🧠 SECTION 4: What the 11+ Actually Tests

“It’s not just knowledge. It’s mindset, method, and momentum.”

⚡ Why This Section Matters

Most parents think the 11+ is just a harder school test.
It’s not.

It’s a pressure test — checking how your child can think, adapt, and problem-solve with a clock ticking and curveballs flying.

At The Common School, we don’t just prepare students to know things.
We coach them to perform.

Here’s what the 11+ is really testing — and how to train for it.

✍️ 1. English

🧪 What’s Tested:

  • Reading comprehension

  • Inference and deduction

  • Vocabulary and grammar

  • Sentence structure and punctuation

  • Occasionally: creative writing

🎯 What They’re Looking For:

  • Can your child read unfamiliar texts and understand what’s between the lines?

  • Do they know how to spot tone, emotion, and purpose?

  • Can they use language clearly, accurately, and expressively?

🧰 How We Coach It:

  • 🔍 Skill-mapped comprehension missions (like “The Unsent Message”)

  • ✍️ Creative tasks that sharpen structure, voice, and flair

  • 📚 Wide reading built into our learning path — not left to chance

➗ 2. Maths

🧪 What’s Tested:

  • Number operations (add, subtract, multiply, divide)

  • Fractions, decimals, percentages

  • Word problems

  • Time, money, measurement

  • Sometimes algebra and shape

🎯 What They’re Looking For:

  • Can your child apply maths in real-world and unfamiliar formats?

  • Do they understand why methods work — or just memorise?

  • Can they work quickly without panicking?

🧰 How We Coach It:

  • 🔁 Spaced repetition + application-based questions

  • 📊 Mission-style problems (like “Market Madness” or “Blueprint Puzzle”)

  • 🧠 GPT maths coach that breaks down mistakes and builds confidence

🔤 3. Verbal Reasoning (VR)

🧪 What’s Tested:

  • Word codes and letter patterns

  • Analogies, synonyms, antonyms

  • Odd one out

  • Logic using words

🎯 What They’re Looking For:

  • Can your child spot patterns in words and meanings?

  • Are they quick on wordplay, logic, and elimination?

🧰 How We Coach It:

  • 🧩 Puzzle-driven tasks

  • 🔠 Vocab builders that link to real reading

  • 🧠 AI tutor that drills weak spots and explains rules clearly

🧩 4. Non-Verbal Reasoning (NVR)

🧪 What’s Tested:

  • Sequences and transformations of shapes

  • Rotation, reflection, symmetry

  • Matching or spotting the odd one out

🎯 What They’re Looking For:

  • Can your child reason with visual information?

  • Do they have spatial awareness and logic under pressure?

🧰 How We Coach It:

  • 🎨 Shape-based missions with visual step-by-step

  • 🧠 GPT assistant trained to explain “how the pattern works”

  • 💡 Visual memory techniques built into our challenges

✍️ 5. Writing (Some Schools Only)

🧪 What’s Tested:

  • Story structure and creativity

  • Use of rich vocabulary

  • Grammar, punctuation, and clarity of expression

🎯 What They’re Looking For:

  • Can your child write with voice — not just correct answers?

  • Do they build emotion, tension, or ideas clearly?

🧰 How We Coach It:

  • 🧠 Character-based writing prompts (Cosmic League missions)

  • 🎤 GPT coach that gives sentence-level feedback

  • 📝 Planning structures that mirror top 11+ essays

⚙️ How the Exams Are Structured

✅ Mostly Multiple Choice - Especially in GL formats

✍️ Some Written Responses - Creative writing or second-stage tests

⏱ Fast-Paced - Time pressure is real — often 45–60 mins per paper

🔄 One or Two Stages - Some schools do a Stage 1 + Stage 2 process

📣 What This Means for You

✔ It's not about drilling questions endlessly — it's about understanding how each skill works under pressure
✔ You need diagnostics — so you’re not wasting time on what your child already knows
✔ You need a structured path — not just a pile of books or random papers
✔ You need feedback and momentum — so your child knows they're improving

💬 Final Word from The Coaches

The 11+ isn’t just a test of intelligence.
It’s a test of how well you prepare, how well you focus, and how well you bounce back.

That’s why we build students with:

✅ Skills
✅ Mindset
✅ Game plan

We don’t just prep them to pass.
We coach them to level up for life.