The one habit that makes the biggest difference in 11+ preparation

After years of preparing children for the 11+, if I had to name the single habit that separates children who perform well on the day from those who underperform, it would be this: reading the question twice before answering.

It sounds obvious. It is not obvious to a ten year old sitting in an exam hall trying to work quickly through 80 questions in 40 minutes.

The 11+ is designed to catch children who rush. Questions are carefully worded to trip up pupils who skim read. In Verbal Reasoning especially, the difference between the right answer and a convincing wrong answer is often one word in the question.

Here is how I build this habit in sessions:

First, we slow right down. Before speed comes accuracy. There is no point completing 80 questions quickly if 30 of them are wrong because the child misread what was being asked.

Second, we practise underlining the key instruction in each question. What is it actually asking? Which word? Which number? Which shape comes next?

Third, once accuracy is consistent, we introduce timing. At that point speed tends to come naturally because the child is no longer second guessing themselves.

If your child is in Year 5 and already doing practice papers, check their working. Are they rushing? Are they making careless errors on questions they actually know how to do? That is the habit to fix before exam season.

Feel free to get in touch if you want to talk through where your child is with their preparation.

📞 07523 434161 tom@tomsandersontutoring.com