CEM is an entrance exam which children take as an assessment or entrance exam.
Sometimes, this can be because they or their parents want them to attend a new school, or sometimes, it is undertaken by their current school to assess ability and progress and to identify learning targets and potential outcomes. Two main exam boards produce entrance exams for almost all the private and grammar schools across England – GL and CEM. Here, we focus on the CEM test and why it might be helpful for your child to undertake.
Children are assessed in five areas:
The questions are adaptive, so if your child gets a question right, they will become harder; if they make a mistake, the next question will be easier.
The questions are based on the child’s date of birth, so a 6 year old will experience a test designed for that age.
The CEM test is an assessment, so no formal preparation is needed; instead it will give you an insight into what support your child may need in the future. Some children may be anxious about taking a test, but most will be familiar and comfortable with computer-based tests, as schools use them frequently to assess pupils.
If your child is anxious, you could spend some time talking about:
You can choose to be present whilst your child is taking the CEM assessment, but remember if you help your child with the assessment it will not give useful or actionable results. Our suggestion is to be within earshot in case of technical issues.
CEM stands for Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring. Owned by the University of Cambridge (previously University of Durham). We recommend CEM to Owl clients who want a realistic snapshot of their child’s ability and, more importantly, potential.
Tellingly, these assessments are used by over 70% of independent schools in the UK, largely as a way to track their pupils’ annual progress, due to the fact that CEM testing allows for scoring and rating against peers both in the UK and on the British curriculum overseas.
The CEM test will help you to understand where your child ranks in terms of ability, compared to thousands of others across the country and abroad.
Well, CEM does not only produce examinations but also specialises in the production of broader developmental assessments for children, based on over 30 years of education research by the Universities of both Durham and Cambridge. These tests are designed to:
– Support educational tracking to give schools a measure of individual potential and progress throughout school
– Help to inform teachers where interventions to produce outcomes might be necessary.
We pride ourselves on offering a personalised service to all our clients. We explain how things work in detail and from an unparalleled knowledge base – if we don’t know the answer, we know someone who will! Undertaking a CEM test is not about simply producing a report; it’s about the discussions and analysis that happen after the test, and the key ways this can impact your decisions about your child’s future. Please do get in touch to find out more.
Ideally, you will need a PC or laptop with a stable internet connection. However, if your internet connection is not reliable you can download a web application and complete the assessment offline, then upload it later.
The CEM assessment is delivered using HTML5, which is supported by most modern web browsers. These browsers can be run on a desktop or laptop PC and Apple computers running Windows, Linux or MacOS operating systems.
The CEM assessment has sound, so headphones would also be useful, and a quiet room in which to complete the assessment.
Your child will also need paper and a pencil and rubber for rough working out and notes. These are not part of the assessment but are useful.
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