The trap is not the maths, it is the order
The Short Answer
In a letter-coded sum, a key at the top of the question gives each letter a number. You swap the letters for their values, work the sum in the right order, and match your total back to a letter. None of the arithmetic is difficult; the marks are lost to a dropped step, a misread sign, a misread value, or working from the wrong end.
The key is the whole instruction
Nothing about a letter-coded sum is guessable. The key at the top is the entire set of information you have, and it is worth reading all of it before touching the sum.
A = 12 B = 5 C = 3 D = 40 E = 60
Write every value under its letter first. A value misread here cannot be caught later — it will still produce a tidy, confident, wrong answer.
Order first, arithmetic second
Multiply and divide are worked out before add and subtract. A bracket overrides both.
One value, one letter
Every key has exactly one letter for each value. So if your final number does not match a letter exactly, you have made an error — go back through your steps rather than choosing the nearest one.
That is unusually generous, as checks go: the question tells you when you are wrong, for free.
What actually costs the marks
Stopping one step early. Under time pressure a child finishes the operation that feels like the sum and writes that number down, missing the final plus or minus. Count the operators before you start — that is how many steps you owe.
Misreading an operation sign. A × read as +, or ÷ read as −, produces full, confident, wrong working. Read each sign out loud as you reach it.
Working from the wrong end. Some pupils start from the number nearest the answer box rather than the first letter. Always start at the left.
Misreading a value in the key. Scanning quickly, B's value gets used where C's was meant. Underline the letters the sum actually uses before copying their values across.
The ladder
- Look up every value — the whole key, not just the letters you think you need.
- Check the order. Brackets first, if there are any.
- Work left to right, writing every step down.
- Match your total to a letter exactly.
- Check it back against the whole key.
The seconds spent writing each running total are what buy the rest.
Try it yourself
Write every value under its letter first, then work one step at a time, writing each running total down.
- A = 9, E = 5, K = 45, P = 3, T = 12. A × E = ___
- B = 24, F = 6, M = 4, S = 10, Y = 14. B ÷ F + S = ___
- D = 8, G = 3, L = 40, Q = 16, Z = 9. D × G + Q = ___
- C = 7, H = 2, N = 24, R = 5, W = 11. (C + R) × H = ___
- E = 30, I = 6, J = 9, O = 2, U = 13. E ÷ O − I = ___
- K. Nine fives are 45, and 45 is the code for K.
- Y. Twenty-four divided by six is four, and four plus ten is fourteen — the code for Y. Two operators, so two steps.
- L. Eight threes are 24, and 24 plus 16 is 40, which is L. The multiplication happens first even though it is written first — here the two rules agree.
- N. The bracket comes first: 7 + 5 is 12, and 12 × 2 is 24, the code for N. Without the bracket the multiplication would have gone first and given a different, wrong answer.
- J. Thirty divided by two is fifteen, and fifteen take six is nine, which is J. Two operators, two steps — stopping at fifteen is the commonest error on this type.
How much practice does this type need at home?
Not much, and it should be written rather than spoken. The whole skill is in the recording — a child who does these in their head is practising the thing that loses the marks.
One good habit to ask for: count the operators aloud before starting, and say the number. "Three steps." Then check three lines of working exist before the answer does.
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 do children who can do the arithmetic still get these wrong?
Because the difficulty is not arithmetic. Four things take the marks: doing the operations in the wrong order, stopping a step early, misreading a sign, and misreading a value in the key. All four produce a tidy, confident, wrong answer — which is why they survive a check that only looks at the sums.
How does my child know they have finished?
Count the operators before starting. Three operators means three steps, and if only two have been written down the sum is not finished. Under time pressure a child completes the operation that feels like 'the sum' and writes that number, missing the final plus or minus. Counting first turns finishing into something checkable.
What if the total does not match any letter?
Then there is an error to find, and the answer is to go back through the steps rather than picking the nearest letter. Every key has exactly one letter per value, so an exact match is guaranteed when the working is right. A near miss is information, not bad luck.
Do brackets really change anything?
Yes, and they are not decoration. In (C + R) × H the bracket forces the addition first; without it the multiplication would go first and give a different answer. That is the whole reason a bracket is printed. When one appears, do it first, before multiply and divide.
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.
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