Verbal reasoning practice for 11+ and CAT4. Free to start

Verbal reasoning is thinking with words: spotting how words relate, cracking letter and number codes, finding a word hidden inside a sentence, working out what must be true from a set of clues. It turns up in two places most families meet. The CAT4 has a verbal battery, built on classification and analogies. Many 11+ exams set a whole verbal reasoning paper, with a much wider spread of question families.

Puzzitron practises all of them as short runs with a retro-arcade look. Each question type has its own ladder, so your child starts gently and climbs, and every answer comes with a short explanation of why. When they are ready, the word mock paper sets 80 questions against one 50-minute clock, with the question type changing in blocks as it does on an 11+ style paper.

Free to start, with every skill area, 20 questions a day and one mock paper. Puzzitron Plus lifts the daily limit and opens every mock paper; see pricing. New to the subject? Our guide, verbal reasoning explained, walks through the question types with examples.

Verbal reasoning question types covered

Grouped the way a parent would explain them. Every type listed is in the bank today, at several levels of difficulty.

Word meanings

Synonyms, opposites, double meanings (one word that fits two pairs), pair up, odd two out, and CAT4-style verbal classification.

Analogies

Verbal analogies (A is to B as C is to ?) and letter analogies, where one letter pair changes into another by a rule your child has to find.

Building and hiding words

Compound words, missing three-letter words, hidden words across a sentence, insert a letter, move a letter, word builder and anagrams.

Letters and codes

Letter series that move through the alphabet by a pattern, and ciphers that turn words into letter or number codes and back.

Sentences and logic

Cloze (pick the word that fills the gap) and work it out: read a set of clues, then find the one statement that must be true.

Number puzzles on the word paper

Function machines, missing-number puzzles and number groups. 11+ style verbal papers often include these, so they sit here too.

Frequently asked

What is verbal reasoning?

Verbal reasoning is problem-solving with words and letters: how words relate, how codes work, what follows from a set of facts. The CAT4 verbal battery uses classification and analogy questions. 11+ style verbal reasoning papers add many more families, such as codes, hidden words, letter sequences and compound words.

Is this the real 11+ or CAT4 verbal reasoning test?

No. Puzzitron is 11+ style and CAT4-style practice, not affiliated with GL Assessment or any other exam board or school. Scores on Puzzitron are practice estimates, not predictions of a real exam result.

Which verbal reasoning question types does it cover?

21 in all, listed above: word meanings, analogies, building and hiding words, letter series, codes, cloze, logic, and the number puzzles that appear on 11+ style verbal papers.

Will it help my child's vocabulary?

Several types lean on vocabulary, such as synonyms, opposites and double meanings, and every answer comes with a short explanation, so new words are met in context. Reading widely is still the biggest help for vocabulary; practice here makes the question styles familiar.

How long is the mock paper?

80 questions in 50 minutes, against one clock for the whole paper. Question types arrive in blocks and the instructions change between them, so your child practises reading a new rubric under time pressure. It is offered from Year 4 up, and not when a child is set to CAT4 only. Free accounts can sit one mock paper; Plus opens every mock paper.

Is it free?

Yes, to start. One child can use Puzzitron free for as long as you like, with every skill area, 20 questions a day and no card. Puzzitron Plus adds unlimited practice, every mock paper and the full parent report for up to 5 children, from £6.99 a month, or £59 for a 12-month pass paid once.

Verbal reasoning practice for 11+ and CAT4

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