11+ English

Writing a Continuation in the 11+ — Questions, Worked Answers and Practice Papers

Continuing a story or passage in the same voice, tense and tone under timed exam conditions.

47 Papers
1.1 Avg Qs / paper
24.3 Typical marks
28.8 min Target time

What examiners actually ask

Writing a Continuation appears in 47 of our 338 ready papers (50 tagged questions). It averages 1.1 questions a paper worth about 24.3 marks each. The typical question allows around 28.8 min.

Continuation tasks ask children to pick up a given opening and carry it forward convincingly. Marks come from matching tense, person and tone as much as from plot invention. Children who ignore the opening’s atmosphere, or who switch to a completely different genre mid-way, underperform. Teach a one-minute plan that starts from the last given sentence: what happens next, what stays consistent, how it ends. Keep paragraphs short and purposeful. Practise finishing on time with a quick consistency check for tense and character names. Link this hub to creative writing for shared planning habits. Steal one concrete detail from the opening (a place, object or mood word) and reuse it early so the continuation feels continuous.

Worked example

A real tagged question from our catalogue — method included, not paywalled.

ISEB Common Entrance English 2009 Practice Paper 2 · Question 2 · 35 marks · Narrative

Correct answer
Method

Common mistakes

  • Ignoring the tone, tense or person of the given opening.
  • Introducing too many new characters and losing control of the plot.
  • Running out of time without an ending.
  • Copying large chunks of the opening instead of continuing it.

Papers with the most Writing a Continuation questions

Ranked from our tagged catalogue — open a paper to practise the questions that actually test this topic.

Find what is actually costing marks

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