11+ Entrance Exams | Everything you need to know about the CEM Numerical Reasoning Exam

Numerical Reasoning is an exam used by examination board CEM. The focus of this exam is to test a student’s mathematical knowledge. The content in the CEM Numerical Reasoning exam is very similar to content from the GL Maths exam. The CEM exam covers short calculation questions, two step problem questions and multi-part questions.

CEM Numerical Reasoning tests will not stray beyond the KS2 syllabus. Many areas of the test will test pupil’s knowledge of the year 6 curriculum. Therefore, there is a requirement to advance ahead of their peers who are not sitting an 11+ exam to ensure full coverage of the curriculum before sitting the examination in September or January.

How can you help your child to pass the CEM Numerical Reasoning exam?

As mentioned previously, students will need to have a complete understanding of the Year 6 curriculum before sitting the CEM 11+ Numerical Reasoning test. We therefore recommend purchasing 1-1 or group tuition sessions.

We also recommend that your child completes a number of 11+ Maths papers. It is difficult to predict what will appear on a CEM Numerical Reasoning exam so it is important to have exposure to lots of different test questions and topics. You can purchase our 11+ Maths/Numerical Reasoning papers here.

What topics will be tested?

• Number and place value

• Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division

• Fractions including decimals and percentages

• Ratio & proportion

• Algebra

• Measurement

• Geometry (properties of shapes)

• Geometry (position and direction)

• Statistics

What is the format of the paper?

The 11+ CEM 11 Plus exams consist of two 45 minute papers which can be either multiple choice or standard depending on the area concerned. Each paper has a mix of topics including English (Verbal Reasoning), Non-Verbal Reasoning and Numerical Reasoning (Maths).