Verbal Reasoning: Every 11+ Question Type Explained (With Free Examples)

GL-style 11+ papers draw their questions from a bank of 21 verbal reasoning question types, and a child who recognises all 21 on sight has already won most of the paper. This guide names every one of the verbal reasoning question types the 11 plus uses, gives a worked example with the answer and the method for each, and says which ones children find hardest. No paywall, no sign-up.

Why is verbal reasoning the paper primary schools never teach?

Because it is not on the curriculum. Verbal reasoning appears nowhere in the Department for Education's statutory programmes of study for English at key stage 2, so state primaries have no reason to teach it and almost none do. GL Assessment says so itself: its free familiarisation packs exist because children may not have encountered these types of questions before.

That is the source of the anxiety. Maths and English at least look like school. Verbal reasoning looks like a puzzle book written in code, and a bright child loses marks because nobody explained the question.

Download those first, then work through the types one at a time. If your child sits a GL paper in Birmingham, Trafford, Bradford or Gloucestershire, our guide to the GL Assessment 11+ format shows how verbal reasoning sits alongside the other three papers.

What are the 21 verbal reasoning question types in the 11 plus?

Grouped the way we teach them. Difficulty reflects what trips children up in lessons, not how complicated the question looks.

How do the six vocabulary question types work?

The marks a well-read child collects almost for free, and the reason reading beats drilling.

1. Closest in meaning. Pick one word from each group that are closest in meaning: (rapid, gentle, heavy) (quick, sour, tall). Answer: rapid and quick. Method: test all nine pairings rather than grabbing the first that feels right. Only one pair survives.

2. Opposite in meaning. Pick the most opposite pair: (ancient, hollow, gentle) (modern, curved, damp). Answer: ancient and modern. Method: 'related' is not 'opposite'. Reject pairs that merely sit on the same topic.

3. Two odd ones out. Which two do not belong? violin, cello, trumpet, viola, flute. Answer: trumpet and flute. Method: find the rule that covers three (stringed instruments played with a bow) and the odd ones name themselves.

4. Related words. Sole is to foot as palm is to (tree, hand, beach, finger, glove). Answer: hand. Method: say the link out loud first, 'the underside of'. Traps like tree and beach only catch children who skip it.

5. Word in the middle. Find the word that ends the first and starts the second: note (____) case. Answer: book. Method: list what can follow 'note', then test each against 'case'.

6. Double meanings. One word fits both sentences: 'We sat on the ___ of the river.' / 'Dad went to the ___ to pay in a cheque.' Answer: bank. Method: the sentences use different senses on purpose, so ask what else the word can mean.

How do the six word-building question types work?

Letter-level work. Children who can recite the alphabet backwards find these much faster.

7. Insert a letter. One letter ends the first word and begins the second: flo (?) ind. Answer: w, giving flow and wind. Method: start with the shorter list. Only b, f, h, k, m, r and w fit '_ind', and of those only w fits 'flo_'.

8. Same missing letter. One letter completes all four: _and, _all, _air, _ill. Answer: h, giving hand, hall, hair, hill. Method: work from the fussiest word. '_air' allows f, h, l and p; f and p fail at '_and', l fails at '_all', and h is left standing.

9. Compound words. One word from each group joins to make a real word: (shoe, tree, cloud) (lace, milk, spoon). Answer: shoelace. Method: try each left-hand word against all three on the right; nine attempts takes ten seconds.

10. Move a letter. Move one letter from the first word to the second so both stay real words: plant → cap. Answer: move the l, giving pant and clap. Method: remove each letter in turn and check the leftover is a word first.

11. Hidden word. A four-letter word hides across a word boundary: 'These attempts were not successful.' Answer: seat, spanning the join in 'theSE ATtempts'. Method: read the joins, not the words. Slide a four-letter window along the sentence.

12. Missing three-letter word. A three-letter word has been taken out of the capitalised word: 'The police began to SCH the building.' Answer: ear, giving SEARCH. Method: several fits exist on letters alone (S-TAR-CH, S-COT-CH), so the sentence decides, not the spelling.

How do the eight code, sequence and number question types work?

The most learnable group in the paper. Every one yields to a written method, which is why they reward practice over talent.

13. Letter series. What comes next? CE, FH, IK, LN, ___. Answer: OQ. Method: split the pair. First letters jump three each time (C, F, I, L, O), and so do the second (E, H, K, N, Q).

14. Letter connections. AD is to DG as HK is to ___. Answer: KN. Method: write alphabet positions underneath. A(1)D(4) becomes D(4)G(7), a shift of three on both letters, so H(8)K(11) becomes K(11)N(14).

15. Letter codes. If FROG is written HTQI, how is BIRD written? Answer: DKTF. Method: check the shift on every letter of the example, not just the first. Each letter moves forward two, so B→D, I→K, R→T, D→F.

16. Word–number codes. If RATE is 8241 and TEAR is 4128, what is RAT? Answer: 824. Method: write the letters above the digits (R=8, A=2, T=4, E=1), confirm on the second word, then read the new word off.

17. Letters for numbers. A=3, B=4, C=6, D=12, E=2. Work out D − C − E and write the answer as a letter. Answer: B. Method: substitute first (12 − 6 − 2 = 4), then convert back. Marks go every year to children who write '4'.

18. Number series. What comes next? 2, 5, 11, 23, ___. Answer: 47. Method: look at the gaps. They run 3, 6, 12, and doubling gaps point to a multiply rule: double and add one.

19. Complete the sum. 24 ÷ 4 + ___ = 7 × 2. Answer: 8. Method: finish the side you can (7 × 2 = 14), simplify the other (24 ÷ 4 = 6), and the gap answers itself.

20. Missing number. 9 [15] 4, 12 [21] 5, 10 [ ? ] 6. Answer: 12. Method: test simple operations on the first row, (9 − 4) × 3 = 15, then prove the rule on the second row, (12 − 5) × 3 = 21, before trusting it on the third.

How does the reading and logic question type work?

21. Reading information. 'Amara scored higher than Ben. Ben scored higher than Chloe. Dev scored lower than Chloe. Who scored lowest?' Answer: Dev. Method: turn the sentences into one line-up on paper before looking at the options, and add nothing the passage did not say. That last rule is the whole type: children lose these marks by importing what they assume.

Which verbal reasoning question types should your child practise first?

Order matters more than volume. In 10+ years of preparing children for entrance exams, families who work through the types in sequence overtake those grinding through mixed papers from the start.

How much practice does verbal reasoning actually need?

Less than most parents fear, provided it starts early and stays regular. Two or three short sessions a week through Year 5 covers all 21 types, and wide reading does the vocabulary in the background. Our guidance on when to start 11+ preparation sets out the timeline.

Where a tutor helps is diagnosis. Most children are weak on two or three types rather than on verbal reasoning as a subject, and finding which two takes twenty minutes for someone who knows the format. Our 11+ tutoring runs 1-hour lessons from £15, often paired with English tutoring where the underlying vocabulary needs work. Lessons run on Google Meet in the browser with nothing to install, for families across Birmingham, Manchester, Bradford and Gloucestershire.