When I started looking into 11 plus maths topics for my son, I expected a simple list. What I got instead was a mess of conflicting forum posts, out-of-date PDFs, and tutoring companies that would only share the full picture once I booked a consultation. GL Assessment themselves don't publish a detailed syllabus for parents. They give schools a framework, and parents get to guess.
So I did what any stubborn person would do. I worked through past papers, spoke to tutors who actually set practice materials, and mapped out what GL Assessment 11 plus maths actually covers. Here's the breakdown in plain English, organised by the five main topic areas your child will face.
Number and algebra
This is the backbone of the GL Assessment maths paper. If your child is going to be strong in one area, make it this one. It carries the most weight and touches almost every question type.
At its core, number and algebra tests whether your child can work confidently with whole numbers up to at least a million. That means place value, ordering, rounding, and all four operations. They'll need to handle long multiplication and short division without a calculator. They should be comfortable with negative numbers and understand how number sequences work, including ones that use rules like "multiply by 2 then subtract 3."
The algebra side at this level isn't x and y equations. It's pattern-based. Your child might see a sequence of shapes where each one adds a fixed number of dots, and they'll need to work out the rule and predict the 10th or 20th shape. They might get a function machine where a number goes in, something happens to it, and they have to figure out the operation. It's logical thinking dressed up as maths.
Where children stumble is usually with multi-step problems that combine operations. A question might ask them to find the difference between two products, or work backwards from an answer to find a missing number. The maths itself isn't beyond what schools teach. The way GL frames the questions is what makes it tricky.
Fractions, decimals and percentages
This is the topic area that catches the most Year 5 children off guard. Schools cover fractions across Years 4 and 5, but the GL exam expects fluency that goes well beyond classroom pace.
Your child needs to compare and order fractions with different denominators. They need to add and subtract fractions, including mixed numbers. They need to convert between fractions, decimals, and percentages and move between them quickly. A typical GL question might ask which is larger: 3/8, 0.4, or 35%. That requires your child to convert all three into the same form and compare them under time pressure.
Percentage questions often involve real-world contexts. Finding 15% of 240. Working out what percentage 36 is of 120. Calculating a sale price after a 20% discount. These aren't difficult concepts in isolation, but GL papers combine them with other operations or embed them in word problems that add an extra layer of reading comprehension.
The children who do well here practised enough that conversion between forms became automatic. If your child still counts on their fingers to find equivalent fractions, this area needs work before the exam.
Geometry and measurement
Geometry on the GL Assessment paper covers shapes, angles, symmetry, coordinates, and units of measurement. It's a broad area but the questions tend to cluster around a few reliable themes.
Your child should know the properties of 2D and 3D shapes. Not just names, but specifics: how many faces does a triangular prism have, what's the difference between a rhombus and a parallelogram, which shapes have rotational symmetry of order 2. They'll need to measure and calculate angles, including working out missing angles on a straight line or at a point. They should understand reflection and rotation, and be able to plot and read coordinates in all four quadrants.
Measurement questions test conversions between units. Kilometres to metres, litres to millilitres, kilograms to grams. GL likes to set these in context: "A jug holds 1.5 litres. Each glass holds 250ml. How many glasses can be filled?" That question tests division and unit conversion at the same time.
Area and perimeter come up reliably. Your child should be able to calculate the area of rectangles, triangles, and simple compound shapes. Perimeter questions sometimes involve finding missing lengths from partial information, which tests reasoning as much as arithmetic.
Data and statistics
This is usually the smallest section on the GL paper, but it's also the one where children can pick up marks quickly if they've seen the question types before.
Your child will need to read and interpret bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, and tables. That sounds simple, but GL doesn't just ask "what's the value for March." They'll ask comparison questions: "How much more did Shop A sell than Shop B in the first quarter?" or "In which month was the difference between the two shops greatest?" These require your child to extract multiple values and do mental arithmetic with them.
Mean averages come up. Your child should be able to calculate the mean of a small data set and understand what it represents. They might also see questions about range. Probability at this level is basic: understanding that a fair dice has a 1 in 6 chance of landing on any number, or that picking a red sweet from a bag of mixed colours has a probability that can be expressed as a fraction.
The real challenge in this section isn't the maths. It's the reading. Data questions tend to come with a lot of information on the page, and children who rush through without reading carefully make avoidable mistakes.
Problem solving and reasoning
This isn't a separate section on the GL paper, but it runs through everything. The questions that separate children who pass from children who don't are almost always the multi-step problems that require reasoning across topics.
A typical problem-solving question might describe a real situation. Someone is tiling a bathroom floor. The floor is 3.6m by 2.4m. Each tile is 30cm square. Tiles come in boxes of 15 and cost £8.50 per box. How much will it cost to tile the floor? That single question tests area calculation, unit conversion, division, rounding up to whole boxes, and multiplication with decimals.
These questions are where GL Assessment 11 plus maths gets genuinely hard. The individual skills aren't beyond a Year 5 or 6 child. But combining them under time pressure, in an unfamiliar context, with no room for careless errors is demanding. Children who've only practised isolated arithmetic struggle here.
Working backwards is another common format. "I think of a number, multiply it by 4, add 7, and get 31. What was my number?" Your child needs to reverse the operations in the right order. These feel like puzzles. Children who've never seen them before can find them confusing, but with a bit of practice they click quickly.
Finding out where your child stands
Reading through the 11 plus maths topics is useful, but it doesn't tell you which ones your child actually needs to work on. That's the bit that matters. You could spend months drilling fractions when your child's real weakness is in geometry, or vice versa.
The free ReadyFor11 diagnostic is built around exactly this. Your child sits a GL Assessment-aligned maths test that covers these topic areas, and you get a breakdown showing where they're strong and where the gaps are. It takes about thirty minutes and there's no paywall, no account required, no catch.
Take the diagnostic at www.readyfor11.co.uk and you'll know precisely which topics need attention. That's a better starting point than any list.
Frequently asked questions
Does GL Assessment publish an official maths syllabus?
Not for parents. GL provides frameworks to schools, but there's no public document listing every topic. The content aligns broadly with the Key Stage 2 national curriculum up to the end of Year 5, with some questions that stretch into early Year 6 territory. The breakdown above covers what actually appears on the papers based on past exam analysis.
How hard is the maths on the GL 11+?
The hardest questions go beyond what most children cover in class by the time they sit the exam. The maths itself is KS2 level, but GL presents it in unfamiliar contexts and multi-step formats that require speed, accuracy, and reasoning together. A child performing well in school maths still benefits from targeted practice with GL-style questions.
Should my child memorise times tables before starting 11+ prep?
Yes. Fluent recall of times tables up to 12x12 is non-negotiable. Almost every topic area relies on quick multiplication and division. If your child is still working out 7x8 by counting, that's the first thing to fix. Everything else builds on it.
Is the GL maths paper the same in every area?
No. GL provides the test, but schools and local authorities can choose different configurations. Some areas test maths as a standalone paper. Others combine it with other subjects. The actual maths content is consistent, but the number of questions and time allowed can vary. Check your specific area's format before preparing.