The topics that come up most
Papers vary between areas and schools, so check what your target schools publish. Most 11+ maths draws on these areas.
- Number: place value, the four operations, times tables, factors and multiples.
- Fractions, decimals and percentages, and moving between them.
- Ratio and proportion, including sharing in a ratio.
- Measures, time, money and units.
- Shape: angles, perimeter, area and volume.
- Data: reading tables and charts, and finding the mean.
- Multi-step word problems that combine several of these.
Mistakes that cost marks
Many lost marks come from misreading the question rather than not knowing the maths. Encourage your child to underline what the question asks for before they start.
- Answering a different question, such as giving the change when the total was asked for.
- Mixing units, for example centimetres and metres in the same calculation.
- Stopping after the first step of a two-step problem.
- Rushing mental arithmetic that would be safer written down.
How to practise
Short, regular practice on number facts makes everything else faster. Then work on one topic at a time, and finish each session by looking at the questions that went wrong and why.
Kestrel is independent and is not linked to any exam board, local authority or school. Always check the current admissions information for the schools you are applying to.