Every Question Type on the Buckinghamshire 11+
The GL Assessment Transfer Test covers four strands. Below is every question type we teach, with free video lessons for the ones parents ask about most. Written by Mat and Alicia, who prepare pupils for this test every week in Winslow.
Verbal Reasoning
31 question types
Word and letter puzzles that test logic rather than vocabulary alone. Most types have a fixed method, which is why they reward teaching.
Word ladders2:53
Change one letter at a time to get from one word to another, every rung a real word.
Read the full lesson →The other 30 Verbal Reasoning types we teach
- Hidden words
- Letter codes
- Compound words
- Insert a letter
- Move a letter
- Making words
- Letter sequences
- Number codes
- Number sequences
- Multiple meanings
- Closest meaning
- Opposite meaning
- Analogies
- Odd one out
- Complete the sentence
- Jumbled sentences
- Alphabetical order
- Missing three-letter word
- Logic problems
- True statements
- Reading information
- Related numbers
- Missing number
- Letter connections
- Complete a word pair
- Word grids
- Alphabet position
- Anagram in a sentence
- Identify a letter from a clue
- Letter coded sums
Non-Verbal Reasoning
18 question types
Shape and pattern puzzles. Pupils who talk their reasoning aloud make faster progress here than pupils who stare and guess.
All 18 Non-Verbal Reasoning types we teach
Maths
35 question types
Curriculum maths asked in an unfamiliar way. Most marks are lost to multi-step questions rather than to any single skill.
All 35 Maths types we teach
- Place value
- Fractions
- Rounding
- Decimals
- Percentages
- Ratio and proportion
- Factors and multiples
- Prime numbers
- Square numbers
- Negative numbers
- Order of operations
- Early algebra
- Number sequences
- Word problems
- Money problems
- Time and timetables
- Measures and units
- Perimeter
- Area
- Volume
- Angles
- Properties of shape
- Coordinates
- Transformations
- Averages and data
- Charts and graphs
- Probability
- Multi-step reasoning
- Addition
- Subtraction
- Multiplication
- Division
- Combinations and logic
- Data tables
- Misleading data
English
20 question types
Comprehension, vocabulary and technical accuracy. Wide reading helps, but so does knowing what each question is actually asking for.
Comprehension retrieval
Finding the answer in the passage rather than trusting memory.
Read the full lesson →The other 19 English types we teach
- Comprehension: inference
- Spelling patterns
- Vocabulary in context
- Homophones
- Prefixes and suffixes
- Punctuation
- Apostrophes
- Word classes
- Verb tenses
- Subject and verb agreement
- Sentence types
- Clauses
- Connectives
- Synonyms and antonyms
- Proofreading
- Cloze passages
- Abbreviations, irony and idioms
- Alliteration and onomatopoeia
- Imagery
Free: A Workbook for Each of the Four Areas
Questions across the question types in each area, with the method printed at the top and full answers at the back. One workbook per area, not a sheet for every question type.
Or Have Us Teach the Method in Winslow
We work through these types in order across Years 4 and 5, in groups of no more than six pupils with two qualified teachers. Mocks, homework and materials are included in the weekly fee.
- 90-minute sessions, in person or online
- £50 per session, all-inclusive
- Written feedback to you every week
Questions About the Question Types
Does my child need to know every question type?
No child meets every type in a single paper, and the mix changes from year to year. What matters is that your child recognises the shape of a question quickly and has a method for it, so an unfamiliar type does not cost them the rest of the section. We teach the types in groups that share a method, which is why the list above is organised by strand rather than alphabetically.
Which question types do pupils find hardest?
In our Winslow groups, letter and number codes in Verbal Reasoning, nets of cubes in Non-Verbal Reasoning, and multi-step word problems in maths take the longest to become automatic. None of them is harder than the others in principle; they simply need more practice at holding two steps in mind at once, which is a skill that grows through Years 4 and 5.
Are the videos free?
Yes. Every video lesson on this page and on our YouTube channel is free to watch, with no sign-up. They use the same method and the same wording we use when we teach the type in class, so a pupil can watch one at home and then practise straight away.