are pitched at a typical 11+ level; Challenging papers use harder vocabulary and longer codes.
Sample questions
Here is one question from ten different sections of Verbal Reasoning Paper 1. Read the instructions for each type, try the question, then open the answer.
Balance the sum
Which number makes the right-hand side come to the same total as the left-hand side? Work out the left-hand side first.
Example: 4 + 6 = 5 × [ ? ]. Answer: 2.
Show the answer
Compound words
Join one word from the left-hand brackets to one word from the right-hand brackets to make a single real word. Keep the left-hand word at the front.
Example: (foot pen hat) (ball lot rain). Answer: foot + ball (football).
Show the answer
Two meanings
Which word fits with both pairs? It has one meaning that suits the first pair and a different meaning that suits the second pair.
Example: (knot bind) (draw level). Answer: tie.
Show the answer
Number series
Which number should come next? Look at how the numbers change: you may need to add, subtract, multiply or divide, and some lines have two patterns taking turns.
Example: 5 9 13 17 [ ? ]. Answer: 21.
Show the answer
Problem solving
Read the information carefully, then choose the correct answer. It can help to jot the facts down as a list or a quick diagram.
Vera is not first or last.
George finished behind Yusuf.
Ayla is not first or last.
George came last.
George finished straight after Bea.
Vera finished ahead of Ayla.
Who came second?
Show the answer
Letter series
Which pair of letters comes next? Follow the first letters and the second letters separately. After Z the alphabet starts again at A.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Example: BZ CY DX EW [ ? ]. Answer: FV.
Show the answer
Letter codes
Use the alphabet to help you. Each question has its own code: see how far each letter has moved along the alphabet, then make the same moves.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Example: In a code, CAT is written as DBU. How is DOG written? Answer: EPH (every letter moves forward 1).
Show the answer
Hidden words
Each sentence hides a four-letter word. It starts inside one word and finishes at the start of the very next word, with its letters kept in order. Which two neighbouring words hide it?
Example: The dog ate my homework. Answer: dog ate (it hides gate).
Show the answer
Missing letter
One letter can go in every [ ? ]. At each gap it ends the word on its left and begins the word on its right. Which letter is it?
Example: ro [ ? ] ish ki [ ? ] ear. Answer: d (rod, dish, kid, dear).
Show the answer
Make a word
In the first group, the word in the middle is made from letters of the two outside words. Make the missing word in the second group in exactly the same way.
Example: (drum [rug] gap) (slip [ ? ] tan). Answer: lit (2nd and 3rd letters of the first word, then the 1st letter of the last word).
Show the answer
Tips for each skill
These are the same tips your child sees on the results page, next to the skills that lost them marks.
Vocabulary
Read widely and keep a notebook of new words with a synonym and an opposite for each. In meaning questions, try every word from the first group against every word from the second before choosing.
Spotting words
Say the letters out loud and try each option in turn rather than guessing from the look of the word. Word games like crosswords and anagrams at home build this skill quickly.
Codes
Write the alphabet across the top of your rough paper and mark how far each letter moves. For number codes, start with a number or letter that appears in the same place twice.
Series
Write the difference between each pair of numbers or letters underneath the series. If that does not show a pattern, look at every other term, as two patterns may be taking turns.
Number sums
Swap each letter for its number before you calculate, and work from left to right. Check your answer by putting it back into the sum.
Logic
Jot each fact down as a list, a line of names or a small table as you read. Only choose an answer the facts prove, not one that just might be true.
Questions parents ask
What is verbal reasoning?
It's a test of problem-solving with language. Children find words hidden across two other words, work out letter and number codes, continue sequences, find words with similar or opposite meanings, and solve short logic puzzles. It rewards a good vocabulary and careful, methodical thinking.
Can you practise for verbal reasoning?
Yes, and it helps more than for most subjects. Each question type has a method, such as writing the alphabet out for codes or checking every pair of words for meanings. Once your child knows the types, they stop losing time working out what a question is asking.
How many question types are there?
There isn't one official list, and different tests use different mixes. Our papers use 20 types between them, including the ones most 11+ tests set: codes, series, hidden words, missing letters, compound words, meanings and logic.
How can we build vocabulary for verbal reasoning?
Read widely, and keep a notebook of new words with a synonym and an opposite for each. Word games help too: crosswords, anagrams and word-chain games in the car all build the same skills the test uses.
Is Paper 1 really free?
Yes. Create a free account and your child can sit Paper 1 in every subject, as often as they like. The full pack is a single payment, and we give free places to families who can't afford it.
Try a full paper free
Create a free account and your child can sit the whole of Paper 1 in every subject, timed like the real test. It's marked straight away, with an explanation for every answer.