How To Prepare for GL 11 Plus Exam: Everything You Need To Know

What exam will your child take in 2024 if they take the 11 Plus? These days, GL Assessment is the top supplier of 11 Plus Grammar School tests. This comprehensive GL 11 Plus exam tips guide seeks to clarify any misconceptions about admissions tests by providing information on the test structure and how to prepare your child for success. GL evaluations are served by numerous Grammar Schools starting with the 2024 admissions season. 

If your child is going to get into Year 7 in September 2024, they will most likely need to sit a GL 11 Plus test. Though some authorities use a written response format for verbal and mathematics assessments, questions are often multiple-choice. There is a predetermined quantity of question types and styles, but questions come from an enormous question bank.

What’s the GL 11 Plus Test?

GL Assessment is a company that makes 11 Plus tests. Most UK Grammar Schools and some private schools choose which children to accept based on their tests.

Grammar Schools use many paper-based, non-adaptive GL assessment tests. However, this means the difficulty level stays the same regardless of how your child answers.

It takes a lot of work to pass the 11 Plus. It tries to determine which children will do well in a private school setting. It’s intended to test the most brilliant 25% of students in the class, and some of the questions will cover what still needs to be taught.

What Will Be on the GL 11 Plus Exam?

The test covers all lessons from the national curriculum for Key Stage 2 English and Maths. Since the 11 Plus test runs right at the start of Year 6, it may cover things students may have yet to learn in school. Enrolling on 11 Plus Tutoring and practice tests is crucial for preparing for the GL 11 Plus exam tips. Let’s discuss what your child might see on GL tests for the 11 Plus.

11 Plus GL English Test

The English component of the test includes a comprehension exercise based on either fiction, nonfiction excerpts, or poetry. The exercise contains questions on the following topics:

• Grammar
• Spelling
• Vocabulary
• Comprehension
• Word meaning
• Factual questions

11 Plus GL Maths Test

The GL 11 Plus test’s Maths component relies on the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum. However, it includes subjects from the whole curriculum. Students should be aware of year six goals such as:

• Data
• Number
• Algebra
• Geometry
• Proportion
• Measurement

11 Plus GL Verbal Reasoning Exam

A typical GL test paper for the 11 Plus consists of 80 questions that need answers within 50 minutes. Therefore, the questions may be multiple-choice or require your child to compute the answers from scratch. These include word, numerical, coding, or logic problems.

• Synonyms
• Word Codes
• Missing Letters
• Making New Words
• Find the Odd Word

11 Plus GL Non-Verbal Reasoning Test

Children test their ability to process novel and uncommon information nonverbally via a series of questions. Additionally, they assess the student’s capacity to detect parallels and divergences. Some examples include an analogy, picking the most similar form, and choosing the odd ones.

• Spatial Reasoning
• Working Out Shapes
• identify Mirror Images
• Finding Identical Shapes
• Solving Shape Sequence

GL 11 Plus Exam Preparation Tips

Students need strong problem-solving, multiple-choice, and time-management skills to pass the GL 11 Plus exam. However, refining these abilities and using practical tactics may raise people’s chances of doing well on the evaluation exams. We will detail these GL 11 Plus exam tips to help you succeed in your test preparation.

• Familiarise Resources

GL Assessment provides papers and practice resources to help students learn the exam’s structure, question patterns, and topics. These include arithmetic problems, verbal and nonverbal skills, and English language proficiency. Visit their website, 11 Plus GL Assessment, to get these tools and use them for free. Therefore, this paper helps students understand the assessment or test.

• Making Use of Practice Exams

Students taking the GL examinations benefit from completing practice exams. By taking mock tests that mimic the structure and difficulties of the actual test, pupils may monitor their progress and better prepare for the assessment day. These tests also help people track their progress, identify errors, find causes, and practise problems at their own pace.

• Time-Management Techniques

Time management is essential for students to finish the exam on time. To best prepare, students should make a scheduled, segmented study plan and save it on their calendars. They may maintain attention throughout the exam by simulating exams in genuine test settings and tracking their progress with an alarm or timer. However, this gives them feedback on how long each question takes and the remaining time.

• Solving Multi-Choice Questions

Students who want to succeed in the GL 11 Plus exam should know the format and subject matter. Through GL exam samples and rigorous practice sessions, test takers may improve their comprehension and perform better on assessments. When it comes to multiple-choice questions, they need to be meticulous. Success requires knowing every aspect of the topic and eliminating apparent mistakes.

• Enhancing Problem-Solving Skills

As they prepare for the GL 11 Plus exams, students should expand their subject knowledge and familiarise themselves with pertinent exam strategies. In addition to problem-solving, students should practise time management, logical reasoning, spatial awareness, and pattern recognition. Doing this allows them to confidently approach Verbal or Nonverbal exams and thoroughly comprehend the material.

How is the GL Assessment 11 Plus Test Scored?

Each paper your child marks counts towards their final score. Topics can have different weights. After that, the overall score is age-standardised to ensure that students born later in the academic year do not suffer from being younger. 

The GL Assessment exams use a consistent scoring methodology to guarantee impartiality and accuracy. Computerised assessment systems provide accurate results and automatically generate reports for individuals and groups. 

By considering age in its Standardised Age Score methodology, GL Assessment promotes equity. Typically, these scores range from 60 to 142, with a mean of 100 for all topics. Therefore, this enables them to evaluate each student’s talents, regardless of age, and nobody is unfairly disadvantaged due to their age. 

Conclusion

Following these GL 11 Plus exam tips and exploring the extensive selection of 11 Plus materials will make your child’s 11 Plus GL exam journey go smoothly and stress-free. Remember that your child will be sitting for up to an hour in one of the 11+ exams, so give them lots of rest intervals while practising at home.
Also read: Primary KS1 and KS2 SATs: Updated Guidance for Hemel Hempstead Parents 2024