Who they were
GL Assessment — formerly NFER, renamed after being acquired by Granada Learning — has supplied grammar school entrance papers for over two decades and is estimated to account for around 80% of them.
CEM, the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring at Durham University, launched its alternative in response to concerns that GL papers had become too predictable and therefore too coachable. CEM deliberately published no past papers and varied the format year to year, on the theory that an unpredictable test would be "tutor-proof".
What actually happened
Two things. First, the tutor-proof claim never really held: research consistently found that children from higher-income and tutored backgrounds outperformed equally able children without that support, whichever test was used. Second, CEM ceased offering paper-based 11 plus tests for grammar schools in 2023. It now provides online assessment used mainly by a small number of independent schools.
Areas that previously used CEM — including Berkshire, Wiltshire, Birmingham, Shropshire, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Dorset and parts of Yorkshire — have largely moved to GL Assessment, with a handful adopting other providers.
The differences, for context
| GL Assessment | CEM (historic) | |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | Separate papers by subject | Mixed sections within a paper |
| Predictability | Consistent, recognisable question types | Deliberately varied year to year |
| Past papers | Familiarisation material published | None published |
| Emphasis | Defined reasoning question types | Heavy vocabulary and speed |
| Answer format | Multiple choice, usually on a separate answer sheet | Mixed, often rapid-fire timed sections |
What this means for preparation
- Prepare for GL unless your school says otherwise. It is now the overwhelmingly likely format.
- Do not buy "CEM practice papers" on the assumption your child will sit one. Check first.
- Keep the vocabulary emphasis anyway. The one genuinely useful legacy of CEM is the reminder that a wide vocabulary underpins everything — comprehension, synonyms, antonyms and analogies.
- Watch for newer providers. Some schools have adopted alternatives such as FSCE, which replaces reasoning papers with creative writing, and Bexley moved to Quest Assessments. These are the exception, not the rule.
How to answer the practical question
If your child is sitting a GL-style paper — as most will — the preparation that works is unglamorous and well established: learn the recognised question types until they are automatic, build vocabulary steadily over months rather than weeks, practise maths at pace, and sit full timed papers close to the exam so that the conditions feel ordinary rather than alarming.