What does a child have to do to identify a shape property in the 11+?

Identify one stated property of a 2D or 3D shape. It is one of 55 named maths skills in the 11+, in the geometry strand, and this page carries 1 interactive exercise that practises it.

What is the trap in an 11+ identify a shape property question?

The number of sides is not the number of right angles - a shape can have four sides and no right angle at all. The wrong answers on this skill are built out of that, not out of random numbers, so it is worth naming out loud before your child meets it under time pressure.

What can I say if my child is stuck on identify a shape property?

Point at the next move rather than explaining the whole rule. Check each corner against the square corner of a page - only the ones that match exactly are right angles.

What is not part of identify a shape property in the 11+?

The skill map draws the line here: Excludes calculating measure. A question past that line is testing a different named maths skill, which is worth knowing before you spend a week practising the wrong one.

Which other 11+ skills should we practise alongside identify a shape property?

The geometry strand holds 15 skills that are placed together on the skill map, and the pages next to identify a shape property are identify line symmetry, identify a geometric transformation and plot or read a coordinate. Each has its own exercise and its own link, and none of them needs an account.

How can my child practise identify a shape property for free?

Use Polygon Lab, embedded on this page. It is the exercise the skill map attaches to identify a shape property, it runs in the browser with no account to make, these exercises are not scored and do not save learner records. The separate quiz sends answers for marking and shows a score, without saving an assessment record. It also has its own link, so you can send it to a child without sending them anywhere else first.

Maths · Geometry

Identify a shape property

Identify one stated property of a 2D or 3D shape.

Watch the worked example

Shape Detective

This video shows how to identify a property of a shape, such as its sides, edges, vertices or faces. Watch an 11+ maths question solved step by step.

Open video page and transcript

Keep practising with Smart Cub Learning. Find topics to practise next

Quick quiz: Identify a shape property

10 questions, with feedback after each one. No sign-up needed.

Read the questions in this quiz

Question 1
How many right angles does this shape have?
- A.4
- B.1
- C.0
- D.7
Question 2
How many right angles does this shape have?
- A.10
- B.2
- C.5
- D.7
Question 3
How many right angles does this figure have?
- A.4
- B.0
- C.5
- D.1
Question 4
How many pairs of parallel sides does this shape have?
- A.3
- B.0
- C.4
- D.1
Question 5
How many pairs of parallel sides does this shape have?
- A.1
- B.0
- C.2
- D.4
Question 6
How many right angles does this figure have?
- A.6
- B.2
- C.5
- D.0
Question 7
How many right angles does this shape have?
- A.6
- B.7
- C.0
- D.5
Question 8
How many right angles does this figure have?
- A.1
- B.5
- C.4
- D.0
Question 9
How many right angles does this figure have?
- A.0
- B.5
- C.6
- D.2
Question 10
How many pairs of parallel sides does this figure have?
- A.3
- B.8
- C.4
- D.0

Practise it now

Inspect the polygon, then answer the question about its sides or angles.

Loading the interactive exercise. Nothing you do here is saved or scored.

A worked example

One question of the kind this skill is tested with, worked all the way through: the reasoning, and what the wrong answers are there to catch.

Reading a property off a shape

How many right angles does this shape have?

Work through the right angles of this pentagon.

Answer: 3

How you get there

3 of this pentagon's corners open to exactly 90°, a quarter turn, so it has 3 right angles. Its other corners are wider or narrower than that.

Why the other answers tempt

The number of sides is not the number of right angles - a shape can have four sides and no right angle at all.

If they are stuck, say this

Check each corner against the square corner of a page - only the ones that match exactly are right angles.

Now do it live in Polygon Lab

Kitchen-table script for parents

Try this together

A friendly mini script for the breakfast table, school run or a quiet two minutes. Read it aloud as written, or make it your own.

Ready? Let's have a go at Identify a shape property together. Take a look at the picture. Here is what matters: Work through the right angles of this pentagon. Here comes the question: How many right angles does this shape have? Before we race ahead, let us choose one good first step. Here is a helpful clue: Check each corner against the square corner of a page - only the ones that match exactly are right angles. Nice work. Now let us follow the thinking: 3 of this pentagon's corners open to exactly 90°, a quarter turn, so it has 3 right angles. Its other corners are wider or narrower than that. So our answer is: 3. There is one sneaky trap to watch for: The number of sides is not the number of right angles - a shape can have four sides and no right angle at all. Can you show me that first move again in your own words? Brilliant. No rush; we are practising a method you can reuse, not trying to win a speed contest.

What this exercise is doing

Polygon Lab

Inspect the polygon, then answer the question about its sides or angles.

A polygon is a closed shape made from straight sides. Count each side once. Compare the direction of sides for parallel pairs, and look for square corners when counting right angles.

What to say if they get stuck

Tap a side to highlight it as you inspect the polygon.
Parallel sides go in the same direction and never meet. A right angle is a square corner.

Open Polygon Lab on its own page to share it

Related maths skills

Classify an angleClassify one angle by size or compare it with a reference turn.
Compose coordinate transformationsApply two stated coordinate transformations in order.
Identify a cube netDetermine whether a net folds to a cube.
Identify line symmetryIdentify or complete a reflection across one mirror line.
Identify a geometric transformationIdentify the translation, rotation, or reflection relating a shape and its image.
Plot or read a coordinateRead or place one point on a coordinate grid.
Preserve measure under a rigid transformationUse the fact that translation, rotation, and reflection preserve lengths and angles.
Reflect a coordinateDetermine a point image after reflection in a stated coordinate axis.
Reflect a shapeIdentify the result of one reflection in a stated mirror line.
Rotate a coordinateDetermine a point image after a stated rotation about the origin.
Rotate a shapeIdentify the result of one stated rotation.
Solve an angle relationCalculate one unknown angle using a stated line, point, triangle, or quadrilateral relation.

All maths 11+ skills

Questions parents ask about identify a shape property

What this skill involves, common mistakes and ways to practise it at home.

: Identify one stated property of a 2D or 3D shape. It is one of 55 named maths skills in the 11+, in the geometry strand, and this page carries 1 interactive exercise that practises it.
: The number of sides is not the number of right angles - a shape can have four sides and no right angle at all. The wrong answers on this skill are built out of that, not out of random numbers, so it is worth naming out loud before your child meets it under time pressure.
: Point at the next move rather than explaining the whole rule. Check each corner against the square corner of a page - only the ones that match exactly are right angles.
: The skill map draws the line here: Excludes calculating measure. A question past that line is testing a different named maths skill, which is worth knowing before you spend a week practising the wrong one.
: The geometry strand holds 15 skills that are placed together on the skill map, and the pages next to identify a shape property are identify line symmetry, identify a geometric transformation and plot or read a coordinate. Each has its own exercise and its own link, and none of them needs an account.
: Use Polygon Lab, embedded on this page. It is the exercise the skill map attaches to identify a shape property, it runs in the browser with no account to make, these exercises are not scored and do not save learner records. The separate quiz sends answers for marking and shows a score, without saving an assessment record. It also has its own link, so you can send it to a child without sending them anywhere else first.

Knowing which maths topic to practise is most of the work

A free diagnostic covers arithmetic, fractions, geometry, measure and data handling, and comes back with the topics to spend the next few weeks on.