Everything parents need to know about the two main 11+ exam formats — what they test, how they differ, and how to prepare your child for either.
The 11 Plus is a selective entrance examination taken by children in Year 6, typically aged 10 or 11, to gain admission to a grammar school or other selective secondary school. It's most common in parts of England including Kent, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, and various parts of the Midlands and North West.
Grammar schools are state-funded and free to attend, but entry is based solely on academic performance in the 11+ exam. This makes thorough preparation essential — children who practise regularly with past-paper-style questions consistently outperform those who don't.
There is no single national 11+ exam. Each region, consortium or school chooses its own exam provider — either GL Assessment, CEM, or a school-set paper. This means preparation must be tailored to your child's specific target school.
GL Assessment (Granada Learning) is the most widely used 11+ provider. It produces separate papers for each subject, each independently timed. A child sitting GL exams might complete four separate papers across one or two exam sessions.
Kent, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Trafford, Wirral, Lancashire, Sutton (SET), Redbridge, Warwickshire, Birmingham (most schools), Lincolnshire and more.
CEM (Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, part of Durham University) takes a different approach. Rather than separate subject papers, CEM combines subjects into mixed papers and deliberately varies question formats to reduce the effectiveness of "hothousing" — intensive drilling of question types.
Bexley, Gloucestershire, Dorset, some Birmingham schools, and a small number of individual grammar schools across England.
* Dates are approximate and may vary by year. Always confirm with your target school's admissions page.
Check the school's admissions page or the consortium page for your region. Our Regions page has a breakdown of every major area in England with the format listed.
Yes — and it's a good idea if you're applying to schools in different consortiums. Our papers include both GL-style and CEM-style questions, clearly labelled.
Not necessarily harder, but many children find CEM trickier because it mixes subjects within a single paper and moves faster. GL tends to be more predictable in format. Neither is 'harder' — they require different preparation strategies.
Most families start in Year 4 or early Year 5, giving 12–18 months of gentle practice before intensive preparation in Year 6 summer. Starting in Year 6 alone is possible but tight.
Our All Subjects Bundle includes papers in both formats. Single subject packs include GL-format papers by default.
It varies by school and year. Grammar schools don't publish fixed pass marks — they offer places to the highest-scoring children up to their capacity. Standardised scores vary by year group difficulty.
Free papers for GL and CEM formats. Create an account and start today — no payment needed.