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ISEB Pre-Test vs the 11+: How It Differs from GL, CEM, CAT4 & FSCE
One comparison table for every board — and what it means if your child sits more than one
ISEB Pre-Test vs GL, CEM, CAT4 & FSCE
“Is the ISEB the same as the 11+?” Not quite. The 11+ is a family of entrance tests, and the ISEB Common Pre-Tests are the one many of the most selective independent senior schools share. This table sets ISEB beside the boards grammar schools and other independents use — and because Prep4All prepares children for GL, FSCE and ISEB, the differences below are the ones our own question banks have to respect.
| ISEB Pre-Test | GL 11+ | CEM / Cambridge Select Insight | CAT4 | FSCE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Used by | Selective independent senior schools (11+ and 13+) — one shared sitting | Most grammar-school areas (Kent, Bucks, Lincs, Birmingham…) and many independents | CEM’s paper 11+ for grammar schools is reported to have ended after the 2023 entry cycle; its successor, Cambridge Select Insight (CEM Select until 2025), is used mainly by independent schools — around 23 are reported — plus some state schools for banding or late transfer | Independent schools worldwide as a screening or baseline test; some UK entrance processes | A growing group of grammar schools — 10 for 2027 entry, with more joining from 2028 (see our FSCE guide) |
| Format | On screen, adaptive, multiple choice, no going back | Paper in grammar areas — fixed papers, mostly multiple choice on an answer sheet; GL’s independent-school Adaptive Admissions Tests are on screen | Legacy grammar test: reported as fixed mixed-format papers with strict timings. Cambridge Select Insight: on screen, about one hour, reported to run as short timed sections | On screen or paper, fixed forms: four batteries (verbal, quantitative, non-verbal, spatial) of two subtests each, delivered in three parts | Paper, answered on machine-read sheets (multiple choice and write-in boxes); a creative-writing paper at some schools (the four-paper schools and the Halifax pair) |
| Subjects | English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning (incl. 3D/spatial) | English, Maths, VR, NVR (with a spatial-reasoning strand in some areas) — the area chooses which | Verbal, numerical and non-verbal reasoning | Verbal, quantitative, non-verbal and spatial reasoning only — no curriculum content | English and Maths (no VR/NVR); creative writing at some schools; at the four-paper schools, items can draw on any of 11 KS2 subjects (science, history, geography, computing…) |
| Curriculum ceiling | Maths to the end of Year 5; English broadly national-curriculum based; VR and NVR are not curriculum-based | KS2 curriculum — reported to include some Year 6 content | KS2 curriculum, reported to lean on vocabulary | Not curriculum-based — reasoning ability | Year 5 programme of study only |
| Timing | 2 h 15 min in total (40 / 40 / 25 / 30), sittable on one day or split | Usually two papers of roughly 45–60 minutes each on one day (Kent adds a short writing task) — the area decides the mix | Legacy grammar test: reported as two papers of about 45 minutes. Cambridge Select Insight: about one hour | 72 minutes of timed testing across three parts — around 2 hours to 2 h 15 in all with instructions and breaks (reported) — and GL recommends separate sessions | Two to four papers depending on the school — the computer-marked papers 45–60 minutes each with breaks, the creative-writing paper shorter (reported at around 20 minutes at the Halifax schools; the four-paper schools do not publish a timing) |
| Scoring | Standardised Age Score (mean 100), stanine and percentile — available to schools; parents are reportedly not sent them | Standardised scores per paper, combined into an area total with a pass mark or rank | Standardised; each school sets its own use of the scores | SAS per battery (mean 100) plus a verbal-spatial profile | Age-standardised, no fixed published pass mark |
| Past papers? | None exist (adaptive). Free official walkthrough only | Official familiarisation papers and many published practice packs | No past papers; Cambridge Select Insight supplies standardised familiarisation material to candidates via the school | None official; practice tests from third parties | None — only the schools’ own familiarisation guides |
| When sat | Sept – late May window; most selective deadlines Oct–Nov of Year 6 | September of Year 6 in most areas | Set by each school (Cambridge Select Insight) | Set by each school — often reported as part of an assessment or taster day | Early autumn of Year 6 at most schools; Reading School tests in July of Year 5, and Gloucestershire moves to the summer term of Year 5 from 2028 entry |
What the differences mean for preparation
The biggest difference is not the content but the delivery: ISEB is adaptive and forward-only, so a child used to paper 11+ papers needs to rehearse committing to an answer and moving on.
ISEB’s Maths stops at Year 5 content while GL is reported to reach into Year 6 — a strong GL candidate is usually well covered for ISEB Maths and English, but the reverse is not automatically true.
ISEB’s NVR includes 3D and spatial items (reportedly cube counting and silhouettes) that standard GL-style NVR preparation does not always include — the Birmingham and Buckinghamshire papers, which have spatial sections, are the exceptions — and its VR is letter- and word-based, unlike GL’s, which still uses number-based types.
CAT4 tests reasoning only; ISEB tests reasoning AND curriculum English and Maths. Families sitting both should not assume a CAT4 profile predicts the ISEB result.
FSCE has no reasoning papers at all, and several of its schools — the four-paper schools and the Halifax pair — add creative writing, so a child preparing for both ISEB and one of those FSCE schools needs the writing practice ISEB never asks for.
Because ISEB is sat once and shared, a child applying to several independent schools does one sitting; a child applying to grammar schools in two GL areas may sit two separate tests.
Sitting more than one? Where to go next
ISEB-style practice
Free questions across all four sections, including the reported cube-counting and two-from-six formats.
OpenGL-style practice tests
Free, auto-marked 11+ practice papers in the paper-and-answer-sheet style grammar areas use.
OpenFSCE 11+ guide
The new grammar-school test with no reasoning papers but a creative-writing task — and which schools use it.
OpenWhich schools use ISEB?
53 verified senior schools, plus the 28 that have moved to GL, CAT4, Quest or their own papers.
OpenRehearse the Pre-Test Experience Calmly
Forward-only, difficulty-ramping ISEB-style mocks with a free walkthrough — unlimited sittings in every plan, with a 7-day free trial.