The grid is faster than your head

Nobody holds thirty things

Six facts about five children is thirty separate things to keep track of. Nobody holds thirty things in their head. Not a child, not an adult.

And yet the same sentence comes up every year: it's quicker in my head.

It is not. Watch the clock. Drawing the grid: about ten seconds. Filling it in: about twenty-five. Reading the answer off: three. Doing it in your head runs at the same speed right up until you lose your place — and then it costs you this question and the next one, because you go back to the beginning.

Names down the side. Things across the top. Tick the boxes.

The five sentence shapes

You need all five on sight.

"Everyone except Kofi" — the four children who are not Kofi. "Everyone except Kofi and Rosa" — the three who are neither. "Only two children, A and B" — exactly those two, nobody else. "A is the only one who…" — one child. "All five children" — everybody, so nobody moves up or down relative to anyone else. Tick it fast and move on.

Three of those five are worded as negatives. Read them. Do not skim them — a skimmed negative moves four ticks to the wrong side of the grid.

Cross out the repeat

This is the one that separates a good answer from a careless one.

Bella visits the art gallery.

(several lines later)

Everyone except Zuri visits the art gallery.

What does the first line add? Nothing. Bella is already inside the second one.

But look at the order they are printed in. The short one comes first. So by the time you reach the full line, you have already ticked Bella once — and now you tick her again.

Most, fewest, and the tie that is not a tie

Every one of these questions has exactly one answer. So if your grid gives you two children level at the top, you have not found a hard question — you have found your own mistake, and the grid is telling you where it is.

Two level at the top usually means a repeated fact counted twice. Two level at the bottom usually means an 'except' line read backwards.

So don't sit staring at the grid. Go back to the sentences. A tie is not a problem. It is a message.

Where do pupils lose marks?

Counting the repeated fact twice — and remember, the repeat is printed first, so the tick is already there.

Skimming an 'except' line.

Working without a grid to save time, which does not save time.

Stopping when two children come out level, instead of going back to find the line that was misread.

Try it yourself

Draw the grid before you read the facts a second time. One pass that only crosses out, then one that only ticks.

1. Read the facts below, then answer questions 2 to 5. Bella, Kofi, Nadia, Rosa and Zuri each belong to some school clubs. Rosa learns the recorder. Kofi, Nadia and Rosa all learn the recorder. Everyone except Zuri does art. Bella, Kofi, Nadia and Rosa all play chess. Everyone except Bella and Kofi sings in the choir. Only two children, Bella and Zuri, do drama. All five children play football. Nadia is the only one who does judo.
2. Who belongs to the most clubs?
3. Who belongs to the fewest?
4. How many clubs does Rosa belong to?
5. If a child answers that Nadia and Rosa are level at the top, what have they probably done?

Show Answers

How much practice does this type need at home?

The grid is the whole skill, so practise the grid rather than the puzzles. Give the facts and ask for the grid to be drawn and filled — the answer almost falls out on its own once it is.

A useful variation: read the facts aloud in a different order from the printed one. If the answer changes, something has been ticked twice.