Verbal reasoning is word-based logic. Verbal reasoning tests ask a child to crack codes, continue letter sequences, find hidden words, complete analogies, sort synonyms from antonyms and read a short passage for a fact, quickly. It is one of the four areas the West Midlands 11 plus samples, and vocabulary is the ceiling on the score.
What is verbal reasoning in the 11 plus?
Verbal reasoning is the paper that makes parents blink. It looks like English, it is scored like maths, and hardly any of it is taught in a primary classroom.
Take away the packaging and it asks four things.
- VocabularyDo you know what these words mean?
- Alphabet fluencyCan you move around the alphabet without losing your place?
- Finding the ruleCan you see the rule that links one thing to another?
- Working in orderWill you work through the possibilities in order rather than picking the option that looks nice?
Every named type below sits on those four skills, which is why fifteen minutes of reading pays off across several question types at once.
The question types, and the method for each
Here is what actually comes up. Read the middle column with your child, in those words.
| Type | What the question looks like | The method |
|---|---|---|
| Letter codes | A word written in code, and another word to code or decode. | Work out the jump for each letter position separately, because it often changes across the word. |
| Number codes | Several words with number codes, one of them missing. | Find a letter that two words share and use it to pin one number. One certain letter usually cracks the grid. |
| Letter sequences | Pairs of letters continuing a pattern, with the next pair missing. | Treat the first letters as one sequence and the second letters as another, and check the pattern holds at every step. |
| Word analogies | Kitten is to cat as puppy is to what? | Say the link out loud as a full sentence, then use that sentence on the second pair. |
| Odd one out | Four or five words, one of which does not belong. | Find what the majority share, then name it. Check the reason holds for every word you are keeping. |
| Hidden words | A short word hidden across the join of two words in a sentence. | Check the joins only. Scanning, not thinking. |
| Compound or joined words | Two brackets of words. One from each joins to make a new word. | Be systematic. Random guessing loses a minute here. |
| Synonyms and antonyms | Two brackets. Pick the pair closest in meaning, or the pair most opposite. | Try each pairing rather than hunting for the obvious one. If a word is unclear, put it in an ordinary sentence and see whether the other could replace it. |
| Word in a word | A smaller word hidden inside a longer one, or a letter moved between two words. | Two conditions hold at once, so check both. |
| Alphabet reasoning | Counting forwards or backwards through the alphabet, sometimes reversed, to land on a letter. | Use the written alphabet, always. For reversed questions, number the letters underneath so that counting backwards becomes subtraction. |
| Number-based verbal questions | Number series, number analogies, and letters given values to add or subtract. | Maths in disguise. Do the arithmetic on paper even when it looks too easy to bother. |
One habit runs through the whole table: write on the paper. Children who do it all in their heads look faster and score lower.
Not sure which of these your child can already do? Start a free week of Pathway Eleven and the Starting Assessment sorts them into secure and shaky.
A worked example of every question type
Each one is worked the way you would say it at the kitchen table. Read the question aloud and let your child try before you show them the rest.
Letter codes
If LAMP is coded MCPT, what is CORN? L to M is one place, A to C is two, M to P is three, P to T is four, so the jump grows by one as you move along. Do the same to CORN: C and one is D, O and two is Q, R and three is U, N and four is R. DQUR.
Tip: write the jumps above the code word before you touch the answer word. Shifts run backwards as often as forwards, and a minus sign on paper beats one in the head.
Number codes
DARE, DEAR and READ are coded 1234, 4231 and 1342, in some order. Which code is READ? DARE and DEAR both begin with D, so two of the codes must begin with the same digit. Two begin with 1 and only one begins with 4, so READ is 4231, which also hands you the key: R is 4, E is 2, A is 3, D is 1.
Tip: never start by hunting for the answer word. Pin the letter that appears in most words and the rest of the grid falls out.
Letter sequences
AZ, CX, EV, GT, ? Split the pairs into two columns. The first letters A, C, E, G climb by two, so the next is I. The second letters Z, X, V, T fall by two, so the next is R. IR.
Tip: sequences wrap round: after Z comes A again. A child who has never been told that stops dead when the count runs off the end.
Word analogies
Cygnet is to swan as foal is to (mare, horse, stable, hoof, pony). Say the link as a whole sentence: a cygnet is a young swan. Now finish the same sentence about a foal. A mare is a female horse and a pony is a small breed, so neither means young. Horse.
Tip: if two options still fit, the sentence was too loose. Related to a swan lets everything in; a young swan lets one thing in.
Odd one out
STONE, TONES, NOTES, ONSET, SNORE. Meaning gets you nowhere here, so look at the letters instead. STONE, TONES, NOTES and ONSET are all built from the same five: S, T, O, N, E. SNORE is the odd one out, because it has an R in it and no T.
Tip: give meaning about ten seconds. If no group of four shares an idea, switch to spelling: letter counts, shared letters, vowels, double letters.
Hidden words
Find the four-letter word hidden across two neighbouring words in The team will finish early tomorrow. Only the joins matter, so ignore the middle of every word. Take each gap in turn and read straight across it, trying every split: one letter from the left with three from the right, then two and two, then three and one. The gap between finish and early gives hear.
Tip: the hidden word is rarely at the first join, and children stop looking too soon. Make the sweep a routine: every gap, every split, no exceptions.
Compound and joined words
Which word goes in front of all three: ___ball, ___print, ___note? Start with the fussiest of the three, which is note. Foot, key and bank all fit it. Keyball and bankball are not words. Football, footprint and footnote all are. Foot.
Tip: attack the most restrictive part first. In the two-bracket version, test one word against the whole of the other bracket before moving on.
Synonyms and antonyms
Which two words are closest in meaning: (ancient, anxious, awkward) and (clumsy, cross, curious)? Work through the pairings in order rather than waiting for one to jump out. Ancient fits none. Anxious means worried and cross means annoyed, which are different feelings. Awkward and clumsy.
Tip: for the opposites version, test the pair inside one sentence. Food was scarce flips cleanly to food was plentiful; against food was cheap it does not.
Word in a word, and moving a letter
Move one letter from BLAST to RAIN so that both become new words. Take each letter out of BLAST in turn, and test both halves before deciding, because both have to work. Take the B away and LAST is left, an everyday word; hand that same B to RAIN and it becomes BRAIN. No other letter does both jobs at once. LAST and BRAIN.
Tip: two conditions hold at once, and marks go where a child finds a good first word and stops. Say both new words aloud before writing anything.
Alphabet reasoning
Which letter is exactly halfway between D and R? With the alphabet written across the top of the page, put a finger on each and walk them towards each other. They meet at K. Numbered it is quicker: D is 4, R is 18, and halfway between 4 and 18 is 11, which is K.
Tip: for the seventh letter from the end, subtract from 27 rather than 26. That gives 20, which is T. Check it on something known: 27 minus 1 is 26, and Z is first from the end.
Number questions in a word paper
3, 7, 15, 31, ? The gaps are 4, 8 and 16, doubling each time, so the next gap is 32 and the answer is 63. And if A is 2, B is 4, C is 6, D is 8 and E is 10, then E added to C makes 16, and 16 divided by D is 2, which is A.
Tip: when a series will not yield, write the gaps underneath, then the gaps between those. A run growing by 1, 3, 6, 10 looks random until the second row shows 2, 3, 4.
Why is vocabulary the ceiling on this paper?
Because no method rescues a word your child has never met. The awkward and clumsy question above is a reasoning question only if all six words are known; if three are strangers it becomes a guess, and practice with the format changes nothing.
A word met in a story arrives beside the words that usually surround it, which is exactly what an analogy question tests.
From "Why is vocabulary the ceiling on this paper?"
That is also why word lists disappoint. A word learnt from a list is learnt as half of a pair, in one direction, with no situation attached. A word met in a story arrives beside the words that usually surround it, which is exactly what an analogy question tests.
The habit worth protecting: keep a notebook of words your child had to work out, each with the sentence it came from rather than a definition, and then use those words at the dinner table. A word that gets said is a word that stays.
Does writing the alphabet on the page really help?
Yes, and it is the change that pays back fastest. Before a single answer goes down, your child writes the alphabet along the top of the page, A to Z, one line, quickly. The reason it works is mechanical. To find the letter four after M, a child holds M, holds four and counts N, O, P, Q while keeping the question intact. Under a clock the count is what slips, and the answer comes out one letter off. Written down, counting turns into pointing. Writing 1 to 26 underneath goes further and turns letter arithmetic into ordinary arithmetic.
Want the methods taught rather than discovered? Start a free week and Guided Practice walks through each type without a countdown running.
How should a child practise these question types?
Short sessions, most days, in small mixed sets once the formats are familiar. Mixed matters, because recognising the type is part of the skill. Teach the method the first time your child meets a format rather than letting them invent one under a clock, which is how a wrong method gets learnt and then rehearsed for months.
The commonest mistake is a whole practice paper every Saturday with the score written in a notebook. What teaches is the ten minutes afterwards on the wrong answers, with your child talking through how they got there. Near misses are the gold: a code answer one letter out means the method was right and the counting was not, which is a different fix altogether.
How Pathway Eleven handles verbal reasoning
Pathway Eleven is an online 11 plus preparation service that gives each child a personalised daily plan of revision, guided teaching, timed practice and full mock papers, with every question reviewed and approved by a qualified teacher.
The formats arrive in order rather than all at once, with teaching the first time each appears. A Starting Assessment finds which types are already secure, so the daily plan spends its time on the shaky ones, and Timed Drills come after a type is reliable rather than before. Every session stays in the PIN-protected parent area, so you can see which formats still cost marks.
Common questions about 11 plus verbal reasoning
What is verbal reasoning in the 11 plus?+
A paper of word and letter puzzles: codes, sequences, analogies, odd ones out, hidden words and word building. It tests vocabulary, alphabet fluency and the ability to find a rule quickly, using formats that primary schools almost never teach.
How do I build my child's vocabulary for verbal reasoning?+
Reading beats lists, by a distance. Something slightly harder than is comfortable, most days, with a conversation about it afterwards. Keep a notebook of words your child had to work out, with the sentence each came from, and use those words in ordinary talk.
What is the alphabet strip trick?+
Writing the alphabet along the top of the page before starting the paper. It turns counting letters in your head into pointing at letters on the page, which removes the off-by-one errors that cost marks in code and sequence questions.
Why does my child get verbal reasoning right at home and wrong in a test?+
Usually pace, not knowledge. Under a clock children stop writing anything down, count letters in their head, and try one option instead of working through all of them. Short timed sets on a single question type fix this faster than whole papers do.
How long does it take to get better at verbal reasoning?+
The formats can be learnt in a few weeks of short sessions, because each one has a method that takes minutes to explain. Vocabulary is the slow part and it keeps growing for as long as your child keeps reading, which is why it is worth starting early.
Where to go next
- 11 plus verbal reasoning papers, ten worked questions across the common types, with the reasoning explained.
- How to prepare for the 11 plus, the full guide to timing and routine.
- What is the 11 plus?, who sits it and how it is marked.
- 11 plus non-verbal reasoning explained, the shape puzzles.
- 11 plus English comprehension, where the reading behind vocabulary pays off twice.
- Free 11 plus practice papers, printable sets to work through together.
- What Pathway Eleven costs, one plan, one price.
- 11 plus vocabulary, the work that makes synonym, antonym and analogy questions answerable on sight.
- 11 plus English explained, the other half of the heaviest-weighted part of the test.
A Starting Assessment, then a daily plan that teaches the formats your child has not met yet.