11 Plus Non-Verbal Reasoning Questions and Practice Tips

What is the Non-Verbal Reasoning section?

Since this is one of the sections of the 11 plus that isn’t taught in schools as part of the curriculum, it can be challenging for some students. These can involve problem solving questions associated with shapes, numbers and codes. Furthermore, these questions test the spatial awareness of the student and how well they are able to recognise patterns.

What can you do to help your child with Non-Verbal Reasoning?

• The most important thing for your child to improve is for them to practise these types of questions frequently in order to familiarise themselves with the different question types, as well as to help them spot which approach is working for them.

• Puzzles like jigsaws and games such as legos can help build your child’s confidence in their spatial awareness skills.

• Practice drawing mirror images of shapes and rotating shapes with them.

• Print out and cut nets for cubes, cuboids, pyramids, and so on, which you can fold and unfold with your child to help them visualise 3D shape questions.

• Play a visual game that can aid with their spatial awareness, such as the Rubik’s Cube. This can help them visualise where different coloured faces will move when a cube is rotated, which will give them a big advantage in solving pattern questions.

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Example questions that may come up as part of the Non-Verbal Reasoning section

1. Students may be given a set of shapes and asked which of the shapes is most different to others. This tests their ability to recognise different characteristics of a shape e.g. angles, colours, shades, and rotations.

2. They may be asked to select the net of a given 3D shape, or they may be given a net and asked to choose the correct 3D shape that the net would form when folded. 

3. Some questions will ask your child to choose the odd shape out from a set of given shapes, or to spot which shapes are similar in a series.

4. They may be given an example of one shape being transformed into another (e.g. by adding sides or rotating the shape). Then, they could be asked to use the pattern that they think the example follows to select the option that the test shape would be transformed into. 

5. They may be given different shapes that represent a number and asked to find the value for when the shapes are merged together. These questions can be solved by basic algebra, so it’s recommended to practise lots of maths questions alongside this section.

6. Students may be given a set of shapes, which each represent a letter or number. They will be asked to use these codes to find the meaning of the shape given in the question. These types of questions are also common in the verbal reasoning section of the 11 plus exam.

7. Students may be asked to find the next shape in a given sequence

Patterns to look for when solving the questions:

1. Rotation: Ensure that your child can easily rotate shapes by 45°, 90° and 180°

2. Shading: Some questions will require students to be very vigilant about the certain shades of shapes and regions within the shape to allow them to spot the pattern

3. Arrows: These are usually big clues to what the pattern is. Although it’s important not to fixate on them as they could be a distractor. If you don’t recognise a pattern with the arrows, move on to something else on the shape.

4. Position: How are the shapes related to each other?

5. Reflection: Ensure your child has practice reflecting shapes in the horizontal, vertical and diagonal planes

6. Number: This could be the number of sides or angles

7. Layers: It could be that different shapes are layered above/below each other

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More tips to help your child pass the Non-Verbal Reasoning section of the 11 Plus

1. Attention to detail: Some of the patterns may be less obvious than others so it’s really important to be vigilant to every possible pattern and stay open minded

2. Practice: As your child comes across more of these types of questions, they will be able to understand the approach, the things they need to look out for each time, their timing will improve and find out which questions they’re most struggling with

3. Draw out shapes: Encourage your child to draw out the rotated/ reflected shape, rather than trying to do everything in their head

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