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Which 11+ test does each school use?

Grammar schools do not all sit the same exam, and preparing for the wrong format is one of the easiest ways to waste a year. Here is what each of the 159 schools we have verified actually sets, taken from the school’s own published admissions information.

GL Assessment (115 schools)

GL Assessment sets the 11+ for most grammar schools in England, including this one. Papers are multiple-choice, and scores are age-standardised: children born at different points in the school year are marked against slightly different scales, so a summer-born child isn’t disadvantaged. Because GL is the most widely used format, familiarisation materials and practice papers in the same style are easy to come by.

Quest (10 schools)

Quest Assessments writes 11+ papers for a number of schools and councils, and each one picks its own mix of subjects, so the papers differ from place to place. What stays the same is the approach. Questions are built on the Key Stage 2 curriculum, answers are recorded on an OMR sheet by drawing a line through the chosen box, and marks are standardised according to age in years and months. That last point has a consequence worth knowing: there is no fixed number of correct answers that qualifies, because the mark needed shifts with how old a child is on the day. Quest publishes free familiarisation booklets, and working through one is worth doing if only so the answer sheet itself is not a surprise.

FSCE (10 schools)

FSCE (Future Stories Community Enterprise) is a not-for-profit test provider set up by Reading School, and a growing number of grammar schools now use it. Its papers stay close to the Key Stage 2 curriculum: English and Maths, not abstract reasoning puzzles. That makes it a fairer test, because what counts is what children have actually learned at school. FSCE publishes no past papers, so there is nothing to drill from, but you can still prepare properly. Steady work on KS2 English and Maths is what pays off, and that is exactly the ground PlusProgress practice covers.

CSSE (10 schools)

The CSSE (Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex) is a group of ten Essex grammar schools that write their own 11+ rather than buying it from a national provider. It’s a written exam, not multiple-choice: an English paper of 60 minutes (with 10 minutes’ reading time first) and a Maths paper of 60 minutes, with working shown and marks available for method. Of the major 11+ formats it’s the closest to a real school exam, and it rewards clear written answers in a way multiple-choice tests can’t.

Sutton SET (5 schools)

The Selective Eligibility Test is shared by the six Sutton grammar schools: one September sitting decides eligibility at all of them. It is two multiple-choice papers, Maths and English, with no Verbal or Non-Verbal Reasoning, and five of the six schools then invite candidates back for their own written second stage. The schools do not say who writes the papers, so prepare against the format they describe themselves rather than against any commercial provider’s style.

Multiple providers (4 schools)

This school does not sit a single off-the-shelf 11+. It uses papers from more than one source, typically its own alongside a commercial provider’s, and the combination is set out in its admissions arrangements. Because the mix belongs to this school, general 11+ practice books only take you so far. The school’s own guidance on what each stage contains is the thing to read first, and it is usually the only place the weighting between papers is explained.

School-set (3 schools)

This school writes and marks its own 11+ papers rather than buying them from a national provider. That changes preparation in two ways. The format is whatever the school says it is, so its own admissions pages and any sample material it publishes are the only reliable guide to what comes up. And there is usually no bank of past papers to work through, because schools that set their own tests rarely release them. Steady work on the underlying skills counts for more here than drilling a particular format.

CEM successor (1 school)

CEM (the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring) set 11+ papers for many schools for years, and where a school names CEM or the arrangement that followed it, the shape tends to be similar: Verbal, Numerical and Non-Verbal material mixed together and sat in timed sections, rather than one paper per subject. Schools using it publish very little past material, so the school’s own description of what each part covers is what to prepare against.

Not published (1 school)

We have verified these schools’ other admissions facts but have not found the test provider stated in their own material. Their page links what the school does publish.

Common questions

How do I find out which 11+ test my child’s school uses?

Every school publishes it in its admissions arrangements, though often several clicks in. This page collects it for the schools we have checked, grouped by provider, with the school’s own page linked for the detail.

Is the 11+ still CEM?

For most schools, no. CEM stopped setting the 11+ and schools that used it moved to other providers or to their own papers. Where a school still describes its test in CEM terms, we say so in its own words rather than assuming which successor it means.

Does the provider change how I should prepare?

Yes, more than most parents expect. A GL paper is multiple-choice and heavy on reasoning; a CSSE paper is written, with marks for method; FSCE stays close to the Key Stage 2 curriculum and publishes no past papers at all. Practising the wrong format is one of the commonest wasted efforts in 11+ preparation.

Why do some schools say ‘not published’?

Because we only state a school’s test when the school’s own material says it. Where we have not found that in writing, we leave it blank rather than inferring it from what nearby schools do.

Practise the format your school actually sets

Knowing the provider is the easy half. PlusProgress mocks follow the format of the school you name, so the paper your child sees at home is the shape of the one they will sit.

Try a sample questionWhich schools am I in catchment for?