Resource of the Week - Verbal & Non-verbal Reasoning Guide

Our resource this week is a great beginner’s guide for verbal & non-verbal reasoning from Shaftesbury Park Primary School. It is designed for students preparing for the 11+ who need support in facing these two tests for the first time or who require a few more tips on how to do well in the verbal & non-verbal reasoning tests. You can download the resource by visiting our English resources section on our website or download it directly by clicking here.

This is a great resource for students to use to develop their understanding of the core elements of the verbal & non-verbal reasoning tests. The resource provides a selection of different question types and gives tips on how to answer them. The resource itself is quite explanatory, however, below is our general advice for students when revising for their verbal and non-verbal reasoning tests.

Verbal Reasoning

• Practise verbal reasoning past papers in timed conditions to increase speed and familiarity with the question types. The papers are usually designed to have more questions than can be answered in the time frame. It is vital that students become accustomed to working through verbal reasoning examination papers quickly and accurately. The more they do so, the quicker and more accurate they become; this increases the marks that students can achieve in their verbal reasoning exam.

• Develop a wider vocabulary by reading a variety of literature such as novels, plays, magazines and newspapers. It is essential for the students to read literature that they find engaging and fun as this will increase motivation and focus thereby increasing the amount of vocabulary that the students absorb.

• Use new vocabulary that you have learned in conversation with others - this helps to embed the vocabulary in the student’s active vocabulary (as opposed to passive vocabulary - words that are known but not used by the student).

• Practise word puzzles and games to increase students’ mental flexibility and adaptability as well as their problem-solving skills. This should be done alongside past paper practice for verbal reasoning.

Non-verbal Reasoning

• Practise non-verbal reasoning past papers in timed conditions to increase speed and familiarity with the question types. Once again, the papers are usually designed to have more questions than can be answered in the time frame. It is vital that students become accustomed to working through the papers quickly and accurately. The more they do so, the quicker and more accurate they become; this increases the marks that students can achieve in their non-verbal reasoning exam.

• Practise puzzles and logical thinking games to increase students’ mental flexibility and adaptability as well as their problem-solving skills. This should be done alongside past paper practice for non-verbal reasoning.

We hope that this resource will be used to aid students’ understanding of verbal and non-verbal reasoning and improve their speed and accuracy in completing tests. From all of us at Libra Education, never stop learning!