Check your own area. Test providers and formats can change when contracts are renewed, and details vary each year. The areas named below are examples confirmed from official pages at the time of writing. Always check your council, consortium or school for the current cycle.
Search for 11+ advice and you’ll quickly meet two names: GL and CEM. A lot of what is written about them online is out of date, because the picture changed a few years ago. This post explains who each provider is today, what their tests look like, where bespoke consortium tests fit in, and how preparation differs. Most of all, it explains how to find out which one your child will actually sit.
Who’s who
GL Assessment
GL Assessment is a UK assessment publisher, part of Renaissance, and the company behind CAT4. It provides 11+ tests for many grammar school areas, alongside admissions tests for independent schools. Its 11+ practice site notes that “11+ tests vary from area to area”: timings, the mix of subjects and the number of questions differ, because each area commissions the test it wants.
CEM, now Cambridge
CEM (the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring) began at Durham University and was bought by Cambridge Assessment and Cambridge University Press in 2019. It is now part of Cambridge University Press & Assessment.
For years CEM supplied paper 11+ tests to a number of grammar school areas. From around 2022, as contracts came to an end, areas that had used CEM papers moved to other arrangements, most often GL Assessment. Warwickshire County Council, for example, announced in March 2022 that children applying for its grammar schools would take a GL Assessment test, chosen jointly with the King Edward VI Foundation in Birmingham, so one test covers grammar schools in both areas.
Cambridge’s current entrance test is Cambridge Select Insight (formerly CEM Select). It is a computer-based assessment of around 60 minutes covering numerical, verbal and non-verbal ability. Cambridge lists selective independent schools, grammar and partially selective state schools, and schools that use fair banding among its users. Cambridge says it does not provide commercial practice materials for it.
Bespoke and consortium tests
Some areas run a test of their own, or commission one built to their specification. Two examples:
- The Kent Test has its own format, including an English and maths paper, a reasoning paper and a writing task. Kent points parents to its own familiarisation booklet and to GL Assessment’s familiarisation materials.
- The CSSE consortium of selective schools in Essex sets two papers, English and mathematics, each 60 minutes (English has 10 minutes’ extra reading time), with no separate reasoning paper.
Independent schools are different again. Many set their own papers, and some use shared computer tests such as the ISEB Common Pre-Tests (online, adaptive, covering maths, English, verbal and non-verbal reasoning) or Cambridge Select Insight.
What a GL-style 11+ looks like
The clearest public example is Buckinghamshire, where GL Assessment is the test provider and the council publishes a familiarisation booklet. For the Secondary Transfer Test:
- There are two tests, each around an hour. One covers English and verbal reasoning; the other covers non-verbal reasoning and maths.
- All questions are multiple choice, marked on a separate answer sheet that is read by computer, so clear marks matter.
- Each subject sits in its own timed section. Non-verbal reasoning comes as four short sections of five minutes each, each opening with a worked example and practice questions.
- An audio recording guides children through the instructions and tells them when to move on.
The verbal reasoning questions are of recognisable types: a four-letter word hidden across two words, “big is to small as wide is to narrow” analogies, letter series, and so on. Scores are standardised for age, and in Bucks the verbal skills count for half of the total, with maths and non-verbal reasoning a quarter each. Other GL areas combine and weight things differently, so treat Bucks as an illustration, not a template.
What CEM-style papers were like
You’ll still see “CEM-style” practice books for sale, so it helps to know what they were built for. The former CEM grammar school papers tended to mix skills within a paper, moving between short, separately timed sections of verbal, numerical and non-verbal work. Vocabulary and comprehension played a big part in the verbal sections, and the papers were often described as harder to predict than other formats.
If your area no longer uses CEM, there’s no need to buy CEM-style books. The underlying skills are useful, but the format practice won’t match what your child will see.
How to find out which test your area uses
- Start with your council’s admissions pages. Search for your council name plus “11+” or “grammar school test”. Many name the provider and link to a familiarisation booklet.
- Read each school’s admission arrangements. Under the School Admissions Code, these must be published by 15 March each year, and they describe how children are tested and ranked.
- Look for a consortium site. Where several schools share a test, registration and familiarisation material often sit on a joint website.
- Ask your child’s primary school. Year 5 and 6 teachers in selective areas usually know the local test well.
- Check the date on anything you read. A forum thread or tutor page from 2021 may describe a provider that has since changed.
Our guide to the 11+ by region is a useful overview, but use the official pages for this cycle’s details.
How preparation differs
For a GL-style test
- Learn each question type by name. Verbal and non-verbal reasoning types repeat, so familiarity pays off.
- Practise filling in a multiple-choice answer sheet, including questions that need two answers marked.
- Use GL’s free familiarisation papers and your council’s booklet before buying anything.
For an English and maths test
- Focus on school-curriculum maths, reading comprehension, and written English, rather than reasoning puzzles.
For a computer-based test
- Make sure your child is comfortable reading and answering on screen, using a mouse or trackpad, and working at a desk for an hour.
Whatever the test
The skills underneath overlap far more than the branding suggests. Wide reading, a strong vocabulary, quick recall of number facts, and calm, careful reasoning help in every format. Short, regular practice and a child who feels relaxed about the day matter more than which publisher’s name is on the front of the paper.
Useful next reads
- 11+ in 2026 to 27: a parent’s guide by region
- 11+ in Buckinghamshire: a parent’s deep-dive
- A calm 11+ preparation plan for Year 4 and Year 5
- Verbal reasoning explained, with examples
- Puzzitron offers 11+-style verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and maths practice through its 11+ practice hub. You can try a short free practice check with no sign-up.