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NVR - Looking at a Shape and Making a Code (2)
This free 11 Plus Non-Verbal Reasoning guide explains code questions involving rotation and shading.
In the previous Codes guide, children learned how letters can represent features such as direction and internal lines. This guide adds two more common coding features: the way shapes point or rotate, and the way shapes are shaded.
This guide is designed for parents helping children revise for the 11 Plus, especially when children need to decode one letter at a time rather than guessing from the whole shape.
This 11 Plus guide is free to read and use. It is part of our free 11 Plus Non-Verbal Reasoning exam illustrations, created to help parents understand the question types children may meet.
Please note that the guide is free, while playing the linked 11 Plus quizzes for regular practice requires a subscription.
What Do Rotation and Shading Codes Test?
In Non-Verbal Reasoning code questions, each letter stands for one feature of a shape.
That feature might be the type of shape, its direction, the number of parts, the shading, or whether it contains a line or other internal detail.
In this guide, the focus is on rotation and shading. Children need to compare shapes that share a code letter and work out which visual feature that letter represents.
How Are These Questions Shown in the 11 Plus Exam?
Candidates are shown three coded shapes or symbols. Each one has a pair of letters, or sometimes three letters.
They are then shown a test shape and asked which code letters describe it using the same system.
The best method is to compare shapes that share a letter and ask what they have in common.
Example One:
Look at the shapes provided on the left. Decide on the meaning of the code created by the letters next to the shapes. Each letter means something and can be determined by looking at the symbols. Then look at the test shape and decide which of the given code letters is an accurate description of it.
.JPG "Looking at a Shape and Making a Code 2")
Example One: Coding Shape Type and Direction
This example involves different arrow shapes and rotation.
The first thing to do is look for repeated letters in the codes.
The first and second shapes both have the letter K. This suggests that K describes something those two shapes share.
Both shapes have two arrow heads, so K appears to mean that the shape has two arrow heads.
The third shape does not share this feature, so its second code letter is L. The test shape also has the same one-arrow-head structure, so its second letter must be L.
Parent explanation: Children should pay attention to letter position. If the second letters are K, K and L, that usually means the second letter is describing the same type of feature across the examples.
Finding the Direction Letter
The first code letter must describe a different feature.
In this example, the useful feature is the direction the arrow shape is facing.
The test shape faces the same way as the first shape, so it takes the same first letter: D.
The full code is therefore DL, which is answer A.
Why Letter Order Matters
In many code questions, the order of the letters matters.
The first letter may describe direction or rotation, while the second letter may describe shape type, shading or an internal feature.
Children should avoid treating the code as a random pair of letters. Instead, they should work out what each letter position represents.
Example Two:
Look at the shapes provided on the left. Decide on the meaning of the code created by the letters next to the shapes. Each letter means something and can be determined by looking at the symbols. Then look at the test shape and decide which of the given code letters is an accurate description of it.
.JPG "Looking at a Shape and Making a Code 3")
Example Two: Coding Shading and Internal Lines
In the second example, children again need to find similarities between shapes that share a letter.
The letter A is common to the first and second shapes.
The main feature those two shapes share, which the third shape does not, is the stepped line in the middle.
The third shape has a different step shape. The test shape matches this, so it must use the letter B.
This rules out any answer options that do not begin with B.
Finding the Shading Letter
Once the internal shape has been decoded, the remaining letter must describe a different feature.
In this example, all the shapes are circles, so shape type is not the key feature.
The remaining useful feature is shading.
The test shape has the same shading as the second shape, so it takes the letter Y.
The full code is therefore BY, which is answer E.
Technique tip: Once one letter has been decoded, cross out answer options that cannot fit. Then use the remaining visual feature to find the second letter.
Common Features Used in Code Questions
By this stage, children have seen several common ways code questions can be built.
Code letters may describe:
- Whether a shape points up, down, left or right
- Whether a shape has been rotated
- Whether a shape has an internal line
- The type of shape or number of arrow heads
- Shading or fill pattern
- Internal marks, steps or symbols
If children get stuck, they should compare the coded examples feature by feature.
Common Mistakes to Watch For
Children may lose marks on rotation and shading codes because they decode only one part of the code.
Common mistakes include:
- Ignoring the position of a code letter
- Missing the direction a shape is facing
- Confusing shape type with rotation
- Overlooking shading
- Forgetting to cross out impossible options
- Choosing a familiar-looking code without checking both letters
A calm, letter-by-letter method is usually more useful than guessing. Accuracy should come before speed during early 11 Plus revision.
11 Plus Practice Quizzes for Codes
This free guide explains code questions involving rotation and shading, but practice helps children become more familiar with the format.
Education Quizzes has fourteen quizzes that support this skill, including Code Breaker and Shapes and Letters quizzes.
Next Steps for Parents
This guide has shown how rotation, direction, internal lines and shading can be used in 11 Plus Non-Verbal Reasoning code questions.
The final Codes guide looks at more advanced code questions, including codes with three letters and codes where a required letter may not appear in the sample answers.
Reading that free guide before quiz practice may help children feel more prepared for trickier code questions.
Remember: This 11 Plus guide is free to use. The linked quizzes are available by subscription and provide the regular practice children need to apply the method confidently.
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