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FSCE 11+ Resources: Free Tests, Practice and Books
A free Compass mock test, 60+ practice questions, and the right resource for each FSCE paper
Watch · 4 min video
The FSCE 11+, explained in four minutes
What the FSCE test is, its papers, and every Prep4All resource for FSCE preparation.
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Every FSCE Resource in One Place
FSCE authorises no past papers, so preparing means practising the formats and building the skills the test checks. Below is every Prep4All resource for the FSCE 11+, which of the four papers each one prepares for, and what you can use free. Several need no account at all. It applies equally to families preparing for the Gloucestershire and Trafford grammar schools, which move to FSCE for September 2028 entry.
🧭 FSCE Compass Tests
Full timed tests in the style of the Compass Paper. Each has a Science, a Geography and a History section — six multiple-choice questions and five minutes per section — and is marked instantly with an explanation for every question. Test 1 is free to sit without an account; the full set comes with every Prep4All plan.
Free FSCE Resources
Start here. None of these needs a subscription, and most need no account.
A full Compass-style test: Science, Geography and History in three timed sections, marked with an explanation for every question.
Shaded-oval multiple choice, one-letter-per-box spelling, one-digit-per-box maths and wider-curriculum questions, marked instantly.
Meanings, synonyms and antonyms from A to Z, with a printable PDF.
Story, descriptive and continuation prompts with model answers, for the Discovery paper.
One fiction, one non-fiction and one poetry passage, each with questions and model answers.
FSCE calls its familiarisation guide the only genuine resource for the test, and it is free. The parents’ guide also lists ideas for helping at home in each subject.
Which Resource for Which FSCE Paper
Schools using the full four-paper format set the Adventure, Beacon, Compass and Discovery papers. Other FSCE schools set fewer papers — check your school on the Schools & Dates page.
Adventure Paper
Multiple-choice questions (shade one oval, A–D) that can draw on any of the 11 KS2 subjects. Answered on a separate OMR sheet.
Practise withBeacon Paper
Short constrained-response answers: one digit per box for numbers, one CAPITAL letter per box for words. Any of the 11 subjects.
Practise withCompass Paper
A second multiple-choice paper with a different subject focus from Adventure. Same oval-shading mechanics.
Practise withDiscovery Paper
A creative written response on a special answer sheet. Planning space in the booklet is not marked. Only assessed for children who reach the qualifying score on the computer-marked papers.
Practise withPrep4All FSCE Resources in Detail
What each resource contains, what is free, and how to use it for FSCE.
Full timed tests in the style of the Compass Paper: a Science, a Geography and a History section, six multiple-choice questions each, five minutes per section. Marked instantly, with an explanation for every question.
Children rehearse working against a section timer, and cannot go back once a section is submitted
Questions ask children to apply what primary school teaches, not to recall memorised facts
Each test covers different KS2 topics, listed on its card before your child starts
60+ original FSCE-style questions in the formats the official familiarisation guides show: shaded-oval multiple choice, write-in boxes with one capital letter or one digit per box, five-option synonyms, wider-curriculum questions and a full comprehension passage.
Missing-letter spelling and one-digit-per-box maths drill the Beacon paper’s answer format
A running score as you go, and no marks lost for wrong answers — the same rule as the real test
20 original passages (10 fiction · 6 non-fiction incl. 3 FSCE-format · 3 poetry · 1 paired), 115 practice questions, 8 skill clinics with diagnostics, 8 mock papers, comprehension games.
The 8 skill domains cover the KS2 reading domains FSCE draws on
Use fiction AND non-fiction passages — FSCE’s official familiarisation passage was non-fiction, which many families under-practise
Evidence-pinning (“how do you know?”) matches FSCE’s application-over-recall philosophy
565+ words with definitions, synonyms, antonyms, British audio pronunciation, Leitner-system flash cards and 6 interactive games.
Directly builds the synonym/antonym knowledge FSCE tests in 5-option multiple choice
Word banks feed the “extensive and interesting vocabulary” criterion of the creative-writing mark scheme
32 exam-style prompts across 6 task types, 23 literary techniques, 13 themed word banks, 5 planning templates, timed practice and self-assessment against marking bands. A finished piece can be auto-marked against the criteria, with a report parents can read.
Story, descriptive and continuation tasks map directly to the Discovery paper; planning templates train the 5-minute-plan discipline
Self-assessment criteria mirror FSCE’s published marking focus: imagination, structure & pace, SPaG, vocabulary, varied sentences
1,000+ auto-marked questions with worked solutions, as 10-minute quick tests and full-length timed papers.
English and Maths banks build the underlying skills; quick tests suit the little-and-often FSCE approach
Set FSCE as your child’s exam board: if it is their only exam, their test list shows FSCE subjects only, with no verbal or non-verbal reasoning
Stick to Year 5 Maths topics — FSCE tests nothing beyond the Year 5 curriculum
What to Skip for FSCE
Anything sold as “FSCE past papers”
FSCE’s 2026 parent guide says: “There are NO past papers and NO practice papers that have been authorised by FSCE.” Anything sold under that name is general practice at best.
Standalone verbal and non-verbal reasoning papers
FSCE has no reasoning papers. The vocabulary and spelling inside verbal reasoning practice still help; the code and shape puzzles do not.
Year 6 maths
FSCE tests the curriculum only up to the end of Year 5. Secure every Year 5 topic before moving on.
FSCE Books: What Is Worth Buying
There is no official FSCE book, and no book of real FSCE past papers. Because the test covers the KS2 curriculum up to the end of Year 5, the books that help are ordinary ones that teach that curriculum well.
Year 5 English and Maths workbooks
Any well-reviewed KS2 Year 5 workbook covers the ground FSCE tests. Check the maths does not run into Year 6 topics.
Fiction and non-fiction to read for pleasure
The FSCE comprehension passage can be fiction or non-fiction — the official familiarisation passage was non-fiction. Reading both every day builds the vocabulary and reading stamina the test needs.
Children’s atlas and KS2 science and history books
Four-paper schools can draw on 11 KS2 subjects. A good atlas and topic books on the Year 3–5 science, history and geography units support the Compass paper.
A notebook for weekly writing
The Discovery paper rewards original ideas. One short piece a week, planned in five minutes, does more than learning set openings by heart.
FSCE Resources: Questions Parents Ask
Yes. Prep4All’s FSCE Compass Test 1 is a full Compass-style test — three timed five-minute sections in Science, Geography and History — that you can sit free with no account. It is marked instantly with an explanation for every question. The FSCE Practice Zone adds 60+ free FSCE-style questions in the other formats. Neither is an official FSCE paper: FSCE authorises none.
Only the familiarisation guides. FSCE publishes a guide for parents and a guide for children, which participating schools host on their admissions pages, and the FSCE website has sample questions for parents. Read these before anything else: they show the papers, the answer sheets and how instructions are given on the day.
The Compass paper is multiple choice, with a different subject focus from the Adventure paper. Make sure your child understands their Year 3–5 Science, History and Geography topics rather than memorising facts, then practise under a timer. Prep4All’s FSCE Compass Tests give a Science, a Geography and a History section of six questions each, five minutes per section, marked with explanations.
There is no official FSCE book and no book of real FSCE past papers. Because FSCE tests the KS2 curriculum up to the end of Year 5, Year 5 English and Maths workbooks, wide reading of fiction and non-fiction, and KS2 science, history and geography books are what help.
FSCE says no. Its parent guide says FSCE is against preparation that disrupts a child’s usual schooling or causes anxiety, and asks families to focus on wide reading, maths fluency through everyday examples, and imaginative discussion at home. What does help is knowing the format — the answer sheets, the timing and the question styles — so nothing on the day is a surprise. The free resources on this page cover that.
Secure the Year 5 curriculum first, then rehearse the format in the final month before the test: the official familiarisation paper under timed conditions, then full timed practice. A Compass test takes 15 minutes, so it fits into a weekday evening. Gloucestershire children sit their first FSCE test in the summer of Year 5, so their timed practice starts earlier than in schools that test in September of Year 6.
FSCE Compass Test 1, the 60+ question FSCE Practice Zone, the 565-word vocabulary list and PDF, 32 creative writing prompts with model answers, and one fiction, one non-fiction and one poetry comprehension passage. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial, which opens the full set of Compass tests, comprehension, practice tests and creative writing marking.
More answers, with every source, on the FSCE FAQ page. For a year-by-year plan that uses these resources, see the FSCE preparation plan.
Start Building FSCE Skills Today
Compass-style tests, comprehension, vocabulary, creative writing and Year 5 maths — the skills FSCE tests — with a 7-day free trial.