When a child struggles with 11+ maths, the problem is rarely the 11+ material itself. It's almost always a wobble further down: times tables that aren't automatic, place value that was never quite secure, fractions met too fast. Exam-style questions built on shaky foundations produce shaky results, however many papers a child sits. Here's what the foundations actually are, and how to tell whether your child has them.
The non-negotiables
Times tables, instantly. Not worked out, known. Almost every strand of 11+ maths (division, fractions, ratio, percentages, area) leans on multiplication facts, and a child who pauses to compute 7 × 8 pays that tax on every question. If nothing else on this page gets fixed, fix this: it's the highest-value five minutes a day in primary maths.
The four operations, with a reliable written method for each, including long multiplication and a workable division method, and the number sense to spot when an answer is obviously wrong. Speed matters less than reliability; reliability first, then speed.
Place value, deeply. Multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000 without moving a finger; understanding what the digits in 3.07 actually mean. Decimals and measurement questions stand or fall here.
Fractions, decimals and percentages as one connected idea. The 11+ loves asking children to compare or convert between them. A child who knows a half, a quarter, three quarters, tenths and fifths in all three costumes, and can find a fraction or percentage of an amount, is equipped for a huge slice of the paper.
The multi-step leap
The biggest jump from school maths to 11+ maths isn't content, it's steps. School questions tend to ask one thing; entrance exam questions chain two or three. "A shirt costs £24 in a 25% off sale; what was the original price?" is arithmetic a Year 5 child can do, arranged in a shape many haven't met.
The skill that unlocks multi-step problems is unglamorous: writing working down. Children resist this, because holding it in your head feels quicker. It is quicker, right up until it isn't, and marks vanish. In sessions I treat working as the method itself: what do I know, what do I need, what's the first step?
How to spot gaps at home
Skip the practice paper; ask small, direct questions. What's 6 × 7? What's 62 minus 38, in your head? What's a quarter of 60? What's 3.5 × 10? What's 10% of £40? Instant, comfortable answers mean foundations are likely sound and exam preparation can build on them. Hesitation on more than a couple means the gap-filling comes first, and honestly, that's good news: foundations respond quickly to targeted work, and marks improve fast once they're in place.
Little and often wins
Maths fluency is a fitness, not a fact. Ten minutes daily beats an hour on Sunday, every time. Tables in the car, mental arithmetic over breakfast, real money at the shops, halving recipes: children who meet numbers casually and often stop flinching at them. The exam is then a place to show fluency rather than summon courage.
If you suspect gaps but aren't sure where, a proper diagnosis is exactly what my first sessions are for. The easiest first step is a free 15-minute phone chat.