# CEM vs GL Assessment: What's the Difference for NVR?
One of the first things parents discover when they start researching the 11 plus is that there isn't a single, unified exam. Different schools and areas use different testing organisations, and the experience your child has on the day, including the non verbal reasoning section, can vary quite significantly depending on which exam board is involved. Understanding CEM vs GL Assessment for non verbal reasoning is a useful starting point, because it shapes both what you prepare and how you prepare.
The majority of 11 plus exams in England are set by one of two organisations. GL Assessment (Granada Learning) has been producing 11 plus papers for decades and is the more traditional of the two. CEM, the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring at Durham University, entered the market more recently and was explicitly designed to be harder to prepare for using standard workbooks and tutoring.
Both boards test reasoning ability. Both include some form of non-verbal or spatial reasoning. But they do it in different ways, and a child who has only prepared for one format may be caught off guard by the other.
GL Assessment produces a dedicated NVR paper. The questions follow well-established formats: series completion, odd one out, analogies, matrices, net identification, rotation, reflection, and codes. These are defined question types, each with a consistent structure that a child can learn, practise, and become fluent in.
This predictability is both the strength and the limitation of the GL Assessment approach. It rewards methodical preparation. A child who has worked through each question type and understands the rules being applied will perform much better in a GL NVR paper than a child who hasn't seen the formats before. There's a clear syllabus, in effect, even if no one officially calls it that.
The 8 Types of NVR Question covers each of the GL Assessment NVR question types in detail, which is a useful read before you begin practice.
CEM takes a different approach. The exam is designed to be less predictable, partly to discourage heavy coaching and partly to test reasoning in a more fluid way. CEM papers tend to mix question types across sections rather than isolating NVR into a separate paper. The visual and spatial reasoning questions that do appear may be embedded within a broader reasoning paper, and the exact format can change from year to year.
This means that preparing for CEM NVR requires a slightly different mindset. The goal isn't to master a fixed set of question types in sequence. It's to build genuine underlying ability, to see patterns quickly, to hold visual rules in mind, and to work accurately under time pressure. Children who practise broadly rather than drilling a specific formula tend to do better in CEM papers.
That said, the underlying skills being tested are largely the same. A child who understands how to identify a pattern, apply a visual rule, and work systematically through a shape-based problem is well-equipped for either exam.
This is the practical question most parents want answered, and the answer depends entirely on geography and specific school. Grammar schools in Kent and Essex, for example, have traditionally used GL Assessment. Many schools in the Midlands and North West switched to CEM when it launched. Some schools set their own papers entirely.
The most reliable way to find out is to contact the school directly, or check their admissions page. Most schools publish this information. Your child's primary school may also know, particularly if many pupils sit the 11 plus each year.
It's worth doing this early in the process. Spending six months preparing exclusively for GL Assessment formats when your target school uses CEM, or vice versa, is a genuinely avoidable mistake.
Some families, particularly those applying to schools in different areas or whose target school is uncertain, choose to prepare for both exam formats simultaneously. This is a reasonable approach, and it has a useful side effect: children who have been exposed to a wide range of NVR question types tend to be more flexible and less thrown by anything unexpected on the day.
The practical downside is time. Preparing thoroughly for two different exam formats on top of Maths and English is a significant commitment, especially if a child is in Year 5. Being thoughtful about where you focus practice time matters.
Onzely covers NVR question types found across both the GL Assessment and CEM exams, so children get exposure to the full range of formats without needing separate resources for each. Sessions adapt to where a child is currently scoring, which helps make the most of limited practice time rather than spending it on question types a child has already mastered.
Many experienced 11 plus tutors will already know which exam board your target school uses and will structure their sessions accordingly. If you're working with a tutor, it's worth having this conversation early. A good tutor will also be able to advise on whether your child needs more focus on GL-style structured practice or on the broader, more varied preparation that suits CEM.
Technology tools work best when they complement that kind of expert guidance rather than replace it. Understanding the exam board your child is preparing for is something a tutor or the school can help you establish. Once you know, you can make sure everything, including the platform your child practises on, is pointing in the right direction.
If you're just starting out and want to understand what NVR actually involves before worrying about exam boards, What is Non-Verbal Reasoning? is a good place to begin.
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