Birmingham has now moved to gl style rather than CEM

[Slater25]

This has been announced today on twitter

[Enjoyingthejourney]

Yes, so it seems. Would have thought a full academic year of notice would have been good, but hey-ho.

Any idea why?

[Daogroupie]

It is just usually just a money issue.

The contract comes up for renewal and GL undercuts CEM.

All the North London state selectives moved to CEM and then 4 years later abandoned CEM for GL.

The contracts come up again next year so will it be back to CEM?

The schools do not seem to realise the differences. DG

[scary mum]

Yes, so it seems. Would have thought a full academic year of notice would have been good, but hey-ho.

Any idea why?

The advantage is that it creates a more even playing field. The contracts are probably not negotiated far enough in advance to give a whole year's notice. The same happened in Buckinghamshire a few years ago.

[Daogroupie]

The important thing is that everyone finds out at the same day which is probably why he used Twitter. DG

[mh1]

What on earth is going on!!! This certainly is news.
Are the contracts awarded annually or on a more long term basis. CEM has been used for the past 10 years + and therefore I would have thought perhaps contracts negotiated for a specified longer term period than a year. Hmm.

Scary mum- you mentioned the new format will create a level playing field. Can you please expand on this. We were led to believe CEM was tutor proof and so one can argue this format perhaps would have created a more level playing field although I'm sure CEM format favoured readers with expansive vocabulary.

Trawling through sections of yester-decade there was considerable talk regarding question types for the VR section of GL papers- 21 questions types, > 21 question types.
Any ideas on the question types the current GL format entails?

On a practical level for those parents who are going to experience this journey this year any tips/advice.
I think the NVR and Maths and English section is much more straightforward to prepare for than the VR. Any booklets parents might have purchased for NVR and Maths are equally valid even if not based on GL format. Key is going to preparation for VR.

More questions:
1) Is the format still MCQ?
2) Is equal weighting given for each topic i.e 25% for each for Maths , NVR , English, VR ?

[scary mum]

Are the contracts awarded annually or on a more long term basis. CEM has been used for the past 10 years + and therefore I would have thought perhaps contracts negotiated for a specified longer term period than a year. Hmm.

In Bucks the contracts are for 5 years, I don't know what they are in Birmingham, someone local may know?

Scary mum- you mentioned the new format will create a level playing field. Can you please expand on this. We were led to believe CEM was tutor proof and so one can argue this format perhaps would have created a more level playing field although I'm sure CEM format favoured readers with expansive vocabulary.

I don't think anyone has claimed for a while that the CEM 11 plus is tutor proof, not even CEM. Otherwise why is there so much tutoring? It creates a more level playing field as there is not so long for people to practice papers & the format is new to everyone at the same time.

Trawling through sections of yester-decade there was considerable talk regarding question types for the VR section of GL papers- 21 questions types, > 21 question types.
Any ideas on the question types the current GL format entails?

This will depend on the local contract.
There is a link to information about the Bucks test here, however you will have to wait & see if things are the same in Birmingham.

More questions:
1) Is the format still MCQ?
2) Is equal weighting given for each topic i.e 25% for each for Maths , NVR , English, VR ?

I think you will have to wait until they release more information. As you will see from the Bucks link, it is not equal weighting there, but that doesn't mean Birmingham will be the same.

[JM40]

All the currently available information is here. https://www.birminghamgrammarschools.org/content/test" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The test is still multiple choice. The page above links to some sample questions, and says a full familiarisation guide will be available at the end of March.

[SH031]

GL will no doubt get a boost in sales of their books in the Birmingham area as new tutors rush to pivot.

I self tutored my children for CEM which was fairly straightforward I would not be so confident with GL which all seems to be about tricks to build speed.

[PettswoodFiona]

I am in a region where DCs often sit both a CEM (Bexley) and a GL (Kent) style exam. They are not massively different. DD sat both and at the time I didn’t know there were different boards and it didn’t disadvantage her, she just did a variety of random ten minute tests for familiarisation and a mock exam, no formal tutoring. It worked for her. So what I am trying to say is please don’t panic.