Example 1 · level 1 — a gentle start
A cyclist travels at 3 km/h for 5 hours. How far do they go, in km?
- 20
- 30
- 15
- 0.6
Answer: 15 — Distance = speed × time, so speed = distance ÷ time and time = distance ÷ speed.
11+ speed, distance and time questions
Speed, distance and time comes up in the maths paper of every major 11+ format. Here is what the questions look like, the method that works under time pressure, and five worked examples with the full reasoning, from a gentle start to a hard paper.
Maths · examined by GL and CEM · 5 worked examples
What your child needs to know
- Distance = speed × time. Everything else comes from rearranging that.
- Cover the one you want: speed = distance ÷ time, and time = distance ÷ speed.
Where marks get lost: Watch the units. If the speed is in km per HOUR, the time must be in hours — not minutes.
Worked examples
Every question below is generated by the same engine your child practises on, and every answer is derived by our checker rather than written by hand — which is why we can put them on a public page at all.
Example 2 · level 2 — typical of early practice
A cyclist travels at 26 km/h for 7 hours. How far do they go, in km?
- 364
- 189
- 182
- 3.7142857142857144
Answer: 182 — Distance = speed × time, so speed = distance ÷ time and time = distance ÷ speed.
Example 3 · level 3 — standard paper difficulty
A train covers 354 km in 6 hours. What is its speed, in km/h?
- 2124
- 59
- 65
- 118
Answer: 59 — Distance = speed × time, so speed = distance ÷ time and time = distance ÷ speed.
Example 4 · level 4 — a harder paper
A train covers 90 km in 9 hours. What is its speed, in km/h?
- 20
- 810
- 10
- 19
Answer: 10 — Distance = speed × time, so speed = distance ÷ time and time = distance ÷ speed.
Example 5 · level 5 — the level that separates candidates
A car travels 688 km at 86 km/h. How many hours does it take?
- 16
- 59168
- 8
- 9
Answer: 8 — Distance = speed × time, so speed = distance ÷ time and time = distance ÷ speed.
How to practise this at home
- Work in short, frequent sessions. Ten minutes daily beats an hour at the weekend, because the recall gap is what builds memory.
- Insist on written working, even for questions your child can do in their head — under exam pressure the method is what survives.
- When an answer is wrong, ask them to explain their reasoning before you correct it. The error is almost always in one step, not the whole approach.
Practise speed, distance and time with a tutor that explains
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