11+ Non-Verbal and Spatial Reasoning: What Each One Tests and How to Practise Both for Free

Parents often talk about non-verbal reasoning and spatial reasoning as if they were one thing. They overlap, and some papers mix them together, but they test different skills. Knowing which one your child finds hard tells you what to practise.

This post explains the difference, goes through the question types in each, and gives a four week plan using three free tools we built for exactly this.

The difference in two sentences

Non-verbal reasoning asks your child to find the rule that links a set of shapes. The shapes stay flat on the page, and the skill is noticing what changes and what stays the same.

Spatial reasoning asks your child to move a shape in their head. They turn it, flip it, fold it or look at it from another side, and the skill is picturing the result.

Many 11+ papers include both, sometimes in the same section. The mix changes from school to school and from year to year, so check the familiarisation guide for each school on your list. If you are not sure where to find past papers for a school, our 11+ past papers directory lists them by school.

Non-verbal reasoning question types

Our free Shape Sleuth game covers nine types.

• Odd one out, where one shape breaks a rule the others share.
• Complete the set, where your child picks the shape that belongs with a group.
• Most like, a harder version with only two examples to learn the rule from.
• Sequences, where the shapes change by the same step each time.
• Analogies, where A changes into B, and C has to change in the same way.
• Matrices, a grid with one square missing, read across the rows and down the columns.
• Codes, where letters stand for features of the shape and your child works out which is which.
• Hidden shapes, where a simple shape is tucked inside a busier drawing.
• Cube nets, which is where non-verbal reasoning starts to become spatial.

The features that change are almost always from the same short list. Sides, shading, size, which way the shape is turned, whether it is a mirror image, the style of the lines, where it sits and how many there are.

The habit that helps most is checking those features one at a time, out loud if necessary. A child who says "the sides are all six, the shading changes" has a method. A child who stares at the whole picture waiting for the answer to appear is guessing.

Spatial reasoning question types

Our free 11+ Spatial Reasoning trainer has ten kinds of puzzle.

• 3D rotation, which solid is the same one turned round.
• Reflection, which drawing is the mirror image.
• Views, what a pile of blocks looks like from the front, the side or above.
• Block counting, how many cubes are in a pile, including the ones you cannot see.
• Building blocks, which pieces fit together to make a shape.
• Paper folding, where the holes end up when a folded, punched sheet is opened out.
• Combining shapes, what two pieces make when they are joined.
• Matching, which shape is the same as the target once you allow for turning.
• Hidden shapes, finding a given shape inside a larger one.
• Cube nets, which flat net folds into a given cube.

Each puzzle type also has a lab, with no score and no timer, where your child can spin a pile of blocks, fold paper and punch holes to see what happens. That matters more than it sounds. A child who cannot picture a fold usually has not seen enough folds happen, and the lab lets them watch it as many times as they need.

Cube nets, the part children find hardest

Nets get their own tool, Cube Nets, because they cause the most trouble. There are only eleven nets that fold into a cube, and the tool folds each one in 3D so your child can watch the faces come together.

Two facts answer most net questions. Faces that touch on the flat net can never be opposite on the cube. And two faces with exactly one square between them in a straight line always end up opposite. Ask your child to predict which face will be opposite before they fold, then check. The prediction is where the learning happens.

If your child still cannot see it, cut a net out of paper and fold it by hand. Ten minutes with scissors does more for some children than an hour on a screen.

A four week plan

Twenty minutes, two or three times a week, is enough. Reasoning improves quickly with practice and then levels off, so a short, steady plan works better than a heavy one.

1. Week 1, non-verbal types, untimed. One Shape Sleuth type per session, with the timer off. When an answer is wrong, ask which feature your child was checking before you show them the right one.
2. Week 2, spatial labs. Spend each session in one lab of the spatial trainer, folding, turning and counting with no score. Finish the week with the cube nets practice screen.
3. Week 3, mixed practice. Switch both tools to mixed practice so your child has to recognise the question type before solving it, which is what the real paper asks.
4. Week 4, at exam pace. Turn the timers on. The spatial trainer runs a mock test of 10, 24 or 40 questions with a shared timer of about 30 seconds a question, then explains every answer at the end.

After week 4, a short session every week or two keeps the skills warm. The time you save is better spent on maths and English, which usually carry more of the marks.

What to do this week

Start with the Shape Sleuth odd one out round and the spatial trainer 3D rotation practice, ten questions each. Sit next to your child and listen to how they explain their answers. If they can name the feature or the turn, they are on track. If they say "it looks wrong", start week 1 of the plan.

All three tools are free and run in the browser, with no account to set up.

For verbal reasoning, our 11+ verbal reasoning game covers 17 question types. For maths, the Maths Level Finder checks 16 topics and shows which ones need work. If you would like to talk through a plan for the whole 11+, book a free consultation.

Aadam, SHLC Tutors