Redbridge/Bexley-Style Mixed Mock
The Redbridge/Bexley-Style Mixed Mock is modelled on the 11+ testing arrangements run by Redbridge, home to Ilford County High School and Woodford County High School, and Bexley, home to schools such as Townley Grammar and Beths Grammar, two separate London grammar school areas that each run their own arrangements. This mock focuses on the non-verbal reasoning strand common to many London-area 11+ tests: spatial pattern questions such as series, matrices, rotations, reflections, cube nets and 3D block counting, answered from pictures alone.
Method
- Sort each question into its non-verbal reasoning family (series, matrix, odd one out, analogy, rotation, reflection, nets, 3D counting) before trying to solve it, since each family has its own reliable method.
- For matrix questions (a 3x3 grid of shapes with one missing), scan across each row and down each column separately to find two rules operating at once.
- For rotation questions, pick one fixed point on the shape (such as a shaded corner) and track only that point through the turn rather than the whole shape at once.
- For cube net and 3D block questions, count carefully and systematically (layer by layer, or face by face) rather than trying to picture the whole 3D shape instantly.
- Keep moving: non-verbal reasoning papers usually have many short questions in a tight time limit, so do not let one difficult question eat into time for several easier ones.
- Practise with real pencil-and-paper diagrams regularly in the weeks before the test, since spotting these patterns quickly is a trained skill, not just innate ability.
Worked example
A 3x3 grid of shapes has two rules: shading gets darker moving left to right along each row, and the shape rotates 90 degrees moving top to bottom down each column. The bottom-right cell is missing. The middle-right cell is a medium-grey triangle pointing right. What should the missing bottom-right cell look like?
- Apply the row rule first: shading gets darker moving left to right, so the bottom-right cell, being furthest right in its row, should have the darkest shading in that row, i.e. black.
- Apply the column rule: the shape rotates 90 degrees moving down the column, so starting from the middle-right cell (a triangle pointing right), the next cell down should be a triangle rotated 90 degrees from it.
- Combine both rules: the missing cell should be a triangle, rotated 90 degrees from the triangle in the middle-right cell, with the darkest shading in its row.
- Check consistency by comparing the top-right and middle-right cells' shading to confirm the row is indeed darkening left to right, and by checking two other cells in the same column to confirm the rotation direction.
- Final answer: a fully black triangle, rotated 90 degrees from the triangle in the middle-right cell.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1A sequence shows a hexagon with an increasing number of shaded sides (1 shaded, then 2, then 3). How many sides are shaded in the fourth shape?Show answer
Answer: 4 (the rule is add one more shaded side each time).
Q2Which of these is the odd one out: a black square, a black square, a white square with a black border, a black square?Show answer
Answer: The white square with a black border, since the other three are solid black.
Q3A shape is rotated 180 degrees. If the original shape has a dot in the top-left corner, where will the dot be after the rotation?Show answer
Answer: In the bottom-right corner (a 180 degree rotation swaps top-left with bottom-right).
Q4A cube net has six faces: red, blue, green, yellow, white and black. If red and black end up opposite each other when folded, and blue is opposite white, what is green opposite?Show answer
Answer: Yellow (with six faces in three opposite pairs, if red-black and blue-white are two pairs, the remaining pair must be green-yellow).
Q5A 3D shape is built from two layers: the bottom layer is a 3x2 arrangement of cubes, and the top layer is a single row of 2 cubes sitting on part of the bottom layer. How many cubes in total make up the shape?Show answer
Answer: 8 (bottom layer 3x2 = 6 cubes, top layer 2 cubes, 6 + 2 = 8).
Q6In a matrix analogy, a small black circle is to a large black circle as a small white square is to what?Show answer
Answer: A large white square (the rule is: the same shape and shading, but bigger).
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a 11+ exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
A 3D block is built by stacking cubes: a bottom layer of 4 x 3 cubes, and a top layer of 2 x 2 cubes placed centrally on top. How many cubes make up the whole block? Show your working. (3 marks)
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 3 available
In a 3x3 grid, the number of dots on each shape increases by one moving left to right along each row, and the shape's shading (white, grey, black) gets one shade darker moving top to bottom down each column. The top-left cell is a white shape with 1 dot. What should the shape in the middle cell of the grid (row 2, column 2) look like? Explain your reasoning. (3 marks)
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 3 available
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the redbridge/bexley-style mixed mock worksheet pack - 22 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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