Click to enlargeThe Definitive Guide to 11+ Non-Verbal Reasoning
Shapes, patterns and codes: 9 concepts, 260 fresh questions, one checklist for every type, and two mock papers.
- 9 GL-style non-verbal reasoning concepts
- One eight-point checklist that solves every type
- 260 fresh questions: Set A builds the method, Set B is at the 90% Standard
- Two mock papers, at 16 and 12 minutes
- Every answer states the rule
Want the whole series? The full Definitive Guides series is £119, under £30 a book.
Your next step
This guide prepares your child for the GL-style paper. The 11+ NVR Mastery Series goes further: 10 books that teach every topic from the first term of Year 4, in order, so nothing is left to the final months.
How this book is used in our course
Learn the eight-point checklist first. Then one concept at a time: strategy page, worked examples, Set A, Set B. Say aloud why each wrong option is wrong. When every concept reaches 18 out of 20, sit Mock Paper A at 16 minutes, then Mock Paper B at 12.
Where it sits in the series
- Previous book in the series: Book 3, The Definitive Guide to 11+ Verbal Reasoning
- This is the last book in the series.
What's inside Definitive Guide 4
Five real pages from the book, so you can see exactly what your child will work from. All 12 sample pages are in the viewer.
Eighteen to twenty-four seconds a question. Speed comes from a routine, not from rushing.
Every question type in the book is solved with the same eight-point attribute checklist, then elimination. Shape, number, size, shading, position, rotation and reflection, line type, angles and sides, learnt with one sentence: "Some Nice Sharks Swim Past Rocks Looking Around". Work out the rule, cross out every option that breaks it, until one remains.
Look only at the left-hand figures first. The options are there to put ideas in your head.
Similarities: what the examiner is really testing, the method step by step, and why the example figures are deliberately different in lots of ways. The real rule is the one thing that never changes, and each wrong option breaks it in one small way.
Five habits of a 90% scorer, then worked examples with every wrong option explained.
Find the rule before looking at the options. Name every feature that changes. Count, never estimate. Say in one sentence why each wrong option is wrong. Check for a second rule when two options fit. With a time target of about 20 to 25 seconds a question.
Two mock papers of 40 questions: 16 minutes, then 12.
Mock Paper A gives four minutes for every ten questions, as in the earlier GL-style papers. Mock Paper B tightens it to three, as in the later ones. Each section opens with its example, and answers go on a separate sheet.
Every answer states the rule, and why each wrong option breaks it.
"Rule: in every figure on the left, there are exactly 2 small marks around the shape. Not B: it has 3 small marks; C: it has 1." The explanation trains the same habit the checklist teaches.
All 9 concepts in the book follow the pattern shown here.
Other Year 5 & 6 books in Definitive Guide
The Definitive Guide to 11+ English
GL-style comprehension and reading skills: 14 question types, 360 fresh questions on original passages, and two mock papers.
The Definitive Guide to 11+ Maths
Every GL-style maths question type: 17 concepts, 440 fresh questions, a strategy for each, and two full 50-question mock papers.
The Definitive Guide to 11+ Verbal Reasoning
All 21 GL-style verbal reasoning question types, 580 fresh questions, and two full 80-question mock papers.