11 Plus Reading List by Year Group

Choose a book your child wants to read, at a level they can manage with the amount of help available. The year groups below are editorial starting points, not assessed reading ages, publisher age ratings or a required list for any entrance test.

Each suggestion includes a reading skill you could discuss, such as inference, viewpoint or figurative language. These connect with England's Years 5 and 6 curriculum objectives. Reading a named book does not guarantee improvement in that skill or make an exam extract predictable.

How to use this list: interests, difficulty and discussion

Try a page together. Notice unfamiliar vocabulary, sentence length and whether your child can follow what is happening. A familiar or easier book can still support thoughtful inference; a demanding book can be shared aloud rather than assigned for independent reading.

Preview themes as well as language. Some later suggestions involve war, bereavement, violence or abuse. Choose an edition and text suitable for your child, with advice from a teacher or librarian where helpful. A reading-age score alone cannot establish that a whole novel is suitable.

The skill tags work like this:

• Inference-rich. Some motives or feelings are not stated directly. Use what characters say and do to support an interpretation. This maps to the statutory requirement to draw inferences "such as inferring characters' feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence".
• Archaic vocabulary. Nineteenth and early twentieth century diction, longer sentences, unfamiliar registers. Older diction can make an unfamiliar extract harder to follow.
• Limited or unreliable narrator. A limited narrator gives access to one perspective. An unreliable narrator gives the reader reasons to question their account. These are different ideas; discuss what the narrator can know and whether the text supports their account.
• Figurative language. Dense imagery and metaphor, matching the requirement to "discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, considering the impact on the reader".
• Non-fiction retrieval. Information organised in headings, captions and sequences, which meets the requirement to read "books that are structured in different ways".

Start with one book your child wants to continue. A shared, more demanding text is an option, not a second book they must finish.

What 11 plus English actually tests

GL Assessment describes the 11 plus as "a single test or a series of tests, covering one or more of the following subjects: English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning", and notes that its English and maths tests are "based mainly around curriculum content reached during the early part of Year 6" (GL Assessment FAQs). The Years 5 and 6 programme of study is a useful frame for discussing texts alongside your target test’s published requirements.

For independent schools using ISEB, its Common Pre-Tests cover English, mathematics, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. Check the target school’s current admissions information for the test and year group it uses. For September 2027 entry, CSSE specified an English paper lasting "sixty minutes with ten minutes additional reading time", paired with a published Continuous Writing mark scheme (CSSE). Comprehension, grammar and writing requirements vary by school and provider. Check the published format before adding a separate writing task to your preparation.

The national curriculum notes that reading widely and often exposes pupils to words they may rarely hear or use in everyday speech (English programmes of study). Reading offers a way to encounter vocabulary in context, alongside any direct teaching your child needs. Our 11 plus vocabulary list offers words and contextual practice; it is not a prediction of an exam’s vocabulary.

Year 3 reading list: building the stamina habit

For Year 3, choose an enjoyable chapter book your child can follow. Read together when needed and talk about the order of events.

• Fantastic Mr Fox, Roald Dahl. Skill: sequencing and cause and effect. Discuss what happens and why.
• The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, Jill Tomlinson. Skill: inference-rich, gently. Feelings are shown through behaviour.
• The Iron Man, Ted Hughes. Skill: figurative language. Short, strange and full of imagery worth talking about.
• The Sheep-Pig, Dick King-Smith. Skill: dialect and voice. Prepares the ear for non-standard speech in extracts.
• Charlotte's Web, E. B. White. Skill: inference-rich, theme.
• Varjak Paw, SF Said. Skill: unusual narrative viewpoint.
• The Firework-Maker's Daughter, Philip Pullman. Skill: setting and description.

Year 4 reading list: first inference-rich chapter books

Page count alone does not determine difficulty. Notice vocabulary, sentence structure and how much the reader needs to infer.

• Stig of the Dump, Clive King. Skill: inference from action, ambiguity about what is real.
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis. Skill: allegory, slightly formal register.
• Kensuke's Kingdom, Michael Morpurgo. Skill: first-person retrospective narration.
• Carrie's War, Nina Bawden. Skill: inference-rich, historical context, adult motives seen through a child's eyes.
• The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Joan Aiken. Skill: archaic vocabulary and pastiche Victorian style. A way to explore older diction.
• Journey to the River Sea, Eva Ibbotson. Skill: extended description, figurative language.
• The Nowhere Emporium, Ross MacKenzie. Skill: plot structure and foreshadowing.

If you are working out when to formalise preparation around this reading, our guide on when to start 11 plus preparation sets out a realistic year-by-year plan.

Year 5 reading list: vocabulary and viewpoint

Keep reading throughout Year 5. Many entrance tests take place near the start of Year 6, but check your target school’s dates and content.

• Skellig, David Almond. Skill: inference-rich, sustained ambiguity. Discuss which details support an interpretation and which questions remain unanswered.
• Holes, Louis Sachar. Skill: interwoven timelines, structure. Compare how the different timelines connect.
• Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian. Skill: character change, inference from dialect and silence.
• Tom's Midnight Garden, Philippa Pearce. Skill: figurative language, limited narrator.
• The Explorer, Katherine Rundell. Skill: precise descriptive verbs, survival narrative pace.
• Street Child, Berlie Doherty. Skill: Victorian social context and archaic vocabulary.
• Northern Lights, Philip Pullman. Skill: invented vocabulary in context, moral ambiguity. A genuine stretch title.
• The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien. Skill: formal narratorial voice, embedded verse.
• Wonder, R. J. Palacio. Skill: multiple narrators, viewpoint comparison.

Year 6 reading list: shared and more demanding texts

Keep reading alongside any test practice. Choose a demanding text only when its language and content suit your child; it may work better as a shared read.

• The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett. Skill: archaic vocabulary, Yorkshire dialect, character transformation.
• Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson. Skill: older vocabulary, first-person narration and comparing perspectives.
• A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens. Skill: dense figurative language, long periodic sentences.
• Watership Down, Richard Adams. Skill: sustained metaphor, invented lexicon, epigraphs.
• The Machine Gunners, Robert Westall. Skill: shifting viewpoint, moral complexity.
• Private Peaceful, Michael Morpurgo. Skill: framed narrative and countdown structure.

Classics for exploring older vocabulary and sentence patterns

Classics offer opportunities to explore older vocabulary and sentence patterns. Use the target school’s familiarisation materials for evidence about question format; a reading list cannot predict an upcoming extract.

Other options to explore with a teacher or librarian include The Secret Garden, The Railway Children, Treasure Island, A Christmas Carol and other Dickens openings, The Wind in the Willows, The Jungle Book, Black Beauty, Anne of Green Gables and Peter Pan. Choose a text that interests your child; there is no need to work through every title. Discuss its sentence patterns rather than trying to predict an exam extract from its plot.

This is also the statutory expectation. Years 5 and 6 pupils should be "increasing their familiarity with a wide range of books, including myths, legends and traditional stories, modern fiction, fiction from our literary heritage, and books from other cultures and traditions". Literary heritage is written into the curriculum, not bolted on by tutors. If you want to see how those extracts convert into question types, our guide to 11 plus comprehension questions works through each format.

Non-fiction and poetry

The curriculum includes reading for different purposes. Non-fiction offers information to retrieve and summarise; poetry offers opportunities to discuss imagery, rhythm and word choice.

• A Really Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson. The Puffin adaptation: discuss explanatory structure and retrieving information.
• The Lost Words, Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris. Skill: figurative language, precise nature vocabulary.
• A Poem for Every Night of the Year, edited by Allie Esiri. Skill: form, rhythm, one short text per sitting.
• Please Mrs Butler, Allan Ahlberg. Skill: voice and tone, an easy poetry entry point.
• A weekly children's news digest or magazine. Skill: skimming, headline and caption reading, summarising.

Options for reluctant readers

Try a format or topic your child enjoys. Listening to stories can support access to language and ideas while the child receives any reading instruction they need.

1. Audiobook alongside the physical text. Same edition, child following the line. Following the same edition while listening can support access to a story. A child who needs decoding help should also receive the teaching recommended by school.
2. Graphic-novel bridges. The Arrival by Shaun Tan, or illustrated editions of familiar novels. Inference from images is still inference.
3. Short stories and single chapters. A short complete story may feel more manageable than a long novel. Anthologies and Just So Stories work well.
4. Non-fiction hooks. Let the subject carry the reading: football, space, disasters, cookery. Ask your child to find a fact in the text and explain where they found it.
5. Series momentum. If your child enjoys one book, another in the same series can make the next choice easier.

These are options, not a ladder that every child must climb. Audiobooks, graphic novels, short stories, non-fiction and series can all remain part of a varied reading life. Choose according to interest and the reading support your child needs.

Questions to discuss after reading

After a chapter, choose one or two activities that suit your child. Let the conversation take the time they need:

• Ask one inference question. "How do you think she felt there? What in the text makes you say that?" The second half is the whole exercise, because the curriculum asks pupils to justify inferences "with evidence".
• Explore an unfamiliar word. Try using the surrounding sentence, then check its meaning. Revisit words in a new sentence rather than collecting a quota.
• Ask one language question. "Why did the author choose that word instead of a plain one?"
• Try a short description. Describe one setting from the chapter in the child's own words. This is optional writing practice; many entrance tests do not include an extended writing task.

If your child wants to try the evidence step on a short, unfamiliar passage, use this reading lab together. For each claim, decide whether the text states it, supports an inference or gives no support, then choose the sentence that backs up the answer. The lab uses its own practice passages, not extracts from the books listed above, and its three labels are not a promise about the format of your target school's test.

For a complete passage rather than a single evidence exercise, choose a Year 4, 5 or 6 reading comprehension passage. Each original text has six questions with explanations and a printable PDF with answers. Pick the year group and a genre your child will read willingly, then ask them to point to the words that support each answer.

For further practice, explore the paper tests section. For maths examples, see the worked methods in our guide to 11 plus maths topics and question types.

Frequently asked questions

Is 70 per cent enough to pass the 11 plus? There is no universal percentage that guarantees a pass. For example, Kent age-adjusts its standardised scores, while Buckinghamshire combines weighted verbal, mathematical and non-verbal scores against its qualifying threshold. Check how your target authority calculates results. We explain the general idea in our guide to 11 plus standardised scores, but local rules decide the outcome.

How many books does a child actually need to read? There is no required number. Choose a sustainable routine and a mix of texts your child enjoys and understands. Discuss progress with the teacher rather than treating twenty books a year as a threshold.

What about archaic vocabulary? Older vocabulary can make an extract harder to understand. Explore unfamiliar words in a sentence, explain them directly and revisit them in another context. These are options rather than fixed age requirements: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase in Year 4, Street Child in Year 5, then The Secret Garden or Treasure Island in Year 6.

Can I print this list? Yes. Use your browser's print or save-as-PDF option on this page, or copy the band that matches your child into a note. There is no email gate.

My child is in Year 4 and reads well above their age. Should they read Year 6 titles? Read up on difficulty, but check emotional content first. War, bereavement and jeopardy land differently at nine than at eleven.

Does any of this replace practice papers? Reading and practice questions serve different purposes. Keep reading for enjoyment and understanding, and use the target test’s familiarisation materials for its format. Explore Smart Cub Learning if you want structured practice for the skills your child is working on.