Verbal reasoning is the subject most 11+ families spend the most time on. It's also the one where I see the most wasted effort - children grinding through books of mixed questions without targeting the types they're actually weak on.
Here's what actually moves the needle.
Verbal reasoning isn't really about reading comprehension, though vocabulary matters. It tests the ability to spot logical patterns in language, find relationships between words, and complete sequences - often under significant time pressure.
GL Assessment has 21 distinct question types. CEM blends verbal reasoning with comprehension and vocabulary in a less predictable way. Which exam your child is sitting should determine how you prepare.
Letters are substituted for words using a code. Children must decode the pattern and apply it. Often trips up children who don't spot the systematic logic early.
"Big is to small as hot is to ___." Requires both vocabulary and relational reasoning. Faster with practice than most children expect.
A word is hidden across two adjacent words in a sentence. Sounds easy, is surprisingly time-consuming. Speed improves dramatically with practice.
A series of letters follows a rule. Find the next pair or group. Tests pattern recognition without vocabulary - a good equaliser for strong logical thinkers.
Two words can each join with a third to make a compound word. Children who read widely tend to find this intuitive; those who don't need more practice.
Identify which word relates to a given group, or which is the odd one out. Vocabulary is the ceiling here, but classification skills help independent of vocab.
Mixed question sets without feedback. If a child gets a word codes question wrong and moves on, they haven't learned anything - they've just practiced being wrong. The feedback loop matters as much as the questions themselves.
Doing only the question types your child finds easy. It feels productive, scores look good, and it changes nothing about their weaknesses. The parent dashboard in 11+ Prep shows exactly which question types are dragging scores down - and it's rarely the ones you'd guess.
Vocabulary is the long game. For GL exams especially, a child with a wider vocabulary has a structural advantage. Reading 20 minutes a day - fiction, non-fiction, anything that stretches vocabulary - compounds over a year of prep. It won't show up in practice scores immediately, but it will on exam day.
For GL, you can practice specific question types systematically because the format is consistent. 21 question types, predictable structure, good feedback from past papers.
CEM is harder to prep for directly because the question types blend and the format varies by consortium. Reading widely, doing comprehension work, and building general verbal fluency matters more here than grinding specific question types.
If you're not sure which exam your child is sitting, check your local grammar school's admissions page - it'll say GL or CEM, and sometimes names the specific consortium.
11+ Prep covers the full GL question set, with explanations after every answer and a parent dashboard to show you exactly where your child needs work.
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