Free GL Assessment familiarisation papers and 11+ past papers

Looking for free GL Assessment familiarisation papers? Start with GL Assessment’s official Free Familiarisation Materials page. It currently offers six printable PDF sets: Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning, English, Mathematics, a combined Non-Verbal Reasoning and Mathematics set, and Verbal Skills. GL describes the collection as 10 hours of free familiarisation.^[1]

These downloads are not past papers. They are samples designed to make the layout, instructions, answer method, and general question styles feel more familiar. GL also warns that a local 11+ test may use different timings or question counts.^[1]

For any other provider, school, or consortium, start with its official current page. There is no single national 11+ paper bank, and a useful resource is not necessarily a paper that children previously sat.

Plusling helps families prepare with original practice, and links directly to the official pages below rather than copying, hosting, or relabelling their copyrighted materials.

Choose the GL set that matches the local test

GL publishes six free download sets, but that does not mean every child should work through all six. The school, consortium, or local authority remains the source for the subjects and format used in its test. GL itself warns that local timings and question counts can differ from its familiarisation materials.^[1]

After checking that local source, use the matching GL download:

• Verbal Reasoning for a test that names Verbal Reasoning;
• Non-Verbal Reasoning for a test that names Non-Verbal Reasoning;
• English for a test that names English;
• Mathematics for a test that names Mathematics;
• Non-Verbal Reasoning and Mathematics when one combined set is useful for those two named subjects; and
• Verbal Skills when the current local guidance points families towards that material.

This matching is Plusling guidance, not a statement about any particular local test. If the local page uses different wording, follow that page and use the provider material it links.

Where to find the official answers

Each of GL’s six free downloads is a ZIP file. When opened, it currently contains one or more test booklets, separate answer sheets for your child to mark, and a parent guide. The correct-answer key is inside the parent guide; the file labelled Answer Sheet is the blank response sheet your child uses with the booklet.^[1]

Start from GL Assessment’s official Free Familiarisation Materials page, choose the relevant subject, and open the parent guide supplied inside that download. Plusling links to GL’s page and does not copy or host the papers, response sheets, parent guides, or answer keys.

Make the first session about familiarity, not a score

For a calm first session, let your child read the instructions, notice the multiple-choice layout, and practise the answer method before adding time pressure. Afterwards, note which instructions or question styles felt unfamiliar. That gives you a useful next step without treating a sample-paper score as a forecast.

On a later attempt, use the timing printed in the material if that is helpful, while keeping GL’s local-format warning in view. The purpose is to make the official presentation less surprising, not to predict a result.

Find the right material in three steps

1. Check the current admissions page for the target school, consortium, or local authority to confirm the provider, subjects, and entry year.
2. Follow that official source to the relevant familiarisation material. If it names GL Assessment, choose from GL’s free sets for the subjects listed locally.
3. Use historic papers or original practice as additional preparation, keeping them separate from the current official familiarisation.

Four labels that should not be mixed up

Official familiarisation material

Familiarisation material introduces a provider’s instructions, layout, answer method, or sample question types. It is not necessarily a paper that candidates previously sat. The GL Assessment 11+ guide explains why the provider’s broad materials must still be checked against the locally chosen test.

A council or admissions consortium may publish its own current guide. For example, Warwickshire County Council links to a Birmingham and Warwickshire entrance-test familiarisation guide.^[3] Use the landing page for the relevant entry cycle so that you can see any updated context alongside the download.

Historic past papers

A historic past paper is an earlier paper that the responsible school, consortium, or provider identifies as a past examination. CSSE currently labels selected English and Mathematics papers and mark schemes for 2021, 2022, and 2023 entry as “Past Exam”. It also states that all CSSE examination papers are copyright-protected.^[2]

That makes those papers historic examples of CSSE examinations for the named entry years. It does not make them a specification for another area or a promise about a future CSSE paper.

Publisher practice

Commercial publishers create their own practice books, timed papers, and guides. These can provide additional work, but they are publisher material—not official familiarisation and not a school’s historic paper unless the responsible official source explicitly says so. Check the edition, the named test or area, the answer support, and the publisher’s own description before buying.

Plusling also offers original questions in the learning app. Neither the printable papers nor the app questions are official test-provider material, a school or consortium past paper, or a copy of those sources. You can try five questions in the app now, without creating an account. This is a short practice sample, not a past paper, diagnostic, standardised score, pass forecast, or admission prediction.

If you would rather choose a subject first, use the public practice library to explore English, Mathematics, Verbal Reasoning, and Non-Verbal Reasoning.

Familiarisation for your area or school

Shared 11+ tests usually publish their official familiarisation on the council or consortium website. Our shared 11+ test guides collect those links for each area, with the subjects tested and the participating schools. If your child is sitting a Quest, FSCE or ISEB test, read the Quest Assessments, FSCE or ISEB Pre-Tests guide first: each explains what official familiarisation exists and what does not.

Preparing for a particular school? Plusling has original practice papers for individual schools, matched to the subjects each school or its shared test assesses. They are skills practice, not past papers.

Some providers do not publish past papers

An empty search result does not mean a hidden paper should be found elsewhere. Cambridge Select Insight says it does not provide commercially available practice or past papers and instead supplies standardised familiarisation to candidates.^[4] In that situation, use the material supplied through the current admissions process.

A quick legitimacy check

Before using a file described as an “11+ past paper”, ask:

1. Who published it, and is that the organisation responsible for the named assessment?
2. Does the official page call it a past exam, a sample, or familiarisation?
3. Which area and entry year does it describe?
4. Are you on the publisher’s own landing page rather than a copied upload?
5. Does the target school’s current admissions information still point to the same format?

Use a historic paper to understand its own context. Use familiarisation to recognise current instructions and presentation. Use publisher and Plusling practice as distinct preparation material, never as evidence of a future paper’s exact content.