GL-Assessment, NFER and Letts

You will frequently hear of or see references to “NFER” papers in connection with the 11+. NFER (Nelson Foundation for Educational Research) used to set the 11+ test papers in the majority of the regions and published key practice papers for the 11+.

Most schools and tuition centres direct parents to acquire these papers however these papers are no longer printed under the NFER name.

The following should clarify the situation:

1. NFER (National Foundation for Educational Research, sometimes referred to as NFER Nelson or even NFERnelson) was recently acquired by Granada Learning (also referred to as GL-Assessment, GL-A).
2. NFER /GL-Assessment papers are used in most of the 164 UK Grammar Schools’ selective entrance exams as well as many of the Independent Schools entrance examinations.
3. Until March 2010 NFER papers were distributed by Letts Educational.
4. NFER papers are now distributed directly by Granada Learning (GL-Assessment, GL-A).
5. NFER /GL-Assessment have NOT produced any new practice papers; the papers sold for familiarisation are still the same as those sold in 1990s which were labelled 11A, 11B, 11C and 11D in each subject. However they have indicated that in the future they will create more practice papers, hence the new cover designs are called “Pack 1” and the papers in each subject are now labelled in numerical sequence: Paper 1, Paper 2 etc.
6. NFER /GL-Assessment has re-packaged the same pre-existing papers mentioned above under new covers and new ISBN numbers (see table below).
7. Meanwhile Letts have adopted the same old animal covers (with giraffes, fish etc) they used for NFER distribution to launch their own new set of 11Plus practice papers. One way to distinguish themselves is Letts have put a bright yellow sticker on the covers indicating “New Papers”, however many parents wrongly assume that NFER have produced a new batch of practice papers. Note – the new Letts 11 plus papers have a different ISBN numbers.
8. During the transition you can recognise Letts packs distributing NFER papers by checking for the GL-Assessment Logo on the bottom left hand side of the front cover.
9. The following table shows the equivalent packs (i.e. same contents but different ISBN numbers).