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Why does non-verbal reasoning form such an important part of many eleven plus examinations?

The University of Kent defines non-verbal reasoning (NVR) as ‘the ability to understand and analyse visual information and solve problems using visual reasoning’. It also states that the…
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Kent Primary in Academy status row

Governors of Twydall Primary (Gillingham) voted on Friday on whether to convert the school to an academy run by the Thinking Schools Academy Trust (TSAT) – against the vast majority of parents…
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Why have we changed the name of our series from Verbal Reasoning to Verbal Activity?

CEM terminology has been rather confusing for parents because they have introduced a new category of testing known as ‘verbal ability’. Is this traditional verbal reasoning or something…
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What is the difference between Verbal Ability and Verbal Reasoning?

A number of local authorities that retain the 11+ and a significant number of individual grammar schools and grammar school consortia have changed their entrance examination from the GL Assessment to …
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The media take up the outcry against the claim of ‘fairness’ in the CEM 11+ Exam

In previous blog posts, I have spoken about how the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring have indicated that their 11+ exam could be viewed as ‘tutor proof’ and very difficult to prepare for. In…
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How to Prepare Your Child for the CEM 11+ Exam

Preparation for the CEM exam is certainly possible, despite the claims that this is the ‘unpreparable exam’. The test has no special or unique elements. After all, there are a limited…
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The truth about ‘the Unpreparable Exam’

The CEM 11+ Exam has been dubbed, by some, as ‘the unpreparable exam’. Its Durham University originators‎ have certainly devised an exam that is more difficult to prepare children for.…
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Are the CEM tests as ‘fair’ as they are reported to be?

With the introduction of the CEM 11+ tests, there is a much greater focus on English than in previous entrance exams. Although this form of exam claims to be a more ‘balanced’ approach to testing …
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Are the CEM tests really impossible to ‘prepare’ for?

In our conversations with parents, we have found that the new CEM tests are making parents a lot more anxious than other 11+ testing regimes for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the tests have taken on…
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