An essential skill to master 11+ and selective school interviews
One of the most common questions I get asked by parents is:
“How do I help my child prepare for 11+ or entrance exam interviews?”
Especially once the Autumn term has started, when interviews are starting to feel close enough to be real, but not close enough for anyone to panic properly yet.
The answer is often more simple than you’d think.
Of course, you can help your child prepare by researching the school, reading around current affairs, reflecting on their interests and practising how to talk about themselves.
But one of the most useful things a child can learn is how to tell the difference between open and closed questions.
In an interview (and it doesn’t have to be just for schools…), it can make a huge difference.
What’s a closed question?
A closed question usually has a short, black-and-white answer.
“Did you have a good day?”
Yes.
“Do you enjoy reading?”
Yes.
“Are you looking forward to secondary school?”
Yes.
Technically, the child has answered the question.
The problem is that they haven’t given the interviewer much to work with. They haven’t given the interviewer a sense of the best version of themselves, or communicated how well they can think and speak.
A child might think they’ve done nothing wrong. The adult asked a yes-or-no question, so they gave a yes-or-no answer.
But in an interview, a closed question is always an invitation to say more.
What’s an open question?
An open question hasn’t got a correct answer. It can be answered in a myriad of ways.
“How was your day?”
“What do you enjoy reading?”
“What are you looking forward to about secondary school?”
These questions are designed to eek out how your child thinks, explains and communicates.
That’s why open questions are so useful in interviews.
They allow the child to show personality, interests and reasoning.
The hidden “why?”
One of the easiest ways to help your child prepare is to teach them to hear the hidden “why?” behind the question.
If an interviewer asks, “Do you enjoy maths?”, a child could say, “Yes.”
Better would be:
“Yes, especially when there’s a puzzle to solve. I like the feeling of working through something step by step and finally getting to the answer.”
It gives a glimpse into how they think.
The same goes for almost any question.
“What’s your favourite book?”
Why?
“What subject do you enjoy most?”
Why?
“Would you describe yourself as creative?”
Why?
In fact, the beautiful skill your child can exhibit here is to answer a closed question as if they’ve been asked an open one.
The animal question
A classic interview-style question might be:
“If you could be any animal in the world, what would you be?”
Now, the interviewer probably isn’t desperate to know whether your child has a secret lifelong ambition to become a tiger.
That’s not really the point.
They’re listening for the thinking behind the answer.
A child might say:
“I’d be a tiger because they’re strong.”
Fine.
But they could go further:
“I’d be a tiger because they’re independent, brave and focused. I like the idea of being calm and patient, then acting decisively when it matters.”
It shows vocabulary, thought, a level of self-awareness.
It shows the child can take a generic question and use it to say something meaningful about themselves.
Interviews are not trying to trick children
Most school interview questions are not designed to humiliate children, catch them out or prove they’re not good enough.
They’re there because schools want to see more than a score on a page alongside dozens if not hundreds of other scores on pages.
Selective and independent schools want to understand the child behind the result.
Practise at home without making it weird
You don’t need to turn your living room into a formal interview setting.
Try asking some questions at dinner. In the car. On the walk to the bus stop.
Try:
“What was the highlight of your day?”
“What would you do if you had unlimited money?”
“What kind of person makes a good friend?”
“If you could be any animal for a day, what would you choose?”
Then ask the essential follow-up:
“Why?”
The more children practise explaining their ideas in normal conversation, the less strange it feels when they have to do it in an interview.
How LinkyThinks can help
At LinkyThinks, we help children build the English, reasoning, writing and communication skills they need for exams, school and life beyond the classroom.
Our classes are designed to help children understand how they think, express themselves more effectively and develop stronger habits over time.
If your child is preparing for 11+, entrance exams or GCSE English, our online tutoring can help them build those skills in a supportive, thoughtful environment.
You might also find these useful:
School interviews are not about perfect answers
Why school interviews are really about thought, communication and showing the person behind the exam score.
The silly game that secretly builds critical thinking
How Would You Rather? can help children practise explaining choices and thinking beyond first impressions.
Why reasoning matters more than right answers
Why the thinking behind an answer often matters just as much as the answer itself.