The grid is faster than your head

Nobody holds thirty things

Six facts about five children is thirty separate things to keep track of. That is too many to hold in your head reliably, for a child or for an adult.

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

It rarely is. A grid takes a few seconds to draw and not much longer to fill in, and the answer can then be read straight off it. Doing it in your head can feel just as quick right up until you lose your place — and then you have to 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.

Four of those five leave somebody out. Read them. Do not skim them — a skimmed 'except' puts the ticks on 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 count her again.

The grid protects you as well. A box holds one tick. If a fact sends you to a box that is already ticked, it is a repeat, and it adds nothing to that child's total.

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

Before comparing totals, check one thing: does the question say the facts are the full list? A line such as Kofi, Nadia and Rosa all learn the recorder names three children who do. On its own it does not say that the other two do not. You can only work out who belongs to the most clubs when the question says the facts list every membership, or when it asks only about the clubs listed. Lines with only or everyone except settle it by themselves, because they say who is left out.

A question that asks who belongs to the most clubs is looking for one name. So if your grid gives you two children level at the top, check your own working before you decide the question is a hard one. Very often the grid is showing you a slip.

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 a message: check. If it is still there after a careful second read, it may be a real one.

Where do pupils lose marks?

Counting the repeated fact twice — when the short version is printed first, the tick is already there by the time the full line arrives.

Treating a child who is not mentioned as a definite no, when the question never said the facts were the full list.

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 see whether a line 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. These facts list every club that each child belongs to. 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

The finished grid for these questions is at the bottom of the page, for checking afterwards.

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.

The finished grid

This is the completed grid for the practice questions above, kept down here so that it does not give them away. Draw your own first, then compare. Rec. is short for recorder and Foot. for football. A 1 marks a membership the facts list and a dash marks one they do not — and because the question says the facts list every club, a dash here means that child is not a member. Rosa's recorder box holds a single 1, however many times the fact is printed.