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How to Prepare your Child for the 11+

The 11+ can be very daunting as it will be the first ‘proper’ exam that a pupil has ever taken. Giving your child a well-rounded education is key to their success as the 11+ tests their all-round ability.

It is a good idea to give your child access to practice assessments, particularly if your child is sitting a PRe-tests, GL Assessment or CEM examined tests. There are plenty of resources available for practice questions for CEM as well, but a solid understanding of the subject is more important as the types of questions on the paper are much more unpredictable.

Developing a wide vocabulary is important for any child sitting an exam in English or Verbal Reasoning. In order to encourage this, you can help your child by explaining the meanings of more complex words in context and general conversation, as well as encouraging them to read books beyond what they find ‘easy’. Ensuring that pupils understand synonyms and antonyms and can give multiple examples of each.

Time management skills are important for a child to learn within their education. Pupils at this age won’t be used to formal exam conditions and won’t have experienced the pressure to finish a test in a limited amount of time. To help them get used to this, have them do practice papers in timed conditions.