Mirror first, then jumps

The rule is in the pair you are given

One pair, then a second pair linked to it. That link is the whole instruction. There is nothing else to find.

MP is to RK. M → R is forward 5. P → K is back 5.

Two letters, same size of jump, opposite directions. Which is why the habit matters more than the arithmetic:

Write both jumps down before you touch the target pair. Never work out the first letter's jump and start answering.

Mirror or jump, and how to tell in three seconds

There are two families, and they look alike on the page.

JUMP — each letter moves along the alphabet by its own amount. MIRROR — A pairs with Z, B with Y, C with X. The pair reflects.

Do the mirror check first, on the pair you are given. It takes three seconds and it is the rule most often missed — because a mirror pair still looks like two letters that have simply moved.

Both directions, at once

A jump can go either way, and the two letters can go opposite ways from each other.

FX is to IU. F → I is forward 3. X → U is back 3.

Nothing says both letters move the same direction, and nothing says they move by the same amount. Check each letter on its own.

Wrapping past Z

The alphabet is a loop, not a line.

Y + 4: Y → Z → A → B → C.

After Z you carry on from A. Going backwards, before A you carry on from Z. Most pupils know this and still stop at Z under time pressure, so say it out loud as you cross.

If a letter is in the last four or the first four of the alphabet, expect to wrap.

Where do pupils lose marks?

Missing the mirror. A mirror pair read as a jump gives a tidy answer that is completely wrong.

Assuming one direction, or assuming both letters move by the same amount.

Rushing the count. The counting error does not go away with age — it goes underground, because a child counting fast enough stops checking. What remains is off-by-one.

Letting the pattern stop at Z.

Try it yourself

Mirror check first. Then write both jumps down, with a small arrow above each letter, before you answer.

1. TY is to WW as LC is to ___
2. XI is to CR as RA is to ___
3. VI is to AE as ZW is to ___
4. HA is to LU as LW is to ___
5. DW is to HT as TG is to ___

Show Answers

How much practice does this type need at home?

Short bursts, with the alphabet written out on the page. The single most useful instruction is "show me both jumps before you show me the answer" — because three of the four errors above are caught by that alone.

When an answer is wrong, it is almost always worth asking which of the four it was. Naming the mistake is what stops it recurring.