If you plan for your child to sit for the 11 plus exam, you must have heard of different exam formats such as ‘CEM’ & ‘GL’. CEM & GL are two different exam bodies that administer and examines the 11 plus entrance exam, used by grammar schools and many independent schools for entry into year 7. This guide will help you understand what CEM 11 plus test is and how to prepare for it.
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What is a CEM 11 plus test?
The Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM), part of Cambridge Assessment, is a research group based at the University of Durham in the UK. CEM has been providing entrance exam questions for the 11 plus assessment since 2012. Several grammar schools opt for CEM. The 11 plus exam paper assesses pupils’ verbal, non-verbal, and numerical reasoning skills.
The CEM 11+ exam helps schools determine a candidate’s academic potential and overall capacity to successfully respond to the secondary school curriculum. The questions in the CEM 11 plus papers are in a mixed order within one test instead of one paper per subject.
The exam is short and time-constrained. The CEM test puts a strong focus on pupils’ vocabulary.
Grammar Schools that use the CEM exam for Year 7 (11+) entry:
Please note that schools may opt to change their board and exam format, and one must check the requirements of the schools they are interested in before applying to them.
Altrincham Grammar School for Boys
Altrincham Grammar School for Girls
Bacup & Rawtenstall Grammar School
Beths Grammar School
Bexley Grammar School
Bishop Wordsworth’s School
Chatham Grammar School for Girls
Chelmsford County High School for Girls
Chislehurst & Sidcup Grammar School
Churston Ferrers Grammar School, Galmpton
Colyton Grammar School, Colyford
Denmark Road High School
Fort Pitt Grammar School, Chatham
Heckmondwike Grammar School
Herschel Grammar School
Holcombe Grammar School, Chatham
Kendrick Girls’ Grammar School, Reading
Langley Grammar School
Marling School, Stroud
Newport Girls’ High School
Pate’s Grammar School, Cheltenham
Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Penrith
Queen Mary’s Grammar School
Queen Mary’s High School
Rainham Mark Grammar School, Rainham
Ribston Hall High School, Gloucester
Rochester Grammar School
Sale Grammar School
Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School, Rochester
Sir Thomas Rich’s School, Longlevens
St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School
Stretford Grammar School
Stroud High School, Stroud
The Crypt School, Gloucester
Torquay Boys’ Grammar School
Torquay Girls’ Grammar School
Townley Grammar School
Upton Court Grammar School
Urmston Grammar School
Wolverhampton High School for Girls
What to expect from a CEM 11 plus test?
The CEM exam format consists of two papers, which can be around 45 to 60 minutes per paper. Each paper has a combination of two or more subjects that are tested in individual sections devised to test that specific subject only.
At the beginning of each section, a specified time is allocated and starts with an example. An audiotape will inform students when they have completed the time allocated in that section and move on during the exam. Students are not allowed to return to this section once the time is up or to move to any other section before completing the ongoing section.
Your child will be given a test booklet with a separate answer book for the exam. Questions can be either multiple-choice or in a standard format that requires the child to write an answer in the given box. As these answers are computer marked and have no margin for human interpretation, your child should have good practice on how to write their answers clearly on the separate answer sheet.
What’s covered in CEM 11 plus?
Although CEM and GL assessments cover broadly the same topics such as English, Maths, Verbal reasoning, Non-verbal reasoning/spatial awareness, etc., some essential differences affect how your child should prepare for the 11+ exam. To help you understand the differences between CEM and GL, here’s a guide on the difference between the GL and CEM Assessments
To know which board your targeted school follows, you can check our Comprehensive List of Grammar Schools and Consortiums by GL / CEM / CSSE / SET / ISEB, or you can contact our support team for any other queries related to the 11 plus exam at support@kidsmartapp.co.uk.
Non-Verbal Ability
Non-verbal reasoning tests a child’s ability to analyze and understand problems and solve them using visual reasoning and critical thinking. It covers aptitude assessment and the ability to work with pictures and apply spatial reasoning. The questions in this section are based on logic and patterns. Most of the children face non-verbal reasoning for the first time in the 11 plus exam. Although there is no prior knowledge required for this, your child must be well versed with the type of questions asked in the 11 plus non-verbal reasoning section. For more details on what is included in the 11 Non-Verbal Reasoning test, read Tips for preparation and success for the 11 plus non-verbal reasoning.
Numerical Ability
Numeric ability means problem-solving skills using numerical reasoning. Questions in this numerical reasoning section require problem-solving and detailed analysis, where pupils need to understand the question and apply their maths skills. Your child should be well-versed with the basic principles they can use for problem-solving. These questions are based on different mathematics topics that are essentially covered in the National Curriculum syllabus. This subject covers arithmetic, word problems, and problem-solving questions. You can read What You Need to Know about the 11 Plus Maths Exam for more details.
Arithmetic
This section assesses the mathematical skills usually taught with the KS2 curriculum, the start of KS3 and higher.
Worded Difficulties
This section assesses the candidate’s ability to translate a worded problem into mathematical equations to find the solution.
Problem Solving
This section aims to assess the analytical and reasoning skills when applied to maths problems.
Verbal Ability
This subject covers comprehension, Grammar, vocabulary, and verbal reasoning. Parents must keep in mind that vocabulary has a lot of weightage in CEM exam papers.
Verbal Reasoning
Verbal reasoning tests pupils’ critical thinking skills. It aims to assess their ability to understand, reason, and solve problems using framed concepts or written information quickly and accurately. To know what topics are included in the cem 11 plus verbal reasoning section, you can read Verbal Reasoning: How to prepare for the 11 plus exam.
Grammar
This section tests your grammatical skills and ability to use parts of speech.
Here are a few blogs you can read to learn on how to strengthen your child’s grammar skills
What are pronouns? – A powerful tutorial for better Grammar
Strong Verbs – A Guide To Using Powerful Verbs
Here are The Top 6 English Grammar Apps for Kids 4-11 that you can try to strengthen your child’s grammar skill
Comprehension
This section assesses the comprehension skills like inference, fact-finding, analysis, deduction, and contextual vocabulary. Comprehension is the ability to understand complexity in the written text and to be able to connect ideas to get a clear picture of what the author intends to convey through a comprehension test.
Here are 7 Comprehension Strategies That Will Make Your Child a Powerful Reader.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary has a lot of weightage in the 11 plus cem test papers. Vocabulary development is not an easy task that can be done in a week or a month in some cases. It can be a long process, and that is why we suggest parents start the vocabulary development of their children when they’re in primary school. There can be various ways to develop your child’s vocabulary, such as reading books, using flashcards, vocab games, using new words while talking with them, etc. You can also use our 11 plus vocabulary module that is specially designed for the 11 plus exam.
Familiarisation papers for CEM 11 plus
CEM does not release past papers but provides a familiarisation booklet to give parents and students an idea of what they will face in the exam. You can also try other past papers and practice papers to develop your child’s 11 plus skills.
Other blogs to read
What is 11 plus? – A complete guide for parents
A comprehensive guide to 11 plus exam formats and how to prepare
