Home › Essex 11+ guide
The Essex 11+ (CSSE) guide for parents
Most grammar schools in Essex use one shared 11+ test, set by the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE). Your child sits it once, at the start of Year 6, and the result is used for every consortium school you apply to.
The ten CSSE schools
- Chelmsford: King Edward VI Grammar School (KEGS)
- Colchester: Colchester Royal Grammar School, Colchester County High School for Girls
- Southend-on-Sea: Southend High School for Boys, Southend High School for Girls, Westcliff High School for Boys, Westcliff High School for Girls, St Bernard’s High School, St Thomas More High School, Shoeburyness High School
Chelmsford County High School for Girls is a grammar school too, but it runs its own entrance test rather than the CSSE test, so check its admissions page separately.
Key dates
| Step | 2026 test (for September 2027 entry) |
|---|---|
| Registration opened | Tuesday 12 May 2026 |
| Registration closed | Friday 19 June 2026 |
| Test day | Saturday 19 September 2026 (reserve day: Tuesday 29 September) |
| Results emailed | Monday 12 October 2026 |
| School application (Common Application Form) | Saturday 31 October 2026 |
| National offer day | 1 March 2027 |
If your child is in Year 5 now: registration for September 2028 entry opens in May 2027, and the CSSE says it will publish the exact dates by Easter 2027. Expect the test in September 2027. Registering for the test is not the same as applying for a school: you also need to name the schools on your council’s Common Application Form by the end of October.
What is in the CSSE test?
| Paper | Time | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| English | 60 minutes, plus 10 minutes’ reading time | Comprehension and a piece of creative writing |
| Maths | 60 minutes | Key Stage 2 maths, including multi-step problems |
There are no verbal or non-verbal reasoning papers, and since the test for 2025 entry the English paper no longer includes applied reasoning questions. Answers are written, not multiple choice, so children need to show their working in maths and write full answers in English.
How the scores work
Scores are standardised for age, so a younger child in the year is not at a disadvantage. There is no single pass mark: each school sets its own cut-off depending on how many places it has and how many children apply. The CSSE publishes past cut-off data in its Historical Guidance Sheet, which is the best guide to what each school has needed in recent years.
How to prepare
- Start with the free familiarisation papers on the CSSE website, so the layout feels familiar.
- Practise written maths with clear working, especially longer word problems.
- Write full-sentence comprehension answers, and practise timed creative writing of around 200 to 300 words.
- In the summer before the test, sit full timed papers every week or two and go back over anything that comes up wrong.
Our CSSE-style mock papers give your child 13 full sets of English and maths papers, timed like the real test. They are multiple choice so they can be marked the moment your child finishes, with a worked solution for every question, so use them alongside practice writing answers out in full. Set A Paper 1 is free. Read more on our CSSE practice papers page or compare the styles in GL vs CSSE.
Always check the official source. Written and checked by the Exam Mocks UK team against the official sources on 5 November 2026. Official information: CSSE.