Most Verbal Reasoning papers use a fixed set of question types that rotate from year to year, and knowing the full catalogue removes almost every exam-day surprise. GL Assessment, the dominant 11+ provider across most of England now that CEM's separate tests have been phased out, draws on 21 recognised Verbal Reasoning question types. The revision series Bond labels these Type A to Type U, and the crucial thing to understand is that GL never tells you in advance which of the 21 will appear in a given paper. That is exactly why a child who has met all of them, even briefly, walks in calmer and quicker than one who has only drilled synonyms and antonyms.
Why 21 types, and why they matter
Verbal Reasoning tests how a child reasons with words rather than how many words they know, though vocabulary underpins everything. A typical GL VR paper is multiple-choice, marked on a separate answer sheet, runs around 50 minutes, and gives roughly 35 to 50 seconds per question. Because the types are not signposted, the paper deliberately mixes word-meaning questions with letter-and-number logic, so the child must switch gears fast. The good news is that the underlying skills recur: recognise the family a question belongs to, recall the method, apply it. Our GL 11+ papers guide sets out the format in more detail, and every type below is covered in the free worksheet bank.
The word-meaning types
These lean directly on vocabulary and are the ones parents can build fastest at home with little-and-often flashcards, synonym lists and antonym pairs.
- Synonyms (closest in meaning) — pick the word most similar to a given word, e.g. rapid is closest to swift.
- Antonyms (opposite in meaning) — pick the opposite, e.g. the opposite of ancient is modern.
- Odd One Out — find the two words that do not belong with the other three by meaning (four fruits and one vegetable).
- Word Analogies — A is to B as C is to ? The relationship might be synonym, antonym, part/whole, cause/effect, category membership or degree of intensity.
- Complete the Sentence / Cloze — choose the word that best completes a sentence so it reads sensibly.
- Closest word pairs — from two groups, find the pair that means most nearly the same.
The letter-manipulation types
These reward a systematic eye and the habit of checking that every resulting word is real.
- Hidden Words — a 4-letter word hides across the end of one word and the start of the next. In "We had a lovely picnic near the lake", the join picni-c near hides CNEA? No — scan again and you find the real hidden word bridging the two words.
- Compound Words — join a word from one group with a word from another to make a real word, e.g. foot + ball.
- Move a Letter — remove one letter from word 1 and add it to word 2 so both remain real words: take the t from plant (leaving plan) and add it to hrone to make throne.
- Insert a Letter — one letter completes the first word and starts the second: hea(?)eal takes an r to give hear and real.
- Anagrams and Word Ladders — rearrange letters to make a new word, or change one letter at a time down a ladder.
The code and sequence types
These are pure "spot the rule, apply the rule" questions, and they are where our revision hub drills pay off most.
A Letter Code maps each letter to a shifted alphabet. Write the alphabet out and count the hop: if CAT is coded DBU, then every letter has moved +1, so the code for DOG is EPH. An Alphabet / Letter Sequence continues a paired-letter series — for AZ, CY, EX the first letter climbs +2 (A, C, E) while the second falls -1 (Z, Y, X), so the next pair is GW. Draw the hops above the letters and the rule reveals itself. Number Sequences ask for a missing term, Number Codes substitute letters for numbers, and Word Codes encode or decode a whole word against a shifted alphabet. You can practise this exact family in the timed mock papers.
The 21 types at a glance
| Family | Question types | Core skill |
|---|---|---|
| Word meaning | Synonyms, Antonyms, Odd One Out, Analogies, Cloze, Closest pairs | Vocabulary |
| Letter work | Hidden Words, Compound Words, Move a Letter, Insert a Letter, Anagrams | Careful scanning |
| Codes | Letter Codes, Word Codes, Number Codes | Alphabet hops |
| Sequences | Letter Sequences, Number Sequences, Word Ladders | Rule spotting |
| Mixed logic | Letter-number links, word-pair logic, making words by rule | Switching methods |
Timing, pacing and common traps
With roughly 35 to 50 seconds per question there is no time to stare. Teach a skip-and-return rhythm: attempt, and if the rule does not surface within about 20 seconds, mark the number, move on and come back. Process of elimination is your friend on multiple-choice — rule out two options and you have halved the risk. The traps children fall for are predictable: on Hidden Words and codes they focus on the letters and miss that meaning is not involved; on analogies they lock onto the first plausible link instead of testing it both ways; and on sequences they spot the first change but miss a second one happening at the same time. Marking practice at home matters as much as the drilling — a wrong answer usually points at one specific type to revisit, which is the parent-coaching angle behind every exam guide.
How scoring rewards the harder types
GL papers are converted to a Standardised Age Score (SAS), roughly on a 69 to 141 scale where 100 is average and many grammar schools look for about 111 or above, though exact marks vary by area and year. The score is age-adjusted by your child's exact age in months, so a younger child is not disadvantaged for sitting the same paper as an older one. Because every question carries equal weight, getting the trickier codes and sequences right lifts the SAS just as much as easy synonyms — which is precisely why meeting all 21 types, not just the comfortable ones, is worth the effort.
Frequently asked questions
How many Verbal Reasoning question types are there?
GL Assessment draws on 21 recognised types, which Bond labels Type A to Type U. A single paper uses a selection of them, not all 21 at once.
Does GL tell you which types will appear?
No. GL never discloses in advance which types are in a given paper, so the safest preparation is broad familiarity with every family rather than deep drilling of only a few.
How long is a Verbal Reasoning paper?
A typical GL VR paper runs around 50 minutes, is multiple-choice with a separate answer sheet, and allows roughly 35 to 50 seconds per question.