What GL Assessment is
GL Assessment is a UK educational-assessment company (formerly NFER-Nelson, then Granada Learning, now part of Renaissance Learning) that supplies entrance-test papers to grammar schools and selective independents. They're the dominant provider for state-grammar 11+ testing in England — most consortium-administered 11+ tests use GL papers in some form.
Crucially, GL doesn't run a single national 11+. They write papers to each consortium's specification. The Kent Test, Bucks STT, Trafford TGSAT, Wirral 11+, and Lincolnshire 11+ are all "GL papers" but each is bespoke. The general format is consistent; the specific questions, time limits, and difficulty calibration vary by consortium.
The four standard components
Most GL 11+ papers cover four areas, each typically delivered as its own short paper:
English
Reading comprehension followed by language-conventions questions. Comprehension passages are usually fiction or non-fiction at age-appropriate reading level, with multiple-choice questions testing literal understanding, inference, vocabulary in context, and authorial intent. Language conventions cover spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word classification. All multiple-choice — no free-form writing in standard GL papers.
Maths
KS2-level arithmetic and problem-solving — number, place value, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio and proportion, geometry, time, money, data handling. Questions are multiple-choice, calculator-not-allowed. The difficulty is roughly KS2 SATs harder questions plus some lateral problem-solving — children who are comfortable with KS2 maths fundamentals find the 11+ Maths paper accessible; children with shaky foundations struggle.
Verbal Reasoning
Language-based puzzle questions — most novel to most Year 5 children because VR isn't directly taught in primary schools. The standard GL question types are:
- Cloze — fill in the missing word in a sentence.
- Antonyms / synonyms — pick the opposite or matching word.
- Analogies — "X is to Y as A is to ?"
- Codes — letter-substitution puzzles.
- Rearranging letters — anagram-style questions.
- Word classification — odd-one-out among related words.
Non-Verbal Reasoning
Pattern-recognition with shapes — also novel to most Year 5 children. The standard GL NVR question types include:
- Sequences — what comes next in a pattern of shapes.
- Rotations / reflections — recognise rotated or mirrored shapes.
- Odd-one-out — pick the shape that doesn't fit.
- Analogies — "shape A is to shape B as shape C is to ?"
- Cube nets / spatial — visualise 3D structures from 2D nets.
Familiarisation and practice
Each grammar consortium publishes its own familiarisation booklet — usually free, usually downloadable from the council or grammar-association website — that shows the current paper format and a sample of question styles. These are the most accurate practice for your child's specific test.
Beyond that, there's a robust practice-paper publishing industry: CGP, Bond, Schofield & Sims, Letts, IPS Books, and others publish GL-style practice papers and topic-specific workbooks. These are useful for building question-type familiarity but won't perfectly match the bespoke regional paper. The best approach is broad practice with published books for the year leading up to September, then close practice with region-specific past papers (where available) in the final 2-3 months.
How GL prep typically runs
Most families use a 12-month prep arc:
- Months 1-3 (early Year 5) — KS2 foundations review. Without solid times tables, written methods, and reading comprehension at age level, GL prep is building on sand.
- Months 4-9 — topic-specific question-type practice. Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning come first because they're the most novel; Maths and English follow with targeted problem-solving and comprehension drills.
- Months 10-12 — full timed papers. Build stamina, practise the multiple-choice answer-sheet format, and rehearse exam-day pacing.