What is VR?

‘NVR’ and ‘VR’ will be two unfamiliar terms to parents new to the 11 plus journey. VR stands for Verbal Reasoning. 

VR is to do with words and numbers (as opposed to shapes, which is what NVR is concerned with) and always follows a logic.  

Number-based VR

To really understand VR, we need to look at some examples. Below is an example of number-based VR questions. 

At first glance it may not seem clear what the question is asking (or if they are even questions at all!). The most important thing is to identify the logic and once that’s done, the answers become obvious.

If we look at the first question on the first line, we have 10 [23] 3. 

This is telling us that the numbers in the square brackets ([ ]) are somehow linked to the numbers outside the square brackets. Something needs to be done to the numbers outside of the square brackets to reach the number inside the square bracket. 

So, in the case of 10 [23] 3, we have to use the numbers 10 and 3 to make 23 somehow.  But this is where it gets tricky: whatever rule we apply to the first 3 pairs of numbers, we have to apply the same rule to the whole line of numbers. If the rule doesn’t work for all of the numbers, the logic is wrong. 

Let’s work through one step-by-step. If we look at the first question on the first line, we have 10 [23] 3. 

If we double the first number (10) and then add the last number (3) we end up with 23. Let’s apply this same rule to the next set of numbers: 5 [16] 6. If we double 5 and add 6, we get 16. This tells us that the rule/ logic works, therefore we can apply the same rule to the last set of numbers: if we double 2 and add 5, we get 9, so the answer is 9. 

The next line, however, has a different logic, but whatever that logic is, it will apply to the whole line of numbers. 

Word-based VR

Word-based VR is less to do with logic and more to do with knowledge of words and meanings. Children that read regularly, and therefore have a better vocabulary, tend to do well in word-based VR. 

There are different types of VR questions that exist. Let’s take a look at one type below:

The aim of this task is to insert a letter into the bracket, and once inserted, it should create an independent word to the left of the bracket and a separate, independent word to the right of the bracket. Whatever letter you use for the words on the left, you have to use the same letter for the words on the right. 

In the first line, we see SPRIN( )RAIN. If we put the letter ‘T’ inside the bracket, it will make ‘sprint’ to the left of the bracket and ‘train’ on the right of the bracket. To be sure, you can try another letter that might work to test it. For example, if we put a ‘’G’ in the bracket, it makes ‘spring’ to the left of the bracket, which works, and also makes ‘grain’ to the right of the bracket. So a ‘T’’ or a ‘G’ works for the first pair of words. The next pair of words are ROAS( )REND. If we put a ‘T’ in the bracket, it makes ‘roast’ and ‘trend’, which works. But if we put a ‘G’, we get ‘roasg’ and ‘grend’, which obviously does not work. Therefore, the correct answer is ‘T’. 

Children that are regular readers will be able to figure out the answer very quickly, whereas non-readers may need to do some trial and error with different letters to reach the correct answer. In an exam, this eats up valuable time.  As with every subject in the 11+ curriculum, practice is key.

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