The Best Books to Begin Your 11+ Preparation

Author: Sam Wainwright

Categories: Blog, Revision

Date: September 24, 2021

With a seemingly endless plethora of 11+ practice material to pick from, it can be confusing to know which is the best to select for your child, especially when they are just beginning their 11+ preparation.

The first step is know which subjects your child should begin studying. The two core subjects for success in the 11+ are English and Maths, even in those areas where the 11+ only comprises Verbal Reasoning and/or Non-Verbal Reasoning. A wide vocabulary and accurate spelling are essential for Verbal Reasoning papers, and most papers also have mathematical questions on them which require a child to be secure in the basic operations of adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. Non-Verbal Reasoning papers require the child to have an awareness of shapes and to use logical deduction to follow a sequence. Although the relationship with everyday maths may seem tenuous, there are several mathematical skills that are applied in NVR, such as symmetry and a knowledge of 3D shapes.

Books

Books are the most common type of 11+ practice material used for home study. However, there are hundreds and hundreds of publications out there providing age specific practice material. Fortunately, you are not going to need to read all of them.

The usual approach is to start with the purchase of the official familiarisation papers, which in most UK regions would be Granada Learning Assessments Practice Papers (also known as GL-Assessment).

Parents should purchase GL-Assessment practice papers in the relevant subjects based on what the local schools test prospective students on and review the papers carefully. It is worth asking your child to attempt one or two papers just to gauge the suitability of the exams and to also use this as a benchmark going forward.

Note that GL-Assessment is not the only examining body; other common bodies include University of Durham Centre for Evaluating and Monitoring (CEM) and University of Edinburgh Moray House. Furthermore, the 11+ exams have many regional nuances whereby exams can be set by consortiums of schools (where each school takes turns to write papers) or papers may be set by the schools themselves. In some areas such as Essex some subjects are set by GLA-NFER whilst others are written by the consortium schools.

The next step for parents is usually to acquire practice question sets, workbooks and practice papers. For those looking for where to begin, here are our top four recommendations for our best English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-verbal reasoning books to kick start your child’s 11+ preparation. 

English: 11+ Essentials – English Mini Comprehensions: Fact-Finding Book 1

You can purchase this book here.

The book consists of 50 reading exercises, including 35 fiction passages and 15 nonfiction passages. Around 80% of the questions in an English exam focus on fact-finding, in which students have to find information directly stated in a given passage. The questions in this book are designed to test a child’s ability to extract explicitly stated information from the text to answer questions; this book will therefore provide a good foundation for success in longer comprehension exams by enhancing those core reading skills.

Maths: 11+ Essentials – Maths: Worded Problems Book 1

You can purchase this book here.

This book contains over 600 questions arranged by topic. It is split into easy, intermediate and advanced difficulty ratings so it is a great way for students to test their core skills and build their confidence before tackling more complex questions. 

Worded problems in maths exams test comprehension skills and a student’s ability to manipulate and understand data. This book allows children to develop fundamental maths skills for the 11+ as well as the useful skill of extracting relevant information from questions.

VR: 11+ Essentials – Verbal Reasoning: Grammar & Spelling Book 1

You can purchase this book here.

This book contains good broad practice for 10 different verbal reasoning question styles, including: Perfect the Grammar, Sentence Completion, Change a Letter, Left-Over Word, Shuffled Sentences, Spelling Error, Partial Words, Synonyms & Antonyms, and Sets of Synonyms. 

The book focuses on building a student’s vocabulary and knowledge of grammar and spelling, which are fundamental skills for success in a VR exam, whatever the exam board.

NVR: 11+ Essentials – 2-D Non-verbal Reasoning Book 1

You can purchase this book here.

This book introduces students to some of the core question styles of 2D non-verbal reasoning. There are 15 topic-based chapters, with each testing a different question style. Within each chapter there is an example question followed by 10 practice questions. Detailed answers and explanations are excellent for guiding students in what they should look for and focus on in these question styles.

 

Do you have some more questions or want to discuss the package that's right for you?