Words in Eleven Plus Verbal Reasoning Tests

Verbal Reasoning tests presuppose that children are aware that the words they meet are presented in what is now called `Standard English'. In the classroom, however, comments, observations and answers by a child are usually delivered within closely controlled parameters. Most children are expected to answer reasonably formally. The eleven plus examinations insist on convergent answers.

Eleven plus examinations force children to prepare, think and write in predetermined lines. Children need to unnderstand words and have a usable vocabulary within the limits and the expectations of the paper they are working through. In multiple choice tests children do not have the opportunity to offer an answer that ouside of the choices on the paper.


Children who are thoughtful, divergent in thinking and have the ability to `think outside the box' could, sometimes, be held back becuase the answers they think up could, sometimes, be as correct as those offered by the person who has preapred the question paper.