Top Tips on 11 Plus Maths Exam

Nathania

Medical Student

The content of the maths section in the 11+ exam tends to follow the National Curriculum syllabus, however your child is expected to be comfortable with these topics and able to tackle more advanced concepts. There are two main exam boards for the 11+ which are GL Assessment and CEM. You will need to check with your chosen school what exam board they’re using. Here is a list of topics that should be covered for the 11+ maths section for either exam board:

• Fractions, decimals and percentages
• Arithmetic (including addition/subtraction/multiplication/division)
• Understanding of shapes, space and measures
• Algebra
• Ratios and proportion
• Speed, distance and time
• Probability
• Word problems

Now you know what could potentially come up, below are top tips on how to prepare your child for the maths section of the 11+:

1. Focus on the basics for 11+ Maths

You want your child to have a very strong foundation in order to tackle more difficult concepts. For example, your child should know their times tables including their 12 times tables by heart. You want to test to see if your child actually knows their timetables without hesitation. This can be through giving them a list of various times tables, for example giving them 6×6, 12×3, 4×8. You also want to do this with their square numbers and their cube numbers. Having these memorised will help increase their speed and ability to do mental arithmetic. This same method can be applied to testing their addition, subtraction and division skills.

2. Use active revision techniques

Whilst preparing for the 11 plus math section, try to use active revision techniques. Maths can be quite repetitive and therefore boring for children once they understand. You want to make it interesting so they are able to revise without getting bored. You can try different revision games to help them prepare. Also use visual aids, for example getting your child to help create flashcards or posters which they can stick up in their room as reminders on how to tackle specific topics. They can make these fun and colourful to help make it easier for them to remember.

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3. Work through 11+ maths word problems

Children can often find word problems difficult as they haven’t been exposed to them in class and word problems can incorporate multiple topics in the maths syllabus. Give your child clear steps to work out word problems such as how to read them to identify what the question is asking. Identify topics that your child struggles with and give them more word problems on these topics as this will increase their understanding of the topic and ability to tackle word problems.

4. Check your child’s understanding

Whilst your child is practicing 11 plus maths questions encourage them to show all their working out. Once they have an answer, ask your child to explain to you why they got their answer and how they were able to identify key points in the question that led to them getting the answer. This will show you that your child hasn’t just memorised the technique but understands what the question is asking them and what technique is appropriate to tackle the question. This is important as different topics will be presented in questions in different ways that won’t be as easy to identify. They need to have a good understanding of the topic to be able to tackle these harder questions.

5. Encourage your child to check their work

Children often get excited once they are able to understand a topic and just fly through maths questions. Instead, encourage your child every few questions to go back to check their answers and go through their work to make sure they haven’t made any mistakes. If you notice that they keep making the same mistake take note of this on a piece of paper. Before they try more questions on a particular topic remind them of the common mistakes that they usually make so they can try and avoid these whilst they’re practicing 11 plus maths questions.

6. Work on 11+ exam technique

The best way to work on exam technique is by practicing 11 plus maths papers. Make sure that you are doing these on the time conditions. Initially, your child may struggle with the timings however with more practice your child should improve. In their initial attempts make a note of how many questions they are able to get through within the allocated time and therefore how many marks they would have gotten. When they first try a practice paper it’s fine for them to go over time as they are trying to get used to the questions.

Whilst doing practice questions, time your child and see how long it takes them to do certain questions. Each question should be done within a minute. Advise your child that if they are spending too long on the question, skip it and try to come back to it later. This way they have the opportunity to tackle as many questions as possible and get more marks on the paper.

7. Repeat 11+ papers

Repeating papers is a great way of tracking your child’s progress. Try doing the same papers after some time has passed to ensure that your child hasn’t just memorised the answers from their previous attempt. This helps you identify any mistakes that your child repeatedly makes and can help boost your child’s confidence as you can show them how much their score has improved since they started.

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