11+ · Topic guide

Kent Test-Style Mock 5

Kent Test-Style Mock 5 continues practising the non-verbal reasoning content of the Kent Test's Reasoning paper, which combines verbal and non-verbal reasoning within one timed section on behalf of Kent County Council. This mock focuses on rotation and reflection questions and on 2x2 grid (matrix) puzzles, where shapes and their features are described in words rather than shown as pictures.

Year 5-6 (11+)Non-Verbal ReasoningGL AssessmentCEM

Before you start

Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:

Method

  1. For a rotation question, work out the direction, clockwise or anti-clockwise, and the size of the turn, such as a quarter turn or a half turn, from the given examples before applying it to a new shape.
  2. For a reflection question, remember that a mirror image reverses left-right features, such as which side an arrow or marking points to, while keeping the shape's size and outline the same.
  3. For a 2x2 grid (matrix) puzzle, look along each row and down each column separately to find how a feature, such as number of sides, shading or size, changes, since a matrix rule can run across rows, down columns, or both at once.
  4. Once you have found a rule for the rows and a rule for the columns, apply both together to work out the missing shape in the grid, checking it fits both rules at the same time.
  5. Where a shape both rotates and changes another feature, such as shading, between steps, track each feature's rule separately rather than trying to spot one combined pattern at once.
  6. Work through rotation, reflection and matrix questions briskly once a rule is confirmed, since these sections usually contain many short questions of equal value.

Worked example

A shape has an arrow pointing to the right. The shape is rotated 90 degrees clockwise. Which direction does the arrow now point?

  1. Picture the arrow starting by pointing right, towards 3 o'clock on a clock face.
  2. A 90 degree clockwise rotation moves the direction one quarter-turn in the clockwise direction.
  3. Moving clockwise from right (3 o'clock) by a quarter turn brings the arrow to point downwards, towards 6 o'clock.
  4. Final answer: the arrow now points downwards.

Practice questions

Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.

Q1A shape has an arrow pointing upwards. The shape is rotated 90 degrees anti-clockwise. Which direction does the arrow now point?Show answer

Answer: To the left (a quarter turn anti-clockwise from up moves to left).

Got it right?
Q2A shape has a dot in its top-left corner. The shape is reflected in a vertical mirror line (a left-right flip). Where is the dot now?Show answer

Answer: In the top-right corner (a left-right reflection swaps left and right, keeping top and bottom the same).

Got it right?
Q3In a 2x2 grid, the top-left shape has 3 sides, the top-right shape has 4 sides and the bottom-left shape has 4 sides. Each row's shapes increase by 1 side moving left to right, and each column's shapes increase by 1 side moving top to bottom. How many sides does the bottom-right shape have?Show answer

Answer: 5 sides (bottom-left plus 1 = 4 + 1 = 5, which also equals top-right plus 1 = 4 + 1 = 5, so both rules agree).

Got it right?
Q4A shape rotates 180 degrees. If it started with a dot in the top-left corner, where is the dot now?Show answer

Answer: In the bottom-right corner (a 180 degree rotation moves a feature to the diagonally opposite corner).

Got it right?
Q5A shape has 2 dots and is shaded grey. In a sequence, the number of dots increases by 1 each step and the shading alternates grey, white, grey, white, starting from grey. What does the third shape in the sequence look like?Show answer

Answer: 4 dots, shaded grey (the dots go 2, 3, 4; the shading goes grey, white, grey).

Got it right?
Q6A shape is reflected in a horizontal mirror line (a top-bottom flip). If it started with a dot in the bottom-left corner, where is the dot now?Show answer

Answer: In the top-left corner (a top-bottom reflection swaps top and bottom, keeping left and right the same).

Got it right?

Exam-style questions

Written in the style of a 11+ exam paper, with a full mark scheme.

Q1[4 marks]

In a 2x2 grid, the top-left shape is a triangle with 1 dot, the top-right shape is a triangle with 2 dots and the bottom-left shape is a square with 1 dot. The rule across each row is that the number of dots increases by 1 from left to right, and the rule down each column is that the shape changes from a triangle to a square. What shape, and how many dots, does the bottom-right shape have? Explain your reasoning.

Show mark scheme

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Q2[4 marks]

A shape has an arrow pointing upwards. It undergoes two changes in sequence: first it is rotated 90 degrees clockwise, then it is reflected in a vertical mirror line. What direction does the arrow point after both changes? Explain each step.

Show mark scheme

Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.

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Got it right?

Free printable worksheet

Want more practice on paper? Download the kent test-style mock 5 worksheet pack - 21 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.

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