The 11+ GL Assessment is sat in Year 6, typically in September or October. Most families start preparing in Year 4 or 5. This plan assumes a 12-month window — long enough to build genuine understanding in all four subjects, develop exam stamina, and arrive at the exam feeling prepared rather than pressured.
Before You Start: What the GL Assessment Actually Tests
The GL Assessment consists of four separate papers, each approximately 45–50 minutes long:
- Mathematics — arithmetic, fractions, decimals, percentages, algebra, geometry, data handling, word problems
- English — reading comprehension, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary
- Verbal Reasoning — word relationships, analogies, codes, sequences, vocabulary
- Non-Verbal Reasoning — shape patterns, rotations, sequences, spatial reasoning
All four papers are sat on the same day. This matters for preparation: exam stamina — the ability to concentrate and perform well across nearly four hours of testing — is a skill that must be actively trained, not assumed.
Check your school's exam provider first. Not all schools use GL Assessment. Some use CEM, which has a different format. Confirm with your target grammar school which provider they use before investing in resources.
Month-by-Month Preparation Plan
Do not start with Verbal Reasoning or NVR yet. In the first two months, focus entirely on Maths and English — these are the subjects your child already studies at school, and gaps here are easier to identify and fill.
- Take one basic diagnostic test in each subject to map your child's current level.
- Identify the three weakest areas in Maths (often fractions, algebra, word problems).
- Identify the three weakest areas in English (often vocabulary, punctuation, inference).
- Spend sessions on targeted gap-filling, not general revision.
Introduce Verbal Reasoning now, while continuing Maths reinforcement. VR is new to most children and takes time to feel natural. Starting early means there is no panic in the final months.
- Introduce 2–3 question types per week (synonyms, antonyms, analogies first).
- Do not try to cover everything at once — depth beats breadth at this stage.
- Begin a vocabulary notebook. 5–10 new words per day with their synonyms and antonyms.
- Continue one Maths session per week focused on the identified weak areas.
NVR is unlike any school subject and is often the most challenging to improve quickly. Give it dedicated attention now, six months before the exam, so there is plenty of time to build confidence.
- Start with shape sequences and rotation questions — the most common NVR types.
- Use visual, hands-on practice: draw the patterns, use physical blocks if helpful.
- Continue Verbal Reasoning but shift focus to trickier types: codes, sequences, hidden words.
- Keep vocabulary work daily — this compounds over months.
By month 7 your child should have a solid grounding in the basics of all four subjects. This phase is about breadth — ensuring no subject has been neglected and all areas meet a minimum competency threshold.
- Create a weekly schedule that touches all four subjects. Rotate emphasis each week.
- Introduce time pressure: practise with a clock. Speed is a skill that needs training.
- Introduce comprehension passage practice — one passage per week with full analysis.
- Begin addressing the remaining NVR question types (grids, matrices, reflection).
Month 7–8 is often when children start to resist preparation. Build in a rest week with no structured study. A refreshed child absorbs material faster than an exhausted one. Preparation should be sustainable, not relentless.
This is the most important phase of preparation. Timed mock exams do something no amount of topic practice can: they simulate the actual experience of sitting a four-paper exam under time pressure. The first mock will feel hard. That is exactly the point.
- Complete one full timed mock exam (all four papers) in one sitting, as closely as possible to real exam conditions.
- Mark it immediately after. The review session — going through every wrong answer — is more valuable than the test itself.
- Identify the two or three weakest areas revealed by the mock. Target those areas in the following two weeks.
- Complete a second mock at the end of week 10. Compare scores. Progress should be visible.
With one month remaining, the priority is raising the floor on weak areas and building stamina. This is not the time to introduce new topics — consolidation and confidence-building are the goals.
- Complete two more timed mocks across the month.
- After each mock, spend 45 minutes reviewing incorrect answers. Not skimming — genuine understanding of why each answer was wrong and what the correct approach is.
- Speed drills on Verbal Reasoning: 20 questions in 7 minutes. Repetition until it feels automatic.
- Ensure your child knows the exam venue, timing, and format. Reduce logistical uncertainty.
The final month is not for cramming — it is for consolidation and mindset. The hard work is done. The goal now is to arrive at the exam feeling capable, calm, and familiar with the process.
- Reduce intensity in the final two weeks. One short practice session per day maximum.
- Complete one final mock exam 10–14 days before the real exam — close enough to feel recent, far enough not to cause anxiety.
- In the final week: light review of notes, early nights, and regular meals. Sleep and nutrition directly affect cognitive performance.
- On the morning of the exam: arrive early, eat breakfast, and remind your child that they have prepared well. Exam-day nerves are normal and manageable.
Subject-Specific Resources
Mathematics
The CGP GL Assessment Maths workbooks are reliable and widely used. For topic-specific gaps, Khan Academy's free exercises are excellent for fractions, decimals and algebra. Ensure your child can do mental arithmetic quickly — calculator use is not permitted in GL Maths papers.
English
Reading high-quality literature daily is the single best long-term preparation for English. For vocabulary, a dictionary habit (looking up every unfamiliar word encountered, not just exam vocabulary) compounds enormously over 12 months. For comprehension technique specifically, see our dedicated guide.
Verbal Reasoning
Bond Assessment and CGP both produce good VR practice books. Focus on variety — children who practise the same book repeatedly begin recognising specific questions rather than the underlying patterns. Use at least two different publishers. For a deeper guide to VR question types, see our dedicated verbal reasoning article.
Non-Verbal Reasoning
NVR is primarily visual and spatial. Paper-based practice is important — screen-based practice changes the experience of rotating and comparing shapes. Physical puzzle toys, tangrams and Rubik's cubes genuinely improve spatial reasoning. Our portal includes SVG-based visual NVR questions that replicate the style of the actual exam.
The Thing Most Families Get Wrong
The most common preparation mistake is treating the 11+ as a sprint in the final few months rather than a marathon over a year. Children who start late and cram intensively do score better than children who do nothing — but they often plateau at a score that is good but not quite competitive enough for the most selective schools.
Children who prepare steadily over 12 months, with regular breaks and sustainable volume, tend to arrive at the exam having genuinely internalised the content. They are not trying to recall information they memorised last week; they are demonstrating knowledge they have owned for months. The difference is legible in exam performance.
The second mistake is neglecting mock exams. Topic knowledge is necessary but not sufficient. Exam technique, time management, and the ability to perform under pressure are separate skills that only develop through practice under realistic conditions. Do not leave mock exams until the final weeks.
6 full GL mock exams, ready to go
Our portal unlocks one new paper per week after purchase — exactly the pacing this plan recommends for the final two months of preparation. Auto-marked, with full worked solutions for every question.
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