Best 11+ Practice Resources: Top picks for Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning
11+ preparation runs on repetition. Hundreds of verbal and non-verbal reasoning questions across dozens of question types, practised until pattern recognition becomes instinct. The challenge for most families isn't finding resources; it's finding ones that actually adapt to a child's specific weak spots instead of handing over another static question bank. This guide covers the resources genuinely worth using in 2026 and beyond.
Quick Comparison
Myedupady is also building Deji, an AI study companion with adaptive practice and voice-based explanations, currently in development and not yet live — more on that below.
Myedupady: Topic-Posts, Quizzes, Worksheets and Past Papers in one place.
Myedupady's EdBlog covers 11+ verbal and non-verbal reasoning the same way it covers GCSE content: topic-by-topic explainer posts that break down each question type (analogies, cubes and 3D shapes, word relationships, spatial reasoning, and more), quiz sets for active practice, downloadable worksheets, and past-paper-style questions mapped to CEM, GL Assessment, CSSE, and independent school (ISEB) formats — all free to use.
Myedupady is also building Deji, an AI study companion designed specifically to solve the biggest limitation every other resource on this list shares: a static question bank can mark an answer wrong, but it can't explain the missed pattern a different way, or talk a child through it out loud. Deji's planned setup flow adapts to exam board, grade, subject and topic, with a voice-based teach mode and an MCQ quiz mode built to mirror real 11+ formats. Deji isn't fully live yet (it's in active development) but it's the direction Myedupady's practice tools are heading, and families using the EdBlog today will be the first to get access as it rolls out.
Non-verbal reasoning in particular is a topic where a child either "sees" the pattern or doesn't, and a static answer key rarely bridges that gap on its own — which is exactly the problem Deji is being built to solve.
The other resources worth knowing about
Eleven Plus Exams
A long-standing free resource offering questions across verbal reasoning, maths, non-verbal reasoning, and English. It's a solid, no-cost way to get initial exposure to question types, though like most static resources, it doesn't explain a wrong answer differently the second time a child gets stuck on it.
Bond 11+ and CGP Books
Bond's "Assessment Papers" and "Targeted Assessment" series, alongside CGP's 11+ practice books, remain a staple for graded, offline print practice, particularly for non-verbal reasoning categories like cubes, 3D shapes, and spatial reasoning. Useful for screen-free practice sessions, but static by nature — a child either understands the printed explanation or doesn't, with no way to ask a follow-up question.
GL Assessment Past Papers
Practice papers published directly by GL Assessment, one of the primary 11+ exam providers, offer the closest thing to genuine exam-format timing practice, and are free to access.
How to combine these into a study plan
A sensible approach, using Myedupady's EdBlog as the core and layering in specific tools where useful:
I. Use Myedupady's topic posts and quizzes as the daily driver. Working through each question type systematically builds the foundation everything else sits on.
II. Add Bond or CGP print books for offline sessions: Useful for screen-free practice and for parents who want a physical record of progress.
III. Finish with GL Assessment's official past papers in the final weeks before the exam, to build realistic timing and exam-day familiarity.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the best 11+ resource for a child who keeps getting the same question types wrong? Working through Myedupady's topic-by-topic explainer posts for that specific question type, alongside targeted worksheets, is a good starting point — repeating the same static explanation from a generic question bank rarely helps a child who's already misunderstood it once. Myedupady is also developing Deji, an AI study companion designed to explain a missed pattern a different way, which will make this even more targeted once it launches.
Is AI-powered 11+ practice actually better than a tutor or workbook? It's best thought of as a future complement, not a replacement. Myedupady's Deji, once live, is being built to provide adaptive, always-available practice for building day-to-day fluency, while a tutor adds deeper, human judgement for a child who's genuinely stuck, and print workbooks remain useful for offline, screen-free sessions.
Should I use free resources or pay for a platform? Start with free resources. Eleven Plus Exams, GL Assessment's own past papers, and Myedupady's free EdBlog content cover a huge amount of ground. Consider paid tools only where they add something free resources genuinely lack, such as a tutor's one-to-one judgement for a specific sticking point.
Is Deji available to use right now? Not yet. Deji is in active development. Myedupady's EdBlog (topic posts, quizzes, worksheets, and past papers) is live and free to use today, and Deji is planned as an addition to that, not a replacement for it.
Is non-verbal reasoning harder to prepare for than verbal reasoning? Many parents find it feels less intuitive, since it relies on spotting visual and spatial patterns rather than word-based logic. Working through explained, topic-specific practice (rather than unexplained question dumps) tends to help more with non-verbal reasoning specifically.
Glossary
I. CEM: Centre for Evaluation and Measurement, one of the major 11+ exam formats used in England, alongside GL Assessment and CSSE.
II. GL Assessment: Another major 11+ exam provider, with a distinct question style and format from CEM.
III. CSSE: Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex, the body that sets the 11+ exam format used by Essex grammar schools, distinct in style from both CEM and GL Assessment.
IV. ISEB: Independent Schools Examinations Board, which sets the Common Pre-Test used by many independent (private) schools for entrance assessment, distinct from the grammar school formats above.
Non-verbal reasoning (NVR): The section of the 11+ exam testing pattern recognition and spatial reasoning through shapes, sequences, and diagrams rather than words
Adaptive practice: A learning approach that adjusts questions, explanations, or difficulty based on a student's actual performance, rather than presenting the same fixed content to everyone.
Want topic posts, quizzes, worksheets, and past papers for both verbal and non-verbal reasoning, all in one place? Explore Myedupady's 11+ resources — and keep an eye out for Deji, Myedupady's AI study companion, launching soon.