Entrance Exam links

On this page you will find links to helpful sites for maths, English, Non-Verbal and Verbal Reasoning.

It goes without saying that your child should already be completing GL Assessment Practice Test Papers to identify areas they need to brush up on. For expert tuition in any or all of the above areas, contact us to book your FREE assessment or a practice entrance exam.

Non-Verbal Reasoning

Download our free NVR practice paper here.

If you need some general advice on how to get started with NVR, take a look at our blog post on how to get results that are pleasing in Non-Verbal Reasoning. Our Non-Verbal Reasoning page takes you through the different NVR question types you may encounter, with examples.

Chukra Educational have a very helpful website and offer free tests to download, as well as online testing. You have to register for online testing, but it is free and will give your child a break from pen and paper.

For variety you may wish to consider buying some on-line tests which can be found here. It costs £5.49 for four 50 minute tests which is very reasonable.

Verbal Reasoning

Verbal Reasoning tests ability to work with language: the full range of question types, with examples, can be found here on Better Tuition’s Verbal Reasoning page.
Practice makes perfect so make sure your child spends some time getting used to the questions.

In addition to using GL Assessment practice papers, your child can use online resources for some variety.

There is a rather impressive array of free practice worksheets on the Eleven Plus Exams website.
Athey Educational have a superb, comprehensive website offering tips, information, practice papers (many of which are free) and online tests.
Interactive quiz
A quiz you have to mark yourself (but answers are provided) and another here.
An extremely tough quiz for the more able child!

English

Spelling and Grammar

Spellings need to be accurate and your child will need to practise identifying spelling errors.

We like the mnemonics activities here http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/spellits/home_flash.shtml

The spelling activities on this game are excellent http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/english/spelling_grammar/spelling/play.shtml

An abundance of grammar related links can be found here http://tinyurl.com/3kwb3v5.

Your child will enjoy Power Proofreading http://tinyurl.com/53bq9 (start on Grade 4) and can practise homophones here http://tinyurl.com/3g5zo9e.

Creative Writing

Your child will need to be working around a level 5 for entrance exams, so make sure their handwriting is joined and fluent (if you can – we know this is a tall order for many ten year olds), that they write in complex sentences, organised into paragraphs and that they make use of a wide, imaginative vocabulary. They should also try to include interior punctuation such as commas, dialogue, colons and semi-colons in their written work.

Previous entrance exam topics have included the opening paragraphs of a ghost story, a description of a garden in winter and a description of the city at night, so you may wish to have them practise these.

Most of your creative writing study should be done with pen and paper, but for variety there are some useful links below:

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/English/story.html- tips on story writing.
Story starts are a very engaging, easy to use resource for reluctant writers http://www.storystarts.co.uk/ and this website http://home.freeuk.net/elloughton13/characte.htm has some inspiring ideas for characters to write about.
The myth machine http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/mff/mythmachine.htmhelps you brainstorm a myth of your own.

Alternatives to ‘nice’: http://www.saintambrosebarlow.wigan.sch.uk/Fun_and_games/nicewords.htm.

Maths

For practice papers and targeted worksheets, it’s hard to beat Eleven Plus Maths.

Each year we find there are particular topics which confuse, perplex and puzzle our Entrance Exam candidates, so here is an alphabetical list of the main offenders, with a useful link for each one. We have found the best websites with the clearest explanations and fun learning games where appropriate.

Algebra
Basic equations

Algebra
Some more basic practice

Algebra
Beyond the basics

Angles
Everything you need to know (plus how to use a protractor, which is needed for Key Stage 2 SATs)

Area and Perimeter of Irregular shapes

Averages (Mean, Mode, Range and Median)

Capacity

Cube numbers - and your child will also need to understand square numbers.Factors

Fractions

Further Fractions - with percentages

Fractions of quantities

General number skills

How many days are there in each month?

Multiplication