A Quest Admissions entrance exam consists of one or two parts. Your child’s target school will decide which parts to use in their entry process.

Both exam parts are taken online.

Part 1

Part 1 tests your child’s understanding of the content taught on the Key Stage 2 national curriculum, including maths and English comprehension. Some assessments will also include verbal and non-verbal reasoning. For more information about which subjects will be tested on your child’s exam, check your target school’s website.

Some of the content in Part 1 is adaptive. This means that questions are tailored to your child's responses. If your child answers lots of questions correctly, they will begin to see more challenging questions.

Adaptive testing meets children at their level. It helps them stay motivated and prevents them from feeling discouraged by seeing questions that are too difficult or from showcasing their true potential when answering questions that are too easy.

Maths

The maths section covers the topics taught on the national curriculum. Children taking a Quest assessment for 11+ entry will be tested on topics taught up to the end of Year 5.

Your child will be tested on arithmetic and number, geometry, measurement, and statistics. They will also have questions which assess mathematical reasoning and problem-solving. Your child will need to think carefully when answering these questions, as they’ll likely need to solve problems with several steps. They will have scrap paper and pencils to help them work through the problem.

English

The English section includes a reading comprehension exercise. Your child will see a passage of text and will answer questions to show that they can process and understand the text, analyse it, and infer meaning from context. Quest works with writers to produce challenging fiction and non-fiction texts that children enjoy. All texts are bespoke, so they are completely unseen for all children.

Some schools also include questions that test spelling, punctuation, grammar, and vocabulary and how your child can apply these skills in context. These questions cover topics including verb tenses, the main parts of speech, synonyms and antonyms.

Reading widely (including reading texts across different genres, and written by a range of authors) will help your child build these skills organically.

Verbal reasoning

Verbal reasoning measures your child’s ability to reason and solve problems with written information, like letters and words. In Quest exams, this involves solving problems with vocabulary and deductive reasoning. Children who read widely and have a wide vocabulary will be well-prepared for these questions.

Non-verbal reasoning

Non-verbal reasoning involves analysing visual information and solving problems using shapes, diagrams, and pictures. These sorts of questions test skills such as logic, spatial awareness, and maths. Playing puzzles and games such as Sudoku, Lego and Rubik’s Cubes is a great way to practise these skills.