Word code analogies are the detective work of the GL Assessment 11+ Verbal Reasoning paper. Your child is shown a worked example, such as "big becomes dig", and has to spot exactly what the letters did, then apply that same hidden rule to a brand new word. The trick is to ignore what the words mean completely and watch only the letters: which one changed, where it sat, and how far it moved.
In a typical GL Verbal Reasoning paper the questions are grouped into short blocks of one type, with every answer marked A to E on a separate answer sheet. Code and pattern questions are a regular feature, and our research estimate, based on analysing GL practice papers, is that letter pattern and word code questions together account for roughly 8 to 12 per cent of a paper. GL rotates its question types, so the exact mix changes from one sitting to the next, but code-breaking of some kind almost always appears.
On this page your child meets the real format one question at a time: a model transformation, a new word to convert, and five answer options where every choice is a genuine English word or a tidy letter sequence. Each question comes with a worked explanation that names the rule in plain steps, so your child builds the habit of defining what changed before they choose.
GL bundles several letter-manipulation rules under this heading. GL does not publish how often each appears, so the order below is our research estimate from practice papers, with the most common rules first:
Difficulty runs from a single obvious change on a three-letter word up to compound rules on five-letter words and backwards alphabet shifts, where more than one rule can seem to fit and only careful letter-by-letter checking settles it.
Five questions drawn from PrepStep’s word code analogies bank, spanning Foundation to Challenging. Tap “Show worked explanation” to see the full method after you’ve had a go. The correct answer is highlighted on each question so you can check immediately.
Complete the third pair in the same way: (ship, hip) (stall, tall) (bland, ___)
The pattern removes the first letter: ship→hip, stall→tall, bland→land. Tip: If the rule seems complex, it might be two simple operations combined. ✓
Complete the third pair in the same way: (cold, old) (charm, harm) (chill, ___)
The pattern is: remove the first letter. cold → old, charm → harm, chill → hill. Each time the 'c' is removed from the start. Tip: Define the rule precisely: WHAT changed, WHERE, and HOW. ✓
Complete the third pair: (hear, heart) (star, start) (par, ___)
The pattern adds a 't' at the end: hear→heart, star→start, par→part. Tip: Define the rule precisely: WHAT changed, WHERE, and HOW. ✓
Complete the pattern: (STAR, RATS) (LIVE, EVIL) (STOP, ___)
The pattern reverses the word: STAR→RATS, LIVE→EVIL, STOP→POTS. Tip: If the rule seems complex, it might be two simple operations combined. ✓
Complete the pattern: (tooth, teeth) (foot, feet) (goose, ___)
The pattern shows irregular plurals: tooth→teeth, foot→feet, goose→geese. Tip: Define the rule precisely: WHAT changed, WHERE, and HOW. ✓
Common mistake 1 of 4
Reading the words for meaning instead of looking at the letters.
Tip: Code questions reward letter spotting, not vocabulary. Teach your child to cover the meaning and ask only "which letter moved, and how far?" The words being unrelated in sense is the whole point.
Common mistake 2 of 4
Confusing a reversal with a first-and-last swap on short words.
Tip: For a three-letter word, reversing it and swapping the outer letters give the same result, so the rule looks ambiguous. Tell your child to test the rule on the longer word in the question, where the two rules give different answers.
Common mistake 3 of 4
Miscounting the alphabet jump in a shift code.
Tip: When letters move forward or back a fixed number of places, an off-by-one slip changes every letter. Encourage your child to say the alphabet aloud quietly and count on their fingers rather than guessing the gap.
Common mistake 4 of 4
Choosing a real word that fits a different rule.
Tip: GL builds wrong answers that are correct for the wrong interpretation of the example. Once your child has an answer, they should work the rule backwards on it to check it returns the original word.
They are questions that show your child a worked example of a word being transformed by a letter rule, such as "big becomes dig", and ask them to apply the same rule to a new word. The skill is pure letter manipulation: spotting which letter changed, where, and by how much. Meaning is irrelevant, which is what makes these questions different from verbal analogies.
Through multiple choice with five options (A to E) marked on a separate answer sheet. The questions usually appear in a short block of the same type, and every answer choice is a real English word or a neat letter sequence, so a child who lands on something that is not a word knows they have the rule wrong.
Verbal analogies are about meaning, for example "kitten is to cat as puppy is to dog". Word code analogies are about letters, for example "cat is to bat as dog is to bog". They use a similar layout but test completely different skills, so children must not apply meaning-based reasoning to a code question.
Usually it is one of three slips: counting the alphabet jump incorrectly, confusing a reversal with a letter swap on short words, or being lured by an answer that fits a different rule. The fix is a habit, not more knowledge: define the rule precisely in words, then check the chosen answer by reversing the rule.
Short, regular practice that builds the routine of naming the rule before choosing an answer is far more effective than occasional long sessions. Free PrepStep practice gives one question at a time in the real five-option format, with a worked explanation that states exactly what changed and where, so the method becomes automatic.
PrepStep has 150 word code analogies questions in GL Assessment format: five options, instant feedback, and step-by-step explanations. Free to start.
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