GL Assessment 11+: The Complete Parent Guide
What GL Assessment tests, how scores are standardised, which grammar schools use it, and how to prepare by year group
What GL Assessment tests, how scores are standardised, which grammar schools use it, and how to prepare by year group
GL Assessment produces Buckinghamshire's 11+, works with Kent County Council on the Kent Test, and supplies parts of other schools' tests. For 2027 entry both counties held their main test day on 10 September 2026. GL is not the setter everywhere: QE Boys, both Tiffin schools and the six Sutton SET schools test English and maths only, with no verbal or non-verbal reasoning. So the first step in 11+ preparation is checking which kind of test your child faces.
GL Assessment is a commercial education company that publishes standardised tests, including admissions tests for state and independent schools. It describes itself as the largest provider of 11+ tests to schools in England, delivering over 300,000 papers a year, and it offers both standard and bespoke tests. Its admissions papers are multiple choice.
GL questions come from four areas, Verbal Reasoning (VR), Non-Verbal Reasoning (NVR, which can include spatial reasoning), English and Mathematics, but each council or school chooses which areas to use and how to split them into papers. GL itself warns that timings, the mix of topics and the number of questions vary from area to area. Kent sets an English and maths paper and a separate reasoning paper; Buckinghamshire sets two papers of about an hour each that measure verbal, mathematical and non-verbal skills; Kendrick School in Reading, where GL does all the marking, sets two papers of about an hour that mix all four areas; Latymer uses GL only for maths and verbal reasoning, and Dame Alice Owen's only for verbal reasoning.
CEM, the other name parents meet, now sells its assessments under the Cambridge Insight name, from Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Its current entrance test, Cambridge Select Insight, is a computer assessment of about 60 minutes covering numerical, verbal and non-verbal ability, and Cambridge provides no practice or past papers for it, only familiarisation material for candidates.
Verbal Reasoning tests how well a child can work out rules and relationships between words, letters and numbers; where numbers appear, they are used as symbols rather than to test maths. The Kent familiarisation booklet, produced by GL Assessment with Kent County Council, shows two typical types: finding the one letter that ends the first word and begins the second in two pairs at once, and choosing the one word that fits two pairs of words with different meanings. Each question in the booklet has five options, and not every type appears in every test. A wide vocabulary helps, and reading widely builds it, but the question formats themselves need specific practice.
Non-Verbal Reasoning tests how well a child handles relationships between shapes and patterns without using words. In the Kent booklet's examples, children complete a series of shapes, find the odd one out, and crack codes that link parts of a shape to letters; the booklet also shows spatial questions, such as finding a target shape hidden inside one of five larger ones. GL says its reasoning sections rely less on language, curriculum or rehearsed content, so ordinary schoolwork gives little direct practice in them, and short, regular work on the question types matters.
GL English questions are multiple choice too. In Kent's English section (25 minutes, after a 5-minute practice exercise), children choose the best word to complete a sentence, spot the mistake in a sentence, and answer questions on a passage they have read. Because GL describes its admissions tests as multiple choice, extended writing, where it counts, comes from the school: Latymer and Dame Alice Owen's both set their own written English papers. Kent sets a 40-minute writing task, including 10 minutes' planning, which is not marked but may be used by a local headteacher panel. Children who read widely and have practised extended writing are better prepared for both kinds of paper.
GL maths questions are multiple choice and drawn from the primary curriculum: GL says its English and maths content covers what is taught up to the end of Year 5, and the Kent booklet describes topics taught in most schools up to the start of Year 6, with a small number of questions harder than children are used to. Time is short: Kent allows 25 minutes for its maths section and Latymer 30 minutes, so speed matters as well as accuracy.
Four components, and children are rarely even across all four
A child strong in maths and comprehension can still miss out on reasoning: in the 2025 Kent Test a child needed no single score below 108 as well as a total of 332, and in Buckinghamshire verbal skills make up half the score. Family practice tends to concentrate on the strands a child enjoys.
Our specialist 11+ tutors test all four separately and report which one is actually costing marks.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppRaw marks on GL papers are turned into standardised scores, which compare each child with everyone who sat the same test and adjust for age, so that the youngest in the year are not at a disadvantage; Buckinghamshire says it uses each child's age in years and months on the test day. What there is not is a single GL scale. Each area reports scores its own way and sets its own standard, so a score from one area cannot be compared with a score from another:
| Test | Papers | How the score is reported | Published standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kent Test (familiarisation booklet produced by GL Assessment and Kent County Council) | English and maths paper (multiple choice, 25 minutes each); reasoning paper (verbal and non-verbal); a writing task that is not marked | Three standardised scores, for English, maths and reasoning, each from 69 to 141; highest possible total 423 | 2025 test: total of 332 or more, with no single score below 108 |
| Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test (produced by GL Assessment) | Two papers of about 60 minutes each, measuring verbal, mathematical and non-verbal skills | One score between 60 and 170, weighted 50% verbal, 25% maths and 25% non-verbal | 121 or more qualifies; the council expects about 37% of children to reach it |
| Kendrick School, Reading (all marking and standardisation by GL Assessment) | Two papers of about an hour each, mixing verbal and non-verbal reasoning, English and maths; no creative writing | The total of the standardised scores on the two papers | 2026 entry: qualifying score 99.00 for most applicants; 94.00 for girls in care or previously in care, and for Pupil or Service Premium girls living in its designated area |
Reaching the standard makes a child eligible, not certain of a place. Kent says a grammar assessment does not guarantee a place, and some Kent grammar schools, particularly those most likely to take children from outside Kent, give priority to the highest scores. Buckinghamshire grammar schools do not use the score to choose between qualified children at all. Schools that rank candidates, such as Latymer and Kendrick, offer places in rank order within their admissions rules, so the lowest score that wins a place depends on how everyone else scored that year.
The reliable guide to who sets a test is what the council or school itself says. For September 2027 entry, these name GL Assessment for all or part of their test:
Several of the most competitive schools set tests of English and maths with no verbal or non-verbal reasoning, so GL reasoning practice will not prepare a child for them:
No formal 11+ preparation is needed in Year 3. The most valuable investment at this stage is wide reading -- fiction, non-fiction, poetry -- which builds vocabulary and comprehension skills that transfer directly to the VR and English papers. Mental maths practice (times tables, mental addition and subtraction) builds the numeracy foundation for the Maths paper. Introducing word puzzles, logic games, and shape puzzles can make VR and NVR feel familiar without the pressure of formal test conditions.
Year 4 is appropriate for introducing VR and NVR concepts through structured puzzle books rather than practice papers, if the target test includes them. Children aiming at the most competitive schools often begin light, consistent practice in this year, but what they practise depends on the school: Henrietta Barnett's Round One includes verbal and non-verbal reasoning, while QE Boys and the Tiffin schools test only English and maths, so for them reading, writing and maths come first. For less competitive grammars, Year 4 preparation is helpful but not essential -- a strong Year 5 start is sufficient. The focus should be on building confidence and familiarity, not creating pressure.
From September of Year 5, families whose child faces a GL-set or GL-marked test usually begin formal preparation for it; for QE Boys, the Tiffin schools, the Sutton SET schools and the CSSE schools, that year goes on English and maths instead. At this stage, children should work through practice books for whichever of VR, NVR, English and Maths their test covers, and introduce timed practice papers from Easter onwards. GL publishes free familiarisation materials and sells practice papers; Kent and Latymer point families to GL's free materials, and Buckinghamshire offers every child a familiarisation booklet and a practice test before the real one. A good preparation programme in Year 5 combines weekly tutoring sessions with consistent independent practice of two to three sessions per week of 20 to 30 minutes each.
The main test days for every GL test in this guide fell in the first three weeks of September for 2027 entry: Dame Alice Owen's Part I on 1 September 2026, Henrietta Barnett's Round One on 2 to 4 September, Latymer's test on 3 to 5 September, Kent and Buckinghamshire on 10 September, and Kendrick on 18 September. That leaves almost no preparation time after the summer holiday, so children need to be in good shape by the end of Year 5. The summer before Year 6 should be used for timed practice under exam conditions, working through practice papers, and focusing on areas of weakness identified during Year 5.
Knowing the right year to start is worth more than starting early
The year-group guidance above only works if a family can judge honestly where their own child sits against it, and that is the one assessment a parent cannot make from the kitchen table.
A free consultation includes that judgement, with a plan pitched at your child's actual starting point. 91% of our students achieve their desired grades.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppOur 11+ specialists know the GL Assessment formats described above and the English and maths tests set by schools that do not use them. We assess each child's starting point across the areas their test covers, identify their specific weaknesses, and build a structured preparation programme calibrated to their target school's difficulty level. Whether your child is aiming for a standard selective grammar or a super-selective school like QE Boys Barnet or Henrietta Barnett, we will build a plan that is realistic, structured, and kind to your child's wellbeing. Book a free consultation and we will start from the test your child is actually sitting.
Also read: When to start 11+ preparation -- a year-by-year guide
External resource: GL Assessment official 11+ information
GL Assessment is a commercial company that sets and marks 11+ tests; it describes itself as the largest provider of 11+ tests to schools in England. Its admissions papers are multiple choice and draw on verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, English and maths, but each council or school chooses the mix: Kent sets an English and maths paper and a reasoning paper, while Buckinghamshire sets two papers measuring verbal, mathematical and non-verbal skills. GL publishes free familiarisation materials and sells practice papers. CEM's assessments are now sold under the Cambridge Insight name; its current entrance test, Cambridge Select Insight, is a computer assessment of about 60 minutes covering numerical, verbal and non-verbal ability, and Cambridge provides no practice or past papers for it, only familiarisation material for candidates.
There is no single GL scale: each council or school decides how scores are reported and what standard counts. Kent and Buckinghamshire both standardise raw marks, comparing each child with everyone who sat the same test and adjusting for age so that the youngest are not at a disadvantage. In Kent, a child gets three scores, for English, maths and reasoning, each from 69 to 141; in the 2025 Kent Test a grammar assessment needed a total of 332 or more with no single score below 108. In Buckinghamshire, one weighted score between 60 and 170 is reported, and 121 or more qualifies; the council expects about 37% of children to reach it. Kendrick School in Reading adds together the standardised scores of its two papers, and its qualifying score for 2026 entry was 99.00 for most applicants. Schools that rank candidates, such as Latymer and Henrietta Barnett, offer places in rank order within their admissions rules, so the lowest score that wins a place depends on how everyone else scored that year.
For September 2027 entry, GL Assessment produces Buckinghamshire's Secondary Transfer Test for the county's thirteen grammar schools, the Kent Test comes with a familiarisation booklet produced by GL Assessment and Kent County Council, and Kendrick School in Reading has GL carry out all its marking and standardisation. Some schools use GL for part of their test: Latymer in Edmonton for its maths and verbal reasoning paper, before moving to Quest Assessments for 2028 entry, and Dame Alice Owen's in Potters Bar for its verbal reasoning paper. Henrietta Barnett's Round One is set by what the school calls a nationally recognised body, and the school links GL's familiarisation booklets for it. QE Boys, Tiffin School, Tiffin Girls', the six Sutton SET schools and the ten Essex CSSE schools set English and maths tests with no verbal or non-verbal reasoning.
Preparation timelines depend on your target school. For the most competitive schools, many families begin structured preparation in Year 4 (age 8 to 9), focusing on vocabulary, comprehension and maths, and adding verbal and non-verbal reasoning puzzles and games only where the test includes them, as the Kent and Buckinghamshire tests and Henrietta Barnett's Round One do; QE Boys and the Tiffin schools test English and maths only. Year 5 (from September, age 9 to 10) is the usual start point for formal preparation, using practice papers and timed practice. The main test days for every GL test in this guide fell in the first three weeks of September 2026 for 2027 entry, so a child needs to be ready by the end of Year 5. Starting earlier than Year 4 with formal papers risks burnout.
The school does not say so. Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet sets two multiple-choice papers, one in English and one in maths, sat in a single session, and does not name the company that supplies them; there is no verbal or non-verbal reasoning paper. For 2027 entry the tests were on 16 and 17 September 2026. A boy needs a combined score of 225 to be eligible, and the lowest score gaining a place, excluding appeals, was 235 in both 2024 and 2025. For 2025 entry, 3,433 boys sat the tests for 180 places, about 5%.
No. Both Kingston schools set their own tests of English and maths only, with no verbal or non-verbal reasoning. Tiffin School's two-stage test is set in partnership with Quest, and since 2019 the school has offered places only to boys living within 10km of it. The Tiffin Girls' School sets its own two-stage tests and names no outside provider. Neither school publishes past papers. For 2026 entry, Tiffin tested 1,866 boys at Stage One for 186 places, about 10%, and Tiffin Girls' tested 1,468 girls at stage one for 180 places, about 12%.
Our specialist tutors prepare children for GL Assessment tests and for schools that set their own. Book a free consultation to discuss your child's needs and create a personalised plan.
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