Inside Quest Admissions Part 1: What to Expect in English, Maths & Reasoning
Jun 30, 2025, 1:49 PM
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If your child is applying to a top UK school, they might take a Quest Admissions assessment.
Over 130 schools use Quest Admissions. The assessments are designed to ensure schools assess children fairly and can accurately identify the students who will thrive at their school. Most schools using Quest Admissions include Part 1 in their selection process.
Keep reading to learn about:
The subjects tested in Quest Part 1 assessments
The types of questions your child will see
How you can support your child’s preparation for senior school exams at home
In this blog, we’ll take you inside Quest Part 1: what the online assessment involves, the types of questions your child will face in English, maths and reasoning, and how you can support their preparation at home.
New to Quest? Start with our full guide to Quest Admissions.
What is Quest Admissions Part 1?
Quest Admissions Part 1 is a computer-based test that assesses your child’s academic ability in four key subjects: English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. Many of these questions are adaptive, which means the level of difficulty changes based on how your child performs as they progress through the assessment. If they are continuously answering questions correctly, the questions will become harder. On the other hand, if they are answering questions incorrectly, the content will become a little less challenging.
The Quest Part 1 exam is usually taken at your child’s target school or an assigned test centre. It lasts around one hour and provides schools with a data-driven view of your child’s core academic strengths.
Quest Part 1 focuses on your child’s potential, as well as their attainment in key subjects. Adaptive testing means that your child can be challenged at a level appropriate to them, helping to reduce test anxiety.
What’s tested in Quest Part 1?
Let’s break down what your child will encounter in each section of the test.
English
The English section of Quest Part 1 assesses your child’s reading comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar skills. This includes looking at your child’s:
Reading fluency
Deeper comprehension ability
Critical thinking skills
Language awareness
Reading for understanding is a key part of the Key Stage 3 (Years 7–9) curriculum. It’s important for schools to assess these skills to see which children will thrive.
Your child will be asked to read a short passage, which might be fiction or non-fiction. The texts are written specifically for Quest Admissions assessments, which means your child will not have seen them before. Reading lots of different genres is the best way to prepare!
Your child will need to answer questions that assess their understanding of key ideas, the author’s intent, and the meaning of words in context. Other question types include looking at how spelling, punctuation and grammar contribute to meaning.
The questions in the English section are multiple-choice and mostly non-adaptive. This means that all children see the same questions in the same order.
How to prepare for the English section
A genuine love of reading is one of the best gifts you can give your child. It supports not just exam success, but lifelong learning and curiosity.
Ask your child what they're reading and share what you're enjoying too. Listening to audiobooks or podcasts together is another great way to spark discussions and build vocabulary. Try to explore a range of genres and topics, from classic and contemporary fiction to engaging nonfiction and journalism.
To help your child feel confident with the kinds of questions they’ll come across in assessments, gently introduce activities like multiple-choice comprehension, cloze exercises, and spotting grammar mistakes. These build on key skills from the Year 5 English curriculum and can be approached in short, manageable sessions.
Looking for reading inspiration? Download Atom’s recommended reading list, with over 60 teacher-selected books for children aged 7–11.
How Atom helps
With Atom Home, your child can explore a rich library of Key Stage 2 English content, tailored to the types of questions your child will see in entrance exams. With adaptive questions, video tutorials, and instant feedback, they can strengthen key skills at their own pace – and enjoy the process too!
Maths
The maths section of Quest Part 1 covers a broad range of topics from the Key Stage 2 national curriculum. It assesses your child’s fluency with numbers, understanding of mathematical concepts, and ability to solve problems.
Your child will be asked to complete maths calculations, apply reasoning to word problems, and demonstrate their understanding of geometry, statistics, and measures. Expect to see multi-step problems that test both knowledge and logical thinking.
There is a combination of multiple-choice and free-response questions in the maths section. These questions adapt to your child’s performance. If they are answering lots of questions correctly, they will see more challenging content. On the other hand, if they are answering lots of questions incorrectly, the content they see will be slightly easier.
Maths topics to revise
Number and place value
The four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)
Fractions, decimals and percentages
Measurement (length, mass, volume, time)
Geometry (shapes, angles, symmetry)
Data interpretation (graphs and charts)
Learn more about the topics tested in 11 plus maths exams.
How to prepare for the maths section
Consistent practice is key. Start with building fluency in mental arithmetic and written methods, then move on to tackling word problems and reasoning tasks. Encourage your child to explain their working, as this builds confidence and reinforces understanding.
Mock tests with mixed-topic questions can help your child get comfortable with switching between concepts and solving problems under time pressure.
How Atom helps
Atom Home offers thousands of Quest-style maths questions with automatic marking and detailed explanations. Like Quest exams, your child’s learning journey is adaptive, meaning the content will adjust to meet their current level and stretch them where needed. You can track progress in real-time to identify gaps and celebrate wins.
Reasoning
Reasoning is often the most unfamiliar section for children, but it’s also one of the most enjoyable! The reasoning section of Quest Part 1 tests your child’s problem-solving ability, logic and pattern recognition, rather than knowledge learned in school.
Reasoning consists of:
Verbal reasoning: solving problems and sequences with written information, such as letters and words
Non-verbal reasoning: interpreting patterns and working with sequences using visual information, such as shapes and diagrams
These questions are designed to assess how your child thinks and reasons with information to solve problems. It’s a key part of many school entrance exams.
How to prepare for the reasoning section
Introduce your child to reasoning gradually through fun, low-pressure activities. Logic puzzles, brain teasers, Sudoku, and word games are great ways to build these skills in everyday life.
When practising verbal and non-verbal reasoning questions, encourage your child to work methodically. Use worked examples to show different strategies for solving a problem, like spotting symmetry or eliminating incorrect answers.
How Atom helps
The verbal and non-verbal reasoning content on Atom Home is engaging and interactive, designed to mimic the visual and logical demands of real-life reasoning tests. With hints, explanations and performance feedback, your child can grow in confidence while having fun.
How is Quest Admissions Part 1 scored?
Once your child completes the test, they’ll receive an age-standardised score for each subject. This means their performance is compared with other children of the same age, helping schools get a fair view of where your child stands within their peer group.
Schools may use Part 1 results to decide which children to invite to other selection stages. These are bespoke to each school but might include a group activity, an interview, or a creative writing task.
Each school may use the scores slightly differently, but performing well in Quest Admissions Part 1 is a key step in progressing through the admissions process.
5 top tips for success in Quest Admissions Part 1
Preparing for Quest Part 1 doesn’t have to mean long hours of revision or added stress. Here are our top tips to help your child thrive!
1. Start early and build a steady routine
The Quest Part 1 exam assesses a broad range of skills, some of which develop gradually over time. The earlier your child starts engaging with English, maths and reasoning in short, focused bursts, the more confident and fluent they’ll become.
Aim for 15–20 minutes a day, 4–5 days a week. This helps build momentum without overwhelming your child and ensures that knowledge is retained more effectively over time.
Top tip: Set up a quiet, distraction-free space for daily practice. Consistency beats intensity every time.
2. Make learning interactive and low-pressure
For many children, this might be their first experience of a high-stakes exam. To help reduce anxiety, focus on making the learning process enjoyable and interactive. Use a mix of online tools, games, hands-on activities and real-life applications to keep your child engaged.
Reasoning skills, in particular, can be developed through logic puzzles, riddles, and visual games. Even board games like chess, Connect 4, and Bananagrams can be brilliant practice!
Top tip: Keep preparation positive. Praise effort, not just results, and remind your child that mistakes are part of learning.
3. Focus on targeted improvement, not just practice
Practising questions is important, but reviewing performance is where real growth happens. After each session, take time to discuss any questions your child found challenging. Then, talk about different approaches your child could take next time.
Use tools like Atom’s performance insights to identify weak areas and prioritise them in future sessions. This ensures that practice time is always focused and efficient.
Top tip: Set one clear goal for each session, e.g. “Let’s work on percentages today”, to help your child stay motivated and see their progress.
4. Simulate test conditions regularly
As the exam approaches, gradually introduce your child to timed practice in a quiet environment. This will help them become familiar with the pace and format of the real assessment and build their test stamina.
Start with individually timed sections and work up to full-length mock tests. Afterwards, reflect together on how they felt, what went well, and what they might do differently next time.
Top tip: Don’t just focus on speed. Accuracy and calm thinking are just as important in an adaptive test like Quest!
5. Support their wellbeing throughout the process
Preparation should feel empowering, not stressful. Make sure your child has plenty of time for rest, play, and social connection alongside their studies. A healthy, happy child will always perform better than one who feels overwhelmed.
Encourage open conversations about nerves, and reassure them that this is just one part of their journey, not a final judgement on their potential.
Top tip: Involve your child in their own prep planning. When they feel ownership, they’re more likely to stay motivated and confident.
Build confidence for Quest Part 1 with Atom Home
Quest Part 1 focuses on how children apply their skills in English, maths and reasoning. Atom Home is here to support every step of the journey.
With a personalised learning journey, interactive practice, and instant feedback, your child can develop the core academic skills assessed in the Part 1 exam – from reading comprehension and grammar to problem-solving, arithmetic, and logic puzzles.
Atom makes learning feel achievable and rewarding, helping your child approach the Quest Part 1 assessment with confidence, curiosity and calm.
What does Atom Home offer for Quest Part 1 prep?
A tailored study plan aligned with your target schools’ exams, so your child is always working on the right topics, at the right level, at the right time.
100,000+ teacher-written questions in English, maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning – designed to stretch and support.
Unlimited practice tests that build exam technique and familiarity with the format of school entrance exams.
Smart progress tracking so you can see where your child is thriving, how they compare to other applicants, and where to focus next.
Try Atom for free
Start your free trial on Atom Home today and support your child’s journey to success in Quest and beyond!
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