How to Prepare for 11+ Maths at Home
How to prepare your child for 11+ maths at home
Teach every topic before you test it, and keep timed papers for the end. In between, your child practises for twenty minutes on most days. This guide takes you through each step, with what to try when your child gets stuck on a topic.
Written by Aadam Mulla, an experienced maths teacher who has taught 11+ maths one to one since 2020.
1. Know what the papers test
There is no single 11+ maths syllabus.
GL Assessment, CEM, consortiums such as CSSE and independent schools each write their own papers. All of them test the maths taught up to the end of Year 6, and the harder papers go further, into algebra, nth term sequences and simultaneous equations.
The topics fall into 16 areas. Our free 11+ maths syllabus breaks them into 80 lessons and lists the skills in each one. The free topic checklist gives you 112 skills to tick off.
| Lessons | Topic area |
|---|---|
| 1 to 6 | Place Value and Rounding |
| 7 to 14 | The Four Operations and BIDMAS |
| 15 to 21 | Decimals and Negatives |
| 22 to 24 | Factors, Multiples and Primes |
| 25 to 29 | Fractions |
| 30 to 32 | Ratio |
| 33 to 35 | Percentages |
| 36 to 37 | Fractions, Decimals and Percentages |
| 38 to 47 | Algebra and Sequences |
| 48 to 52 | Angles and Symmetry |
| 53 to 57 | Area, Perimeter and Volume |
| 58 to 61 | Averages and Range |
| 62 to 66 | Data, Charts and Graphs |
| 67 to 71 | Coordinates, Units and Time |
| 72 to 74 | Probability |
| 75 to 80 | Puzzles and Problem Solving |
2. Find the gaps
Find out what your child can already do before you teach anything. You save weeks on topics they already know.
Take the free Maths Level Finder. It asks questions across 16 topics, adjusts to your child's answers and shows which areas are secure.
Go through the free 11+ Maths Topic Checklist and tick the skills your child can do without help.
Mark by topic. Write the topic next to each mark your child loses. After three sets of questions the same three or four topics show up, and those are where you start.
As you mark, sort careless slips from real gaps. A slip needs a check at the end of the working. A gap means teaching the topic again.
3. Teach the topics in order
Teach the topics in lesson order, whatever month you begin.
Each topic uses the ones before it. A child who is unsure of place value struggles with decimals, and a child with shaky fractions gets ratio and percentage questions wrong.
For each topic, show a worked example and watch your child try one. Then close the book, set a similar question, and come back to the topic the following week.
Open a topic area below to see where children get stuck, what to try, and a question you can read out to check your child.
Place Value and Rounding Lessons 1 to 6
Where children get stuck
Children miss the zero that holds a place, writing 705 for seven thousand and five, or assume the longest number is the biggest.
What to try
Ask what a digit is worth rather than what it is. Say numbers aloud together, and use a number line before you teach the rounding rule.
Check question from lesson 6, Rounding to 10, 100 and 1,000
Round 4,650 to the nearest 100, then to the nearest 1,000.
Show the answer
4,700 and 5,000.
Free practice questions · Full guide to this topic · The lessons
The Four Operations and BIDMAS Lessons 7 to 14
Where children get stuck
The written methods were never secure. Children are unsure when to work in their head and when to use a column, and many work left to right instead of following BIDMAS.
What to try
Watch your child do one column subtraction, such as 4,003 take away 1,876, instead of marking twenty. Get the method right before you work on speed, and aim for about 25 times tables answers in 90 seconds before starting 11+ topics.
Check question from lesson 14, Inserting brackets and inverse
Put brackets in to make this true: 4 + 6 × 2 = 20
Show the answer
(4 + 6) × 2 = 20.
Free practice questions · Full guide to this topic · The lessons
Decimals and Negatives Lessons 15 to 21
Where children get stuck
Children line decimals up on the right like whole numbers, think a longer decimal must be bigger, or drop the minus sign.
What to try
Put the decimal points under each other and fill the gaps with zeros. Use a thermometer as a number line for negatives.
Check question from lesson 21, Negative numbers
Work out 5 − −3, then −4 × −6.
Show the answer
8 and 24. Two negatives together turn into a plus.
Free practice questions · Full guide to this topic · The lessons
Factors, Multiples and Primes Lessons 22 to 24
Where children get stuck
Children swap factors and multiples, hunt for factors at random, and miss highest common factor questions that never use the words.
What to try
Find factor pairs of 36 by starting at 1 and working up until the pairs meet. For word problems about buses every 12 and 18 minutes, ask whether the answer goes into both numbers or both numbers go into it.
Check question from lesson 24, Prime numbers and prime factors
Write 60 as a product of its prime factors.
Show the answer
2 × 2 × 3 × 5, which can be written 2² × 3 × 5.
Free practice questions · Full guide to this topic · The lessons
Fractions Lessons 25 to 29
Where children get stuck
Children learn the rules without a picture behind them, so they follow the method in the lesson and get the same question wrong a week later.
What to try
Draw a bar model first and ask your child to explain it back to you. Then close the book, set a similar question, and give them a minute or two before you help.
Check question from lesson 29, Reverse fractions
Two fifths of a number is 18. What is the number?
Show the answer
45.
Free practice questions · Full guide to this topic · The lessons
Ratio Lessons 30 to 32
Where children get stuck
Children write the ratio the wrong way round, or divide by one part of the ratio instead of the total number of parts.
What to try
Write the letters above the numbers so the order is clear. Draw the ratio as a bar split into parts, and ask how many parts 2:3 has before any dividing.
Check question from lesson 32, Sharing and ratio problems
Share £60 in the ratio 2 : 3. How much more is the bigger share?
Show the answer
£24 and £36, so £12 more.
Free practice questions · Full guide to this topic · The lessons
Percentages Lessons 33 to 35
Where children get stuck
Children practise percentages in one direction and never ask what 100% is, so reverse percentage questions catch them out.
What to try
Start each question by writing down what 100% is. Build other percentages from 10%, 5% and 1%, such as 17% of 60, and practise both directions with the same numbers.
Check question from lesson 35, Reverse percentages
A coat costs £48 after 20% off. What was the original price?
Show the answer
£60. The £48 is 80% of the original.
Free practice questions · Full guide to this topic · The lessons
Fractions, Decimals and Percentages Lessons 36 to 37
Where children get stuck
Children learn fractions, decimals and percentages as three separate topics, so they are slow to move between them.
What to try
Teach a percentage, its fraction and its decimal together, so 25%, a quarter and 0.25 go into your child's head as one fact.
Check question from lesson 37, Fractions, decimals and percentages 2
Put these in order, smallest first: 7/20, 0.4, 36%.
Show the answer
7/20 is 35%, so 7/20, then 36%, then 0.4 which is 40%.
Algebra and Sequences Lessons 38 to 47
Where children get stuck
Children do not know what the letter stands for, follow memorised steps instead of keeping the equation balanced, and struggle to turn words into an equation.
What to try
Ask your child to say what the letter stands for before they solve anything. Use function machines and bar models before rules.
Check question from lesson 47, Sequences
Find the nth term of 5, 8, 11, 14, ...
Show the answer
3n + 2.
Free practice questions · Full guide to this topic · The lessons
Angles and Symmetry Lessons 48 to 52
Where children get stuck
Children guess from how the diagram looks, and 11+ diagrams are often not drawn to scale. In a busy diagram they cannot pick the right rule.
What to try
Ask your child to name the angle rule before they give a number. Short drills where they say which rule applies, without calculating, build this up.
Check question from lesson 52, Line and rotational symmetry
A regular pentagon: how many lines of symmetry, and what order of rotational symmetry?
Show the answer
5 lines, and order 5.
Free practice questions · Full guide to this topic · The lessons
Area, Perimeter and Volume Lessons 53 to 57
Where children get stuck
Children are unsure where to split a compound shape, miss a side that has no label, and mix up area and perimeter when the clock is running.
What to try
Label every length you know first. Ask your child where they would cut the shape before they write any working, and have them say the units out loud.
Check question from lesson 57, Surface area
What is the surface area of a cuboid 5 cm by 3 cm by 2 cm?
Show the answer
62 cm². That is 2 × (15 + 10 + 6).
Free practice questions · Full guide to this topic · The lessons
Averages and Range Lessons 58 to 61
Where children get stuck
Children skip putting the numbers in order, mix up median and mode, and treat the mean as a calculator button, so a missing value question stops them.
What to try
Make ordering the numbers the first line of working. Explain the mean as levelling out towers of blocks, and a missing value question starts to make sense.
Check question from lesson 61, Problems with averages
A group of 4 children has a mean score of 12. Another group of 6 has a mean of 7. What is the mean score of all 10?
Show the answer
9. The totals are 48 and 42, so 90 shared between 10 is 9. It is not 9.5, because the bigger group pulls the mean towards 7.
Free practice questions · Full guide to this topic · The lessons
Data, Charts and Graphs Lessons 62 to 66
Where children get stuck
Children assume one square on a chart is worth one, read off a single value when the question wants a comparison, and count the overlap in a Venn diagram twice.
What to try
Get your child to write down what one square is worth before reading anything. Ask a follow-up question about any chart you see, even the one on a cereal box.
Check question from lesson 66, Pie charts
A pie chart shows 72 people. The sector for cycling is 60 degrees. How many people cycled?
Show the answer
12. 60 out of 360 is a sixth, and a sixth of 72 is 12.
Free practice questions · Full guide to this topic · The lessons
Coordinates, Units and Time Lessons 67 to 71
Where children get stuck
Children read the y coordinate first, write one and a half hours as 1.30, and subtract times as if an hour had 100 minutes.
What to try
Write the unit on every line. For time, count up to the next whole hour first, such as 09:47 to 10:00 and then on to 11:15.
Check question from lesson 71, Speed, distance and time
A car travels 90 miles in 1 hour 30 minutes. What is its average speed?
Show the answer
60 mph. Ninety miles in one and a half hours is 60 in each hour.
Free practice questions · Full guide to this topic · The lessons
Probability Lessons 72 to 74
Where children get stuck
Children guess the total number of outcomes, leave some outcomes out, and change one number instead of two when an item is not replaced.
What to try
Write the total first, such as 3 red and 2 blue counters making 5. List outcomes in a fixed order, and draw the tree diagram even when it looks unnecessary.
Check question from lesson 74, Probability: independent and dependent events
A fair coin is flipped twice. What is the chance of two heads?
Show the answer
1/4. Half times a half, or one route out of four on a tree.
Free practice questions · Full guide to this topic · The lessons
Puzzles and Problem Solving Lessons 75 to 80
Where children get stuck
Children hunt for which topic the question belongs to, freeze on the first line, or answer a different question from the one asked.
What to try
Ask for the first line of working and nothing more. Teach working backwards by name, with a puzzle like I double a number, add 6 and get 20, and have your child put the answer back into the question to check it.
Check question from lesson 80, Mixed problem solving
A school buys 8 boxes of 24 pens at £3.50 a box, then gives 15 pens away. How many pens are left, and what did the pens cost?
Show the answer
177 pens left, and they cost £28. 8 × 24 = 192, 192 − 15 = 177, 8 × 3.50 = 28.
Free practice questions · Full guide to this topic · The lessons
4. Practise twenty minutes a day
Twenty focused minutes, five or six days a week, beats one long session at the weekend.
Your child meets each method again before they forget it. Put phones away, turn the TV off, and mark the work straight away so your child fixes a mistake while the question is fresh.
Check recall as well. After teaching a topic, close the book and set a similar question with no hints. If your child can answer only with the example in front of them, the topic needs more practice.
If your child has forgotten a topic a week later, slow down. Practise it every day for a week, then return to it over the next few weeks.
In a session
- Times tables until the answers are instant, about 25 answers in 90 seconds
- Mental arithmetic, such as one timed page of Schofield & Sims at the level where your child scores 50 to 70%
- One topic taught with a worked example first
- One question from an earlier topic, with the book closed
5. Start timed papers last
Save practice papers until your child has been taught the topics.
A paper shows you what your child can do under exam conditions. If a first paper comes back under about 40%, stop the papers and go back to teaching. Build up to timing in three steps.
Your child answers questions on one topic with their notes open.
They answer the same type of question with the notes put away.
Add the clock once the second step feels easy. Leave a few days between teaching a topic and timing it, so the paper tests understanding and not memory.
Once papers start, aim for at least five complete sets before the exam, and 8 to 10 if you can. After each paper, mark it, write the topic beside each lost mark, and spend two or three days on the weakest topics before the next one. Our free past paper library has real and sample papers from 142 schools and exam boards.
6. Choose when to start
| Your child now | Start | Time before the exam |
|---|---|---|
| Confident, often scores full marks | September of Year 5 | 12 to 15 months |
| Solid, not top of the class | Christmas of Year 4 | 18 to 21 months |
| Gaps in times tables and basic arithmetic | End of Year 3 or start of Year 4 | 24 to 30 months |
Go by where your child is now rather than by their age. If you start later, keep the same topic order and move faster. Year 4 children also sit the Multiplication Tables Check in June, so times tables practice helps with both.
Habits that save time
- Leave a few days between papers. Spend them on the topics that lost marks.
- Keep sessions steady. After a week off, you end up teaching the same topics again.
- Use the free past papers before you buy books. Then buy books for the gaps the papers show.
- Set one question and leave the room. If you give hints too early, neither of you finds out whether your child could do it.
- Practise the right format. Check whether your target school uses GL, CEM or its own paper.
Lessons, books and papers
| What for | What to use |
|---|---|
| Learning a topic | Our Maths Mastery Lessons at £5.99 each, or the Complete 11+ Maths Course for all 80 in order at £200. If you prefer a book, CGP 11+ Maths Complete Revision and Practice covers one topic a week. |
| Daily speed | Schofield & Sims Mental Arithmetic, one timed page a day |
| Practice | Our free practice questions in 16 topics, then Bond Assessment Practice once the topics are covered |
| Exam practice | Our free 11+ past paper library, with answers where the school published them |
Most families need about £40 of books alongside the free resources. For English and reasoning, read our 11+ preparation guide.
When to get help
Home preparation works when your child is organised and you can check in each week. If sessions keep ending in arguments, or the same gaps are still there after a term, a teacher can find the problem and set the plan for you.
Questions parents ask
Can I prepare my child for 11+ maths myself?
Yes. Home preparation works when you teach the topics in a fixed order, keep practice short and regular, and leave timed papers until the topics are taught. Most parents find the hardest part is knowing what to teach next, and a topic order answers that.
How much time should my child spend on 11+ maths each week?
About twenty focused minutes, five or six days a week. That comes to under two hours, and your child sees each method again before they forget it, which one long weekend session cannot do.
What should my child learn first for 11+ maths?
Times tables and place value. Fractions, decimals and ratio all depend on them, so a child who is slow with tables or unsure what a digit is worth will find those topics harder.
When should my child start 11+ maths practice papers?
Once most topics are taught, which for most children means the spring of Year 5 at the earliest. If a first paper comes back under about 40%, stop the papers and go back to teaching.
How do I find out which 11+ maths topics my child is weak in?
Take the free Maths Level Finder, then write the topic beside each mark your child loses in their practice. After three sets of questions the same three or four topics show up, and those are where to start.
Does my child need a tutor for 11+ maths?
An organised child with a parent who checks in each week can prepare well at home. A tutor helps when sessions at home end in arguments, when the same gaps keep coming back, or when you want someone else to plan the work.
Start with the free Level Finder
Your child answers questions across 16 topics and you see which areas to teach first.