Northern Ireland 11+ past papers
About the Northern Ireland 11+: AQE Common Entrance Assessment and PPTC Transfer Test.
Below you'll find every Northern Ireland practice paper currently catalogued on 11Plus Vault, grouped by subject. Each entry links through to a study page with timing, topic breakdown and mark scheme notes — written specifically for parents who are sitting alongside their child rather than for tutors. If you're new to Northern Ireland's arrangements, start with the highest-year paper for each subject (it best reflects current question style) and work backwards.
Maths
| Paper | Year | Provider | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland 11+ Maths Practice Paper (2021) | 2021 | AQE / GL | Standard |
English
| Paper | Year | Provider | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland 11+ English Practice Paper (2023) | 2023 | AQE / GL | Standard |
Verbal Reasoning
| Paper | Year | Provider | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland 11+ Verbal Reasoning Practice Paper (2015) | 2015 | AQE / GL | Foundation |
| Northern Ireland 11+ Verbal Reasoning Practice Paper (2023) | 2023 | AQE / GL | Stretch |
Non-Verbal Reasoning
| Paper | Year | Provider | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland 11+ Non-Verbal Reasoning Practice Paper (2012) | 2012 | AQE / GL | Standard |
How parents in Northern Ireland typically use these papers
Most families in Northern Ireland begin formal 11+ practice in Year 5, after the spring term. A sensible rhythm is one full paper per fortnight under realistic timing, with the in-between fortnight used to revisit the topics that the marked paper exposed as weak. Resist the temptation to drill paper after paper without time to digest mistakes — the children who improve fastest are the ones who can articulate why they got a question wrong, not the ones with the highest paper count.
Because the AQE / GL style is dominant here, expect a particular balance of question types: brisk arithmetic and proportion in Maths; comprehension that rewards careful re-reading rather than skimming in English; and pattern-spotting under tight time pressure in the reasoning papers. The papers below have been chosen to expose your child to that mix.
Mark scheme guidance is included for each paper. Use it not as a grade but as a diagnostic — a single missed question on, say, the nth term of a sequence often reveals a topic gap that would otherwise slip through unnoticed.
For a longer editorial walkthrough of Northern Ireland — registration deadlines, qualifying score band, oversubscription rules — read the dedicated Northern Ireland parent guide.