QE Boys 11+ practice: English, maths

The test

One sitting, with an English paper and a Maths paper.
Multiple choice, marked by machine.
Both scores are age-standardised and added together.
A combined $225$ makes him eligible. Places then go to the highest scores.

What to practise

Paper	Skills
English	Comprehension, spelling, punctuation and sentence completion
Maths	Number, measures, geometry, data and problem solving, without a calculator
Answering	A separate answer grid, in pencil

GL's free familiarisation papers, which QE points families to, are the best first look at the style.

Are there QE past papers?

No. QE does not supply past papers. Its sample test papers page links GL Assessment's free familiarisation booklets and says they may not match QE's own format. Treat anything sold as a real QE paper with caution.

Free sampler: a full passage and mixed maths

Nine English and eight Maths questions in the multiple-choice style, from our reviewed QE Boys practice. Mark it on screen or print it with a separate answer page.

QE Boys format sampler

QE-style sampler: a full passage and mixed maths

30:00

English · 15 min practice clock

Multiple choice, one answer each. Questions 1 to 6 are about the passage.

The quarry

[1]At four o'clock, Nia reached the old quarry with a map folded in her pocket, a small torch tied to her belt and her uncle's brass key on a cord around her neck. Her uncle had marked a star beside the words, 'Look where the water sings.' The quarry did not appear on her school map. Ferns crowded the path, and the rock walls held a thin green shadow even though the day was bright. She had promised to be home before tea, yet the map made the quarry feel like a question waiting for an answer.

[2]Nia followed a stream uphill. It slipped under roots, flashed over pebbles and finally disappeared beneath a shelf of stone. Beside the shelf stood a post with two blue ropes hanging from it. One rope led towards a narrow ledge; the other dipped into a dark tunnel. Nia chose the ledge because her torch beam was growing faint and the wind from the tunnel smelled of wet clay.

[3]The ledge curved around the quarry. Halfway along, Nia heard a clatter. A wooden crate had fallen from a ledge above and blocked the path. She tested it with her boot. The crate rocked, but it did not slide. Rather than heave it towards the drop, she tied her scarf to a tree root and climbed over the crate, keeping one hand on the rock.

[4]On the far side she found a flat stone shaped like a sleeping fox. Her uncle's star was scratched into its surface. Nia pressed the brass key into a slit beneath the fox's nose. A click echoed through the quarry. The stone shifted, revealing a small tin box, but at first Nia could see only a strip of red cloth inside.

[5]For a moment Nia felt cheated. Then she noticed that the cloth was tied around a second compass, its needle pointing not north but towards the tunnel. The wind had grown stronger there, humming like a distant kettle. Nia smiled, pulled her torch from her belt and returned to the blue ropes. The first clue had not ended the hunt; it had turned it around.

1.Choose ONE answer.

What did Nia carry in her pocket when she reached the quarry?

2.Choose ONE answer.

Why did Nia choose the narrow ledge instead of the dark tunnel?

AShe wanted to move the fallen crate before it blocked the ledge again.BShe saw her uncle's star painted beside one of the ropes.CShe had already spotted the red cloth beside the narrow ledge.DHer torch was fading, and tunnel air smelled of wet clay.EThe tunnel seemed inviting because its cold air smelled damp.

3.Choose ONE answer.

In the sentence 'Ferns crowded the path', what does 'crowded' mean?

4.Choose ONE answer.

Why does the writer describe the stone as 'shaped like a sleeping fox'?

ATo show that a real fox was hiding nearby in the quarry.BTo make the stone seem warm, soft and easy to touch.CTo picture the stone's curled, animal-like shape.DTo tell Nia that she should stop and sleep beside the stone.ETo explain why the quarry had been given a fox name.

5.Choose ONE answer.

What does 'The wind had grown stronger there, humming like a distant kettle' help the reader imagine?

AA steady, mysterious sound from the tunnel.BA sharp branch snapping high above the ledge in the dark.CComplete silence around the uphill stream and pebbles.DWarm air rising from the sunny ledge and rocks.EThe sudden crash of the wooden crate on the ledge.

6.Choose ONE answer.

Which statement best explains why the first clue 'turned it around'?

AIt sent Nia back to the quarry entrance before she solved anythingBIt made Nia lose the map she had carried into the quarryCThe box led to a compass that changed her next directionDIt brought a storm that forced Nia to wait beside the streamEIt made Nia prefer the blue ropes to the hidden stone

7.Choose ONE answer.

Four words are spelt correctly, but one has an error. Which word should be corrected?

8.Choose ONE answer.

Which sentence shows the room belongs to several teachers?

AThe teacher's room was locked.BThe teachers room was locked.CThe teachers' room's was locked.DThe teachers room was locked?EThe teachers' room was locked.

9.Choose ONE answer.

By the time the bell rang, Mina ___ her sketch.

Maths · 15 min practice clock

Multiple choice, one answer each. No calculator.

10.Choose ONE answer.

You have £30. You buy 2 tickets at £7.80 each and one drink costing £2.40. How much money is left?

11.Choose ONE answer.

Two items cost £30 and £50. A shop reduces both prices by 20%. What is the total sale price?

12.Choose ONE answer.

A bus leaves at 08:50 and then leaves at 15-minute intervals. Leo arrives at 09:07. How many minutes will he wait for the next bus?

13.Choose ONE answer.

A paint mixture has white and blue paint in the ratio 5:2 and totals 21 litres. How many litres of blue paint must be added so that the amounts of white and blue are equal?

14.Choose ONE answer.

A square has a perimeter of 36 centimetres. What is its area?

15.Choose ONE answer.

A sequence starts at 4 and has a constant increase. Its eighth term is 39. What is the increase between terms?

16.Choose ONE answer.

A child has £30. They spend one third of the £30 on a book and one fifth of the £30 on a game. How much money is left?

17.Choose ONE answer.

The numbers of seeds planted by four groups were 9, 13, 17 and 21. What is the sum of the range and the mean of the two middle numbers?

Reading practice results

You record	It tells you
Correct answers in a short set	Which skills are secure
Skipped or guessed items	Where pace or confidence needs work
Errors on the answer grid	Whether the marking routine needs practice

Next steps

Start with the placement check.
Learn one English or Maths skill, then check it in Practice.
Follow the 90-day roadmap to timed papers.