GL, CEM, and what changed

What they were

GL Assessment is a long-established test provider. Its 11 Plus papers are subject-separated, drawn from published question banks, and the format is familiar and well documented, which is why so much practice material exists for it.

CEM, originally developed at Durham University and later part of Cambridge University Press & Assessment, was adopted by a number of areas that wanted something harder to coach for. Its papers mixed subjects within timed sections and leaned heavily on vocabulary, and it was deliberately less predictable.

What changed

CEM withdrew its paper 11 Plus tests after 2022, and most grammar schools moved to GL for the 2023 to 2024 admissions round. Areas that used CEM have moved on to other arrangements: some to GL, some to papers set by a local consortium of schools, some to other providers.

The practical effect is that "GL versus CEM" is now largely a historical comparison, a good deal of advice online has not caught up, and anything still selling CEM-style practice is preparing your child for an exam that has largely gone.

How to find out what your child will actually sit

In this order, because each is more authoritative than the last:

1. The school's own admissions page. Selective schools publish their admissions arrangements, and they are obliged to be specific about the test.
2. Your local authority's secondary transfer booklet, published annually. It covers registration dates as well.
3. The consortium site, where several schools share one exam. Many areas run this way and the consortium, not the individual school, sets the paper.
4. Ring the school. Admissions offices answer this question constantly and would rather tell you in April than sort it out in September.

What to prepare, given all that

The formats differ; the underlying ability does not. Every version of this exam tests reading and vocabulary, arithmetic that is fluent rather than laboured, and the ability to spot a pattern under time pressure. A child who is genuinely strong at those does well on any of the papers, and a child drilled on one format does well only on that one.

So the sensible order is: build the underlying skill first, confirm the format second, and spend money on format-specific practice papers last, once you actually know which format it is. Vocabulary is the one to start earliest, because it is the slowest to build and the hardest to cram.