In the GL Assessment 11+ maths paper, area and perimeter sit within the Shape and Space strand, and a typical 50-question paper contains roughly two to four questions that test them directly. Every question is multiple choice with five options (A to E), and no marks are deducted for a wrong answer, so a sensible guess is always worth making.
These questions ask your child to find the distance around a shape (the perimeter) or the space inside it (the area). Early questions deal with a single rectangle or square. Later ones build up to compound L-shapes, triangles, and "path around a garden" problems that need two or three steps. The paper is broadly arranged in increasing difficulty, so the harder area questions tend to appear deeper in.
If your child mixes up area and perimeter, you are in very good company. It is the single most common confusion in this topic, and it is completely fixable with focused practice. The formulae are short, the methods are repeatable, and confidence comes quickly once the two ideas are clearly separated.
GL tests a fairly predictable set of sub-skills. In rough order of how often they appear:
Difficulty spans the full D1 to D3 range: one-step rectangle sums at the easy end, multi-step compound shapes and path-border problems at the hard end. Format is always five-option multiple choice. Note: the weightings above are drawn from analysis of GL practice papers and tutor resources, so treat them as well-grounded estimates rather than figures GL publishes.
Perimeter, area and volume all describe size, but of different things. Perimeter is the distance around the edge of a flat shape, measured in units like cm. Area is the space inside a flat shape, in square units. Volume is the space inside a solid, in cubic units. Choosing the right one is half the battle.
| Question type | What it tests | What it looks like | The classic mix-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| PerimeterThis page | Adding up the lengths of every side to find the total distance around a flat shape. | Words like "distance around", "fencing" or "border", with an answer in cm or m. For example, "What length of fence surrounds a 6 m by 4 m garden?" | Multiplying the sides to find area instead of adding them to find the distance around. |
| AreaThis page | Finding the flat space inside a shape, using formulas like length times width, in square units. | Words like "surface", "covering" or "tiles", with an answer in square units. For example, "How many square tiles cover a 5 m by 3 m floor?" | Adding the sides to give the perimeter, or forgetting to halve for a triangle's area. |
| Volume | Finding the space inside a solid, usually length times width times height, in cubic units. | A 3D box or container, asking how much it holds, in cm³ or litres. For example, "How many litres fill a 40 cm by 30 cm by 20 cm tank?" | Adding only two dimensions as if it were an area, instead of multiplying all three. |
If you are measuring the distance around an edge it is perimeter; if you are covering a flat surface it is area (square units); if you are filling a solid it is volume (cubic units).
Five questions drawn from PrepStep’s area & perimeter 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.
Emily's rectangular garden is 8 metres long and 5 metres wide. What is the perimeter of her garden?
To find the perimeter of a rectangle, add all four sides together. The formula is: Perimeter = 2 × (length + width). So: 2 × (8 + 5) = 2 × 13 = 26 metres. ✓
A rectangular swimming pool is 12 metres long and 6 metres wide. What is its area?
To find the area of a rectangle, multiply length by width. Area = length × width = 12 × 6 = 72 square metres. ✓
A rectangle has a perimeter of 24 cm. Its length is 8 cm. What is its width?
Perimeter = 2 × (length + width), so 24 = 2 × (8 + width). Divide both sides by 2: 12 = 8 + width. Therefore width = 12 - 8 = 4 cm. ✓
Emma's rectangular garden has an area of 48 square metres and a width of 6 metres. What is the length?
Area = length × width, so 48 = length × 6. To find length, divide: 48 ÷ 6 = 8 metres. ✓
A square garden has an area of 225 square metres. What is its perimeter?
Side × side = 225, so side = 15 m. Perimeter = 4 × 15 = 60 metres. ✓
Common mistake 1 of 4
Calculating area when the question asks for perimeter (or the reverse).
Tip: Train your child to ask "inside or around?" before they pick up the pencil. GL deliberately offers both answers as options.
Common mistake 2 of 4
Forgetting that a path or border eats into both sides.
Tip: A 2 m path running inside a garden reduces each dimension by 4 m, not 2 m. This is the most common slip on border problems.
Common mistake 3 of 4
Forgetting to halve when finding a triangle's area.
Tip: Base x height gives the surrounding rectangle; the triangle is half of that. The un-halved answer is always sitting there as a tempting wrong option.
Common mistake 4 of 4
Using the slant side instead of the perpendicular height.
Tip: For triangles and parallelograms, the area needs the straight-up height, not the sloping edge. GL labels both to tempt the wrong choice.
Every PrepStep 11+ question is original, written to mirror the style and difficulty of the GL Assessment 11+ and grounded in a library of real past-paper patterns, with a worked explanation for each one. PrepStep is built by Ben Jackson, its founder and a parent who has taken one child through the 11+ with another preparing now. Last reviewed: August 2026.
GL tests perimeter and area of rectangles, squares, triangles and parallelograms, plus compound L-shapes, reverse problems (find a missing side from the area), and real-world contexts like gardens and fencing. Questions range from single-step calculations to multi-step "path around a shape" problems. All are five-option multiple choice.
Expect roughly two to four questions in a 50-question paper. Area and perimeter sit inside the wider Shape and Space strand, which makes up around 8 to 12 questions in total. Number topics dominate the paper, so geometry is a smaller but reliable component.
Perimeter is the total distance around the outside of a shape, measured in linear units like cm or m. Area is the space inside, measured in square units like cm2 or m2. Confusing the two is the most common mistake, so children should decide "inside or around?" before calculating.
Circles using pi are not part of the Key Stage 2 curriculum and are very unlikely in a standard GL 11+ paper. They are secondary-school content. Children should focus on rectangles, squares, triangles, parallelograms and compound shapes. A rare super-selective paper might include a basic circle question, but it is not expected.
Rectangle area is length x width; rectangle perimeter is 2 x (length + width). Square area is side x side. Triangle area is half x base x perpendicular height. Parallelogram area is base x perpendicular height. These are not provided in the exam, so they must be memorised and fluent.
Perimeter is the total distance around the outside of a flat shape, so it is measured in ordinary units like centimetres. Area is the amount of flat space inside a shape, measured in square units such as cm². Volume is the space inside a three-dimensional solid, measured in cubic units such as cm³. GL often lists the perimeter as a tempting wrong answer to an area question, so reading carefully matters.
Explore the other GL Assessment maths topics, each with free sample questions and worked explanations.
PrepStep has 242 area & perimeter questions in GL Assessment format: five options, instant feedback, and step-by-step explanations. Free to start.
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