Welcome to our guide to the UK Grammar school 11+ Exam Boards.
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UK Grammar school 11+ Exam Boards
There are two main exam boards for the 11+ Exam:
- GL Assessment (previously known as NFER) administer the 11+ exams for most grammar schools. The GL 11+ exam cover English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning (spatial awareness). Each school can choose any combination of these to best fit their selection criteria.
- CEM developed by the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring at Durham University administer the 11+ exams for
- Birmingham 11 plus exam CEM Select
- Cumbria 11 plus exam CEM Select
- Dorset 11 plus exam CEM Select
- Lancashire 11 plus exam CEM Select
- Kent 11 plus exam CEM Select (Medway 11 plus exam CEM Select)
- Northern Ireland 11 plus exam CEM Select
- Wiltshire 11 plus exam CEM Select
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CEM 11 plus
The CEM 11+ exam covers verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and numerical reasoning. (The verbal reasoning exam includes many of the skills tested in the GL English exam; the numerical reasoning exam includes many of the skills tested in the GL maths exam). A mixture of GL and CEM are used by:
- Devon independent schools
- Essex
- Hertfordshire
- Manchester independent schools (Trafford independent schools)
- Yorkshire independently schools.
GL 11 plus exam
In both GL and CEM exams, there is a strong emphasis on core skills in English and maths; including spelling, punctuation, grammar, comprehension, and vocabulary, including arithmetic skills, problem-solving, and data manipulation. Non-verbal reasoning assesses spatial awareness, pattern-spotting and logical skills.