11+ Time and Timetables: Worked Questions

Time questions combine two kinds of information: a position on the clock and a length of time. “14:20” tells you when something happens; “35 minutes” tells you how long it lasts. Keep those jobs separate before adding or subtracting anything.

These original explanations and questions support preparation for 11-plus exams taken in 2027. They are not an official paper or a promise that every school tests these topics. Use your target school’s current guidance, and try each question before opening its worked answer.

Use a sixty-minute hour

For a duration from 10:47 to 12:18, count 13 minutes to 11:00, then one hour to 12:00 and 18 minutes more. That is 1 hour 31 minutes. Check forwards: 10:47 + 1 hour 31 minutes reaches 12:18. Subtraction also works if you exchange an hour for 60 minutes correctly; ordinary decimal subtraction does not.

In 24-hour time, 12:00 is noon and 00:00 is midnight at the start of a date. For afternoon times after noon, add 12 to the hour of a 12-hour time: 4:35 pm becomes 16:35. But 12:35 pm stays 12:35, while 12:35 am is 00:35. State “next day” when a journey crosses midnight.

Read one service consistently

This is an invented timetable for practice, not travel information. Each column follows one service through its stops. A passenger must reach the Harbour by 09:30. Service C arrives too late; Service B arrives at 09:27 and is the latest suitable departure from Brook, at 08:42. Do not choose a service merely because its departure is before the arrival deadline.

Include the time outside the vehicle

Suppose the destination is a seven-minute walk from the Harbour stop. For a 09:30 appointment, the bus must arrive no later than 09:23. Service B is now too late, so Service A is needed. Waiting, walking and connection time can change an answer even when the time spent on the vehicle is unchanged. Write these stages separately rather than trying to remember them.

Across midnight, split the calculation at 00:00. From 23:38 to 01:12 the next day is 22 minutes to midnight and 72 minutes afterwards, giving 94 minutes in total. This method also avoids treating a clock that has restarted at zero as a negative duration.

Eight original questions

A useful final check

Label each answer either “time of day” or “duration”. Then check it in reverse: add a duration to the start, subtract it from the finish, or trace the chosen service back through its column. If an appointment includes a walk or check-in period, check arrival at the actual destination rather than only the final stop.

Return to the Maths learning hub, choose original practice and print resources, or continue with multi-step word problems. When reviewing, record the step you missed rather than just copying the answer. Explain one corrected question aloud, then try a different example of the same skill.

Teaching context checked 25 October 2026: DfE maths programme. This is curriculum context, not a school-specific exam specification. The examples, questions and explanations here are original; no official mark scheme or qualified-educator review is claimed.