11 Plus Science Preparation Guide 2026

Science is not tested by the standard GL Assessment, CEM, or CSSE 11+ papers used by most grammar schools, but it is a component of the FSCE (Future Stories Community Enterprise) exam — now used by 10 grammar schools including Reading School and Chelmsford County High School for Girls — and by a number of independent schools testing at 11+. This guide explains exactly which exams include science, what the KS2 topics are, and how to build an effective science revision plan for the 2026 exam cycle.

Which 11+ Exams Include a Science Component in 2026?

The first step in preparing for 11+ science is knowing whether your child's target school actually tests it. Many parents assume all 11+ exams cover science — in fact, the majority do not. Here is a breakdown of the main exam formats and their science inclusion for 2026 entry (Year 7 September 2026).

The FSCE is growing rapidly — for 2027 entry, Ermysted's Grammar School, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith, and Clitheroe Royal Grammar School are joining the format, bringing the total to 10 schools. Science content in the FSCE does not go beyond Year 5 curriculum, so no content is unfamiliar to a well-prepared child. For a full overview of the FSCE, see our dedicated FSCE 11+ guide.

If your child is applying to an independent school, check the school's own admissions page carefully. Around 10 senior and prep-school independent institutions use Common Entrance at 11+, which includes a science paper covering biology, chemistry, and physics. Others set bespoke entry tests that may or may not include science questions. Never assume — the school website is the only reliable source.

What Are the KS2 Science Topics Tested in the 11+?

Whether the exam is FSCE or an independent school paper, 11+ science draws from the Key Stage 2 national curriculum, specifically content taught up to the end of Year 5. The three strands are biology (living things and life processes), chemistry (materials, their properties and changes), and physics (forces, energy, Earth and space). No single exam tests every topic with equal weighting — but thorough coverage of all three strands is the only safe approach, because topic distribution shifts between papers.

One important distinction is the question style. The 11+ science paper rewards application and reasoning, not simple recall. A question about electricity will not just ask what a circuit is — it may show a diagram and ask which bulb will be brightest, or what happens if one wire is disconnected. This means children who have merely "covered" these topics in class are often less prepared than they feel. Targeted, exam-style practice for each topic is essential.

For context: the GL Assessment website confirms that their practice papers cover verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, English, and maths — science is not listed, and GL Assessment does not produce science preparation papers. This confirms that parents of children targeting standard GL Assessment grammar schools can safely exclude science from their 11+ prep.

Biology Topics for the 11+ Science Paper

Biology is typically the largest strand in 11+ science papers, making up roughly 35–40% of science questions in FSCE and independent school exams. The topics below all appear within the KS2 Year 3 to Year 5 curriculum.

Plants: The structure and function of flowering plants — roots, stem, leaves, and flowers. How plants reproduce, including the role of pollination, fertilisation, seed dispersal, and germination. The conditions needed for plant growth (light, water, warmth, nutrients) and how plants make food through photosynthesis. Exam questions often present an experimental setup — for example, comparing plant growth under different light conditions — and ask children to draw conclusions.

Animals including humans: The human digestive system, including the role of teeth, the stomach, the small intestine, and the large intestine. The circulatory system — the heart as a pump, arteries and veins, and the role of blood. Nutrition: food groups and their functions (carbohydrates for energy, protein for growth and repair, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water). Food chains and food webs, including producers, consumers, predators, and prey.

Living things and habitats: Classification of living things — the differences between mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates. How living things are adapted to their environments. The characteristics of living things (MRS GREN: movement, respiration, sensitivity, growth, reproduction, excretion, nutrition). Life cycles of different organisms, including birds, amphibians, insects, and mammals.

Evolution and inheritance: How offspring inherit characteristics from parents. Variation within a species. The concept of adaptation — how animals and plants develop features suited to their environment over time. How fossils provide evidence for the history of life on Earth. While this topic appears mainly in Year 6, exam boards drawing from Year 5 content may include basic concepts.

Chemistry and Physics Topics for 11+ Science

Chemistry and physics together make up the remaining 60–65% of 11+ science content in FSCE and independent school papers, typically split roughly evenly. These topics tend to generate more unfamiliar question scenarios — children find them harder to revise because they are less narrative than biology.

States of matter (Chemistry): Solids, liquids, and gases — their properties and how to describe them in terms of particle arrangement. Changes of state: melting, freezing, evaporation, condensation, and sublimation. The water cycle as a real-world application. Reversible changes (dissolving, melting, evaporation) versus irreversible changes (burning, rusting, cooking). Dissolving — the concept of a solution, solute, and solvent, and why temperature affects how quickly something dissolves.

Materials and their properties (Chemistry): Comparing materials by properties: hardness, flexibility, transparency, conductivity (electrical and thermal), and solubility. Grouping and classifying materials. Separating mixtures: sieving, filtering, evaporation, and magnetic separation. Which method of separation is appropriate for a given mixture is a common exam question type.

Forces and motion (Physics): Contact forces (friction, air resistance, water resistance, upthrust) and non-contact forces (gravity, magnetic force). The effects of forces on objects: speed, direction, and shape. How streamlining reduces air resistance. Gravity as the force that pulls objects towards Earth. Levers, pulleys, and gears as simple machines that change the size or direction of a force.

Light (Physics): How light travels in straight lines and how shadows are formed. Reflection: how mirrors work, the angle of incidence equalling the angle of reflection. Refraction: why objects appear bent in water. The sun as a light source and the moon as a reflector. How the eye sees objects. Exam questions frequently use ray diagrams.

Sound (Physics): How sound is produced by vibrations. How sound travels through different materials (solid, liquid, gas) at different speeds. Pitch (determined by frequency) and volume (determined by amplitude). How the ear detects sound. Why sound cannot travel through a vacuum.

Electricity (Physics): Series and parallel circuits. Components: cell, battery, bulb, switch, motor, buzzer. How to construct a simple circuit from a diagram. What happens when components are added or removed from a series circuit. Conductors and insulators. This is one of the highest-yield topics — circuit diagram reading appears in virtually every independent school science paper.

Earth and space (Physics): The solar system — the eight planets, their relative sizes and distances from the sun. The movement of the Earth around the sun (one year) and the rotation of the Earth on its axis (one day). Why we have day and night, and why seasons change. The moon's movement around the Earth (approximately one month). Phases of the moon. This topic is popular in exam questions because it requires understanding of relative motion rather than simple memorisation.

How to Revise 11+ Science: Strategies That Work

The most common mistake in 11+ science preparation is treating it like school science revision — reading notes, watching videos, and expecting that exposure equals preparation. The 11+ science paper rewards the ability to apply knowledge to unfamiliar scenarios under time pressure. The revision strategy must match this.

The most effective approach has three stages. In stage one (months 1–3), the goal is secure conceptual understanding of every topic. This does not mean memorising facts — it means being able to explain mechanisms: why does a parallel circuit keep working when one bulb is removed? Why does a plant grow faster near a window? Children who can explain the underlying principle can answer any scenario built around that principle.

In stage two (months 3–5), the focus shifts to question practice. Use past papers and publisher practice papers (CGP and Exam Papers Plus both produce good 11+ science material). Do questions by topic first — all electricity questions, then all biology questions — before mixing topics. Note every question answered incorrectly and categorise by topic so revision in the third stage is targeted.

In stage three (final 8 weeks), do timed practice under exam conditions. An FSCE science section typically allocates around 5–7 minutes for a science cluster of questions within the Adventure Paper — this is fast. Children who have only ever revised at leisure pace often underperform in the exam purely through lack of timing practice. Weekly full-paper timed sessions in the final two months are non-negotiable for FSCE candidates.

One revision technique our specialist tutors use with strong results is the "explain it back" method: after reviewing a topic, the child explains it back to a parent or tutor without looking at notes. Gaps become immediately obvious. This is far more efficient than rereading notes, which creates the illusion of knowledge without testing retrieval. See our complete 11+ exam guide for how science fits into the broader preparation picture.

How Long Before the 11+ Should You Start Science Revision?

For FSCE grammar school exams, which take place in September of Year 6, starting science preparation in January or February of Year 5 gives the most comfortable timeline — approximately 18 months. This allows full topic coverage at a relaxed pace, leaving the final 6 months for focused exam-style practice.

A Year 5 start is realistic for most families because the curriculum content is not advanced. By spring of Year 5, most children have already covered plants, animals, materials, forces, and light in school. Revision is therefore consolidation and extension, not introduction. The extension needed is primarily in question style: understanding diagrams, interpreting experiments, and applying principles to new scenarios.

For families starting preparation in Year 6 — typically from September — science revision needs to run in parallel with maths and English, not after them. A common error is to prioritise verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, and maths (especially relevant for GL Assessment schools) and leave science until "later". For children targeting FSCE or independent schools, science must begin at the same time as the other subjects. Leaving it until spring of Year 6 compresses the preparation into 3–4 months, which is achievable but significantly more stressful.

A structured revision timetable allocating two 30-minute science sessions per week is sufficient for a Year 5 start. For a Year 6 start, three to four sessions per week are more appropriate. Our tutors build personalised schedules aligned to specific school exam dates — check our 11+ exam dates guide for 2025/2026 cycle dates by region.

Common Mistakes in 11+ Science Preparation

Beyond the strategy issues already covered, there are three specific mistakes our specialist tutors see repeatedly among children who underperform in 11+ science despite having covered the content.

The first is confusing reversible and irreversible changes. Children routinely write that dissolving is irreversible (you can recover the solute by evaporation — it is reversible) or that burning is reversible (it is not — new substances form). This distinction appears in nearly every science paper and is a reliable mark-gainer if revised carefully. Write out five examples of each type and the reason why, without looking at notes.

The second mistake is weak circuit diagram reading. Most children can describe what a circuit does in words but struggle when asked to read an unfamiliar circuit diagram with multiple components and predict what will happen. The skill of reading circuit diagrams fluently under time pressure requires repeated practice with diagrams — not just reading about circuits. Spend at least three revision sessions doing nothing but circuit diagram practice questions.

The third mistake is neglecting Earth and space. This topic feels abstract and is often left until last, resulting in incomplete preparation. In practice, Earth and space questions are among the most answerable in the paper because they test conceptual understanding with little calculation. Children who understand why seasons happen, why the moon changes shape, and how day and night work can answer these questions accurately in seconds. It is worth the investment of two dedicated revision sessions.

Our specialist tutors at Leading Tuition's 11+ programme run structured science sessions that address all three of these common gaps as a standard part of the preparation programme.

Frequently Asked Questions