Start where there are fewest options: insert a letter
The Short Answer
An insert a letter question gives your child two incomplete words and asks for the single letter that finishes the first and starts the second. The Transfer Test gives two pairs at once and the same letter must work for all four words, which sounds like twice the work and is actually less: one pair on its own usually has several valid answers, and the second pair is what settles it.
What is an insert a letter question?
Your child is given two incomplete words and asked for the one letter that finishes the first and begins the second. In the 11+ they get two of these pairs side by side, and the same letter has to work for all four words.
That sounds like twice the work. In the way that matters, it is less.
Why two pairs and not one?
Look at a single pair on its own: GRI [ ] EA.
What finishes GRI? GRIP does, so P. And P gives PEA, which is a real word. P works.
But GRIT also finishes GRI. And T gives TEA. T works too.
Two valid answers and no way to choose. That question is broken — which is exactly why the test does not ask it that way. The second pair exists to settle the first, and once your child sees the second pair as help rather than extra work, the type stops being frightening.
How do you teach the method?
Build. List the letters that could finish the first word. Do not stop at the first one that works.
Test. Take each candidate to the second word in turn. Most will die immediately.
Check. Read all four words back in full. This catches the near-miss — the child who has built TRIFT and not quite noticed it is not a word.
Can you show me a worked example?
Where do pupils lose marks?
Stopping at the first letter that finishes the first word, without testing it on the second. That is the mistake the two-pair format is designed to punish.
Testing only one of the two pairs. A letter that works for three words out of four is not the answer, and the fourth word is usually the one that was skipped.
And accepting a near-word. Under time pressure TRIFT looks enough like DRIFT to pass, and reading the four words back is the only reliable guard against it.
Try it yourself
Find the one letter that completes all four words. Work on whichever pair looks more restrictive first.
- POLA [ ] IVER and DOO [ ] OUTE
- SHAP [ ] ASILY and IMAG [ ] XPECT
- BUTTO [ ] EVER and TWI [ ] AMELY
- CLOU [ ] RIFT and WOUL [ ] OZEN
- R — POLAR and RIVER, DOOR and ROUTE. Notice that DOO could also take an M for DOOM, but M gives MOUTE, which is nothing. The second pair is what rules it out.
- E — SHAPE and EASILY, IMAGE and EXPECT.
- N — BUTTON and NEVER, TWIN and NAMELY.
- D — CLOUD and DRIFT, WOULD and FROZEN. Here the first pair alone would also allow a T, since CLOUT is a word; TRIFT is not, so D survives.
How much practice does this type need at home?
Ten minutes twice a week for a couple of weeks. This is a type where speed comes from a habit rather than from knowledge, so short and frequent beats long and occasional.
A useful extra exercise needs no worksheet at all: give your child three letters — say VER — and ask which letters can come before them. Doing that aloud in the car builds exactly the instinct that makes the real question quick.
Free: a Verbal Reasoning workbook
Questions across the Verbal Reasoning question types, with the method printed at the top and full answers at the back. One workbook for the whole strand, not a sheet per question type.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the 11+ give two pairs instead of one?
Because one pair is often not enough to decide the answer. Take GRI and EA: the missing letter could be P, giving GRIP and PEA, or T, giving GRIT and TEA. Both are perfectly valid, and there is no way to choose between them. A question with two answers is a broken question, so the paper gives a second pair and asks for the letter that works across all four words. Understanding that changes how the question feels: the second pair is help, not extra work.
What is the quickest way in?
Do not automatically start at the left. Look at the four gaps and start with whichever has the fewest possibilities. If one of the words begins VER, only A, E and O can go in front of it, so three letters need testing rather than twenty-six. Starting where the options are fewest is the whole efficiency of this type.
What routine do you teach?
Build, test, check. Build the letters that could finish the first word. Test each of them on the second word. Check by reading all four words back in full. The reading back matters more than it sounds — it is where a child notices they have made a word that is nearly right, like TRIFT for DRIFT.
How is this different from a hidden word or a compound word question?
All three involve letters at a join, which is why children confuse them. A hidden word is already sitting across two neighbouring words and nothing is added. A compound word joins two whole words with nothing added either. Insert a letter is the only one of the three where a letter is put in that was not there before. If your child is adding a letter to a hidden word question, they are answering the wrong question.
Sources
- GL Assessment — 11+ familiarisation materials and question type descriptions Published 2025.
- Clever Clogs Academy — our own Year 4 and Year 5 lesson records, Winslow Published September 2025 to July 2026.
We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to GL Assessment or Buckinghamshire Council. Test arrangements change; always check the council's own pages for the current year's dates.
We Teach This Method Every Week in Winslow
Groups of no more than six pupils with two qualified teachers, in person or online. Come and see a session before you decide.