Teach a child the keywords attached to each operation and a worded problem stops being a reading exercise. Most become a one-line sum, done in under a minute.
Start it in Year 4. It is the single highest-return thing on the maths side.
Why worded problems cost marks
Maths is a quarter of the marks on the partnership entrance test page, and most of it is worded rather than bare calculation.
So children lose marks they could do. They can divide perfectly well, and they cannot see that the question is asking them to divide. The arithmetic was never the problem.
The keywords, by operation
This is the whole method. Learn these the way you would learn times tables.
| Operation | Words that signal it |
|---|---|
| Add | sum, total, altogether, combined, both, increased by, more than |
| Subtract | take away, how many more, how many fewer, less than, difference, left, remaining, reduced by |
| Multiply | product, times, double, triple, twice, of, each (with a group), multiple |
| Divide | share, split, each (from a total), per, divided equally, how many groups, half, quarter |
Two of those need care, and they are where the marks go:
- "Each" works both ways. "They have 6 marbles each" multiplies. "Shared equally, how many each" divides. The child must read which.
- "Less than" reverses. "7 less than 20" is 20 minus 7, not 7 minus 20. Children write the numbers in the order they met them.
Underline them, every time
I get students to underline the keywords. Physically, with a pencil, in the booklet.
It works for two reasons. It forces them to read the question rather than scan it for numbers, and it leaves a visible record, so a child who gets it wrong can see whether they misread or miscalculated. Those are different problems with different fixes.
Working in the booklet is allowed, and only the answer sheet is marked, so there is no cost to it. See our guide to marking a paper.
Two-step questions
The harder questions combine topics, and children stall because they look for one sum and find two.
Same method, applied twice:
- Look for more than one keyword. Two keywords means two steps.
- Break the question into two parts and write them as two lines.
- Do the first, write the answer down, then use it in the second.
- Check what was actually asked. The answer is often the second part, and children hand in the first.
That last one is worth drilling on its own. A child who works out the cost per item when the question wanted the change has done the maths and lost the mark.
How to practise it
- Make a keyword list with your child, one sheet, four columns. Theirs, in their handwriting.
- Read questions without solving them. Ask only: which operation, and how do you know? Ten in five minutes.
- Ask them to write the sum, not the answer.
- Mark the reading, not just the result. Ask which word told them.
- Add the two-step ones later, once the single-step reading is automatic.
See our guide to the maths topics and our guide to mental maths.
See where your child stands today
Timed sections in the GL Assessment format, marked instantly, with a topic-by-topic breakdown. No sign-up to start.
Underline the keyword, then it is just a sum
This one is honestly easy to do very, very quickly. The key thing, especially from Year 4 onwards, is to get students to learn the keywords associated with the four signs: adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing. So adding would be sum, total, altogether. Subtraction would be take away, how many more, less than. Multiplication might be product, times, double, triple, multiple, things of that nature.
The key thing is that when they have seeded those keywords, they are able to spot them within the words and then apply themselves much faster. Word problems can be done in less than a minute.
For the two-layer questions, where you have to think again, it is the same thing: look for multiple keywords, and then somewhere along the way you need to break the question down into two parts and apply the keywords you can spot. And I get students to underline keywords.
Mushtaque Ahmed, Founder of GrammarPath and Bright Mentors
Frequently asked questions
How do you solve 11+ maths word problems?
By keyword. Teach a child the words that signal each operation, such as total and altogether for addition or product and times for multiplication, and get them underlining those words in the question. Most worded problems then become a one-line sum.
Where do children go wrong on worded problems?
In the reading, not the arithmetic. They can divide perfectly well but cannot see that the question asks them to divide. Two specific traps are the word each, which can mean multiply or divide, and less than, which reverses the order of the numbers.
How do you teach two-step word problems?
Look for more than one keyword, because two keywords means two steps. Break the question into two written lines, do the first, then use its answer in the second. Then check what was actually asked, since children often hand in the first part.
When should a child start learning maths keywords?
From Year 4 onwards. It is the highest-return thing on the maths side, because it converts a reading problem back into arithmetic the child can already do.
Should my child write in the question booklet?
Yes. Underlining keywords and writing the sum out is allowed, and only the answer sheet is marked, so there is no cost. It also shows afterwards whether a wrong answer came from misreading or miscalculating.