The 11+ dresses simple arithmetic in words. The method never changes: underline the numbers, name the operation chain BEFORE you calculate, then sanity-check the answer against the story. A child who can do column addition, long multiplication and fractions can still lose a fistful of marks here, not because the maths is hard but because the reading is a trap. These free word problems worksheets train the one skill that turns a strong calculator into a strong 11+ candidate: turning a paragraph into a sum.
What 11+ word problems actually test
At 11+ level, "word problems" means multi-step worded questions that hide one or more of the four operations inside a real-life context — shopping and change, sharing in a ratio, elapsed time, scaling a recipe, or working out a percentage of an amount. The examiner is not testing whether your child can add; they are testing whether the child can decide what to add, in what order, and to what. That decision-making is the marrow of the paper, and it is exactly what most drilling ignores.
Our free library grades every topic across four tiers — Foundation, Developing, Secure and Greater Depth — so a child enters at the right level and climbs. Word problems appear inside the Maths tab and, in disguised form, inside the GL practice papers too.
The five-step method for any worded question
Teach one repeatable routine and your child stops freezing at the sight of a paragraph. Every worked example on our sheets uses these five steps:
- Underline the actual question. The last sentence tells you what number to hand in. "How much change?" and "How much did she spend?" are different answers to the same story.
- List what you are given. Jot the numbers and their units in the margin — 4 kg, £2.40, 15 minutes — so nothing gets lost.
- Choose the operation chain. "Altogether" and "in total" usually mean add; "left", "change" and "difference" mean subtract; "each" and "shared" point to division or multiplication.
- Calculate one step at a time. Write each intermediate answer down. Multi-step questions punish mental-maths shortcuts that skip the middle.
- Check against the story. Does £47 change from a £5 note make sense? If the answer is absurd, you have chosen the wrong operation.
A fully worked example, step by step
Here is a typical Secure-tier question, worked the way we want your child to work it.
"A box holds 24 pencils. A school buys 15 boxes and shares them equally between 9 classes. How many pencils does each class get, and how many are left over?"
- Question underlined: pencils per class, plus the remainder.
- Given: 24 per box, 15 boxes, 9 classes.
- Step 1 — total pencils: 24 × 15. Partition it — 24 × 10 = 240, 24 × 5 = 120, so 240 + 120 = 360.
- Step 2 — share out: 360 ÷ 9 = 40, with 0 left over.
- Answer: 40 pencils each, none left over. Check: 40 × 9 = 360, which matches the total. Correct.
Notice the trap the examiner set: a lazy reader multiplies 24 × 9 or divides 24 ÷ 9 and never reaches the total first. The wrong answer is always plausible in a well-written 11+ question — that is the whole game.
Common word-problem traps that cost marks
Every topic on Quest Arena ends with an "exam traps" note, because the ways children lose marks are predictable and coachable. For word problems, watch for these:
- The switched final sentence: a question about spending that ends by asking for change. Children answer the sum they did, not the sum asked.
- Mixed units: adding 1.5 kg to 400 g, or minutes to hours, without converting first. Always match units before you calculate.
- Forgetting the remainder or the rounding: "How many full buses are needed for 130 children if each holds 40?" is 4, not 3.25 — you round up in real life.
- Two-step questions answered in one: reading past the hidden middle step, especially in ratio and percentage problems.
- Reasonableness ignored: handing in an answer that the story makes impossible, because no final check was done.
How this appears in a real GL 11+ paper
In a GL Assessment maths paper, expect roughly 50 questions in about 50 minutes — near a minute per question — with answers marked A–E on a separate OMR sheet and no calculator. Word problems are woven throughout rather than boxed into one section, so your child meets them cold, mid-paper, under time pressure. Because GL is multiple-choice, the "distractor" answers are deliberately the results of the common mistakes above, which is why the five-step check matters so much. The raw score is later converted to a Standard Age Score (SAS, roughly 69–141, with 100 average and many grammar schools looking for about 111+), and age-standardisation gives younger-in-year children a fair adjustment. Region matters too: Essex CSSE papers use free-response answers and lean harder on multi-step reasoning, so if you are sitting CSSE rather than GL, the worded content is even more central.
Difficulty progression: Year 5 versus Year 6
The same skill scales. A Year 5, Foundation-tier version reads: "Sam buys 3 pens at 40p each. How much does he spend?" — a single multiplication. The Year 6, exam-level version reads: "Sam buys 3 pens at 40p each and a ruler for 85p, pays with a £5 note, and shares the change equally with his sister. How much do they each get?" — three operations and a final share. Our tiers let a child master the one-step form before the layered form arrives, which is the realistic way to build toward an autumn Year 6 exam. Pair the worksheets with a timed on-site mini-mock so speed grows alongside accuracy, and use the revision hub to keep older topics warm.
How to use the free worksheets
- Diagnose first: one Secure-tier sheet, unaided. Under 70%? Drop a tier. Over 90%? Climb one.
- Little and often: 15–20 minutes daily beats a weekend marathon — retention lives in the gaps between sessions.
- Review errors out loud: the child explains what went wrong before you say a word. Self-diagnosis is what sticks.
- Fold into full papers: once a topic reaches Greater Depth, let full timed mock papers keep it warm rather than more isolated drilling.
Every word problems worksheet — with answer keys and OMR sheets — is free in our worksheet library under the Maths tab. No card, no email wall. For exam-style application, the mock library and free papers hub carry the same skill inside full papers.
Frequently asked questions
Is a calculator allowed in the 11+ maths paper?
No. Both GL and CSSE maths papers are non-calculator, so mental methods, jottings and column arithmetic have to be secure. Word problems are where that mental fluency is really tested.
How long should my child spend on each word problem?
Aim for about a minute in a GL paper, since there are roughly 50 questions in 50 minutes. Multi-step problems may take a little longer, so teach your child to flag a hard one and return to it rather than stall.
Which year group should start word problems?
Year 4 and 5 pupils can begin with one-step Foundation sheets; the layered, exam-level versions matter most from the autumn of Year 5 into Year 6, which is when 11+ papers expect confident two- and three-step reasoning.