If you’re preparing for your child to take the 11 plus, knowing what to expect is invaluable. These two topics are renowned for being among the most challenging in the 11 plus maths exam. We recommend starting preparation early and ensuring your child builds knowledge and confidence in these areas.
As 11 plus exams come around at the start of Year 6, your child is unlikely to have spent much, if any, time on algebra in the classroom yet.
Algebra
Algebra is covered in Year 6 as part of the national curriculum. Your child will be taught to:
- Use simple formulae
- Generate and describe linear number sequences
- Express missing number problems algebraically
- Find pairs of numbers that satisfy an equation with two unknown numbers
But as 11 plus exams come around at the start of Year 6, your child is unlikely to have spent much, if any, time on algebra in the classroom yet. During Year 5, it’s a good idea to help your child gain a firm understanding of key algebra subtopics at home, followed by exploring learning beyond the foundations of algebra.
As a bonus, this will give them a head start in a topic that will form an increasing part of the maths curriculum they’ll encounter at secondary school, up to GCSE and beyond.
Here is an example algebra question:
Three apples and a banana cost 32p. 6 apples and a banana cost 53p. How much does one banana cost?
One way to work this sort of question out, is to use the grid method, shown below:
Word Problems
Word problems are infamous for costing children marks on 11 plus maths papers. Often there are multiple steps to be made. It is vital that children show their working out so that they can gain as many marks as possible.
Here is an example word question:
Maya gets £105 for her birthday. She spends £15 at the cinema. She spends a third of the remaining money on a gift to her brother. How much money does she have left?
To build confidence with solving word problems, have your child complete practice questions in this style, then talk through their answers together. Ask them to explain their thought process to you. Over time, your child will become comfortable with converting worded questions into numerical sums.
Encourage your child to always take the time to read the question carefully, and it will become habit. This will make them less likely to be caught out by surprising wording in the real exam – and more likely to pick up marks where most of their peers are dropping them.
Look how I have solved this problem using the bar modelling method:
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