Fewer than most families do, and much later in the year. Full papers are an end-stage tool, and short timed sections are more useful for most of the preparation year.
That runs against how most people prepare, so here is the reasoning.
Full papers belong at the end
A full paper tests whether a child can assemble everything they know, under time, in one go. That is only a meaningful test once there is something to assemble.
Run one in November of Year 5 and the result mostly tells you what has not been taught yet, which you already knew. It costs an hour, produces a low score and a discouraged child, and teaches nobody anything.
So: one early, as a diagnostic, to find the gaps. Then put papers away and teach. Bring them back from the spring, and run them properly from the summer.
Why short sections beat long papers
This is the part worth understanding, and it comes from the shape of the real test.
According to the partnership's familiarisation guide, each paper covers four question types, verbal reasoning, non-verbal and spatial reasoning, English and maths, in individually timed sections a child cannot return to.
So the skill being tested is not an hour of stamina. It is working accurately inside a short block, finishing it, and letting it go.
A fifty question maths paper against a single clock trains the wrong thing. A child learns to pace across fifty questions, which the real test never asks for. Short sets of the right length, strictly timed, train the actual skill.
| Practice type | Trains | When |
|---|---|---|
| Short timed sections | Pace inside a block, the real skill | Most of the year |
| Topic sets, untimed | Understanding | While learning a topic |
| Full timed papers | Assembling it all, and stamina | Spring onwards |
| One diagnostic paper | Finding the gaps | Start of Year 5 |
What a paper cannot fix
Here is why doing more papers rarely helps as much as families hope.
Several topics in this test are simply not taught in Year 5 at a state primary. Ratio and proportion, probability, and some statistical work are beyond the Year 5 curriculum. And non-verbal reasoning is new to essentially every child in a state primary, because nothing in school resembles it.
A practice paper will show a child getting those questions wrong. It will not teach them the topic. That has to be taught, and then practised, and only then tested.
So if a score is not moving, the answer is usually a lesson rather than another paper. See our guide to ratio and our guide to non-verbal reasoning.
A plan across the year
- September of Year 5: one full paper as a diagnostic. Our free mock does this and gives a topic breakdown.
- Autumn and winter: teach the gaps. Topic work, untimed, then short timed sets.
- Spring: short timed sections become the default. Introduce full papers occasionally.
- Summer: full timed papers, maybe one a week, with every mistake reviewed.
- Final fortnight: stop adding papers. Revisit mistakes already made.
One a week in the summer, properly marked and reviewed, beats three a week skimmed. See our guide to marking a paper.
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.
The format is unique, so practise the format
It is all about consistency and practice throughout the year. Practice papers themselves are very good towards the end of the year, once all the knowledge has been gathered together. Before that they are testing things nobody has taught yet.
A lot of 11 plus questions are definitely more advanced than what children are learning in Year 5 at a state school. There will be subjects they are simply unaware of: ratio, proportion, probability, certain statistical tools. They will probably not meet those in Year 5. And non-verbal is a completely new subject to any student coming out of a state primary.
Then going back to full papers. The format of the 11 plus is very unique: four subjects per paper, a set number of questions per section, and sections that are individually timed. So doing a full paper of say fifty questions of mathematics or verbal reasoning is probably not as useful as doing shorter tests, with shorter timings and fewer questions. That is what the real thing actually asks for.
Mushtaque Ahmed, Founder of GrammarPath and Bright Mentors
Frequently asked questions
How many practice papers should a child do for the 11+?
Fewer than most families do, and later. One at the start of Year 5 as a diagnostic, then short timed sections for most of the year, with full timed papers from the spring and roughly one a week over the summer, each properly reviewed.
Why are short timed sections better than full papers?
Because the real test is built that way. Each paper covers four question types in individually timed sections a child cannot return to, so the skill is pacing inside a short block rather than across fifty questions. A long paper against one clock trains the wrong habit.
When should my child start doing full practice papers?
From the spring of Year 5, with one as a diagnostic at the very start. Run full papers in November and the result mostly shows what has not been taught yet, which costs an hour and discourages the child for no useful information.
Why is my child's practice paper score not improving?
Usually because the gap is knowledge rather than practice. Ratio, proportion, probability and some statistics are not taught in Year 5 at a state primary, and non-verbal reasoning is new to almost every child. A paper shows the gap; it does not teach the topic.
Is one paper a week enough in the summer?
Yes, if it is properly marked and every mistake is reviewed. One paper a week reviewed thoroughly is worth more than three skimmed, because the value is in the correction rather than in the completion.