Essex 11 Plus

Essex and Southend grammar school admissions are managed by the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE), Telephone: 01245 348257. The office is open 9am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday, term time only.

The schools have one common selection test and all selective places are awarded on the basis of a pupil’s ability, as defined by their test score.

Beyond that, places are allocated according to the criteria of the individual schools, all of which vary. All the links below take you to the Admissions Policies of the schools in the Consortium.

If you wish your child to take the 11+ test, you need to complete not only the CAF but also a Supplementary Information Form in order to register for the selective test. The form can be completed on-line on the CSSE website or can be obtained from the CSSE or any school that offers selective places.

N.B. If you are applying for both a selective and non-selective place at the same school it counts as a single preference on the CAF, not two preferences.

Admissions Information for September 2013 entry

Closing date for applications	LA forms: 31st October 2012
	Test Registration closing date: 7th September 2012
11+ test dates	11+ test for selective schools sat at parent’s nominated school: Saturday 22nd September 2012
	Registration for the test can be downloaded from CSSE website from 1st July 2012.
Test Types	Verbal Reasoning, Maths and English.(There is no change to the content or format of the test this year.)
11+ Test Results	Posted 15th October 2012
Pass Mark	Variable. In Southend the minimum mark is 303. Information about pass marks in 2010 can be found on this thread on the Essex section of our 11+ Forum
Allocations	1st March 2013
Admissions Information

Appropriate Practice Materials

Suitable practice materials are listed in the Essex part of the 11+ Regions section of the online shop where you can purchase these in one convenient place.

More information and advice can also be found in the Essex section of the 11+ Forum

Further information is also given below.

School information

Note that King Edward VIth Chelmsford School and the Royal Grammar School,Colchester, are both co-educational in the 6th form.

School	Gender	Places
Chelmsford County High School	Girls	120 places in Year 7, 679 applicants in 2010, 749 in 2011
King Edward VIth Chelmsford	Boys	112 places in Year 7, 703 applicants in 2010
Colchester County High School	Girls	112 places in Year 7, 490 applicants in 2010
Royal Grammar School Colchester	Boys	(11 – 16), plus girls in the 6th form, 96 places in Year 7, 511 applicants in 2010, 840 in 2011

The King John School, Benfleet

The King John School is a partially selective mixed school, but not part of the CSSE. The school has 320 places in Year 7, of which 48 are selective places. Children who live in catchment for the school, or who have brothers or sisters already attending the school, do not need to take the entrance test, but it is recommended that all other children should do so.

The test usually takes place a week after the CSSE tests and is a single GL Assessment (NFER style) Verbal Reasoning paper.

Southend Schools

There are four fully selective grammar schools in Southend – the Southend and Westcliff High Schools for Girls and Boys. In addition there are two partially selective schools – Cecil Jones College and Shoeburyness High School, and two “bilateral” schools where a grammar stream runs alongside non-selective streams – St. Bernard’s High School and St. Thomas More High School.

All Southend schools are co-educational in the 6th form.

Admissions Information for all schools can be found on the Southend Borough Council website.

The Council runs parent information evenings in mid-September at various locations around the borough. Check their website for these during the summer prior to the tests.

School	Gender	Places
Southend High School for Boys	Boys only	150 places in Year 7, 804 applicants in 2011
Southend High School for Girls	Girls only	115 places in Year 7, 730 applicants in 2010
Cecil Jones College	Mixed	280 places in Year 7, of which 28 are selected on general ability
Shoeburyness High School	Mixed	Partially selective, 280 places in Year 7 of which 28 are selected on general ability
St. Bernards High School and Arts College, Westcliff-on-Sea	Girls	Catholic, 208 places in Year 7 of which 30% are selective
St. Thomas More High School	Boys	Catholic, 150 places in Year 7 of which 30% are selective
Westcliff High School for Boys	Boys only	154 places in Year 7
Westcliff High School for Girls	Girls only	154 places in Year 7, 836 applicants in 2010

Essex 11+ – Further Information

With grateful thanks to our 11+ Forum member “Moved” for her contribution to this page.

The Essex 11+ test is taken in one of the local high schools. You can choose which school – it does not have to be your first choice, within the limit of girls at Girls Schools and boys at Boys Schools.

Nervous children may be better at St. Bernard’s and St. Thomas More as fewer children take the exam there.

Only Colchester Royal Grammar School has a 13+ entry system and they only have four places available.

Format of the exam

• English – 40 minute test (25% of the marks)

Very short break (while the papers are swapped – children remain seated)

• Maths – 35 minute test (25% of the marks)

Long break (15-20 mins – children leave their desks)

• Verbal Reasoning – 50 minute test containing 80 multiple choice questions (50% of the marks)

English

The English papers are written by one of the teachers from the Essex High Schools. The previous two years’ English papers can be purchased from the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex -CSSE but older papers are not available. Suitable practice material for the English paper can be hard to obtain and many local tutors write their own papers in the appropriate format.

The paper usually has about 30 marks allocated to comprehension skills. These are often subtle and quite difficult. The format is tick box style, with some written answers: for example,

• Wording Matching “Find the word in the text that means …” (10+ marks)
• Punctuating a piece of direct speech (6-8 marks).

The English paper is a comprehension, usually from a 19th century text. There are 50 marks. Past texts used for comprehension have been as follows:

• 1997 The Road to Wigan Pier – George Orwell (old style paper) (pub date 1937)
• 1999 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer – Mark Twain (pub. date 1876)
• 2000 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte (pub date 1847)
• 2001 Kipps – H. G. Wells (pub. date 1905)
• 2002 Far from the Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy (pub. date 1874)
• 2003 Tobermory – H. H. Munro (pub. date 1909?)
• 2004 Silas Marner – George Eliot (pub. date 1861)
• 2005 The Snow Geese – William Fiennes (pub. date 2002)
• 2006 The Mill on the Floss – George Eliot (pub. date 1860)
• 2007 Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy (pub. date 1891)
• 2008 The Destructors – Graham Greene (pub. date 1954)
• 2009 Longitude – Dava Sobel (pub. date 1995)
• 2010 Bleak House – Charles Dickens (pub. date 1852-1853)
• 2010x Hard Times – Charles Dickens (pub. date 1854)
• 2011 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis de Bernières (pub date 1994)
• 2011x Atonement – Ian McEwen (pub date 2001)

Maths

The Maths papers are written by one of the teachers from the Essex High Schools. The previous two years’ Maths papers can be purchased from the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex-CSSE but older papers are not available.

Maths needs the development of problem solving skills – Primary Maths Challenge style questions are helpful. The maths paper is tough, harder than the GL Assessment papers. It begins with arithmetic on the first page, there are questions involving area, bar charts, angles, percentages, ratio, BIDMAS, algebra, etc. Often the questions are not straightforward and the final question has been of the standard expected for the junior maths challenge (aimed at bright year 8 children).

Verbal Reasoning

The Verbal Reasoning paper is provided by GL Assessment and is in multiple choice format following the format of most other counties, it is essential that children learn how to use the multiple choice format. This has only existed in Essex for a few years. This site has a great deal of information and resource lists. A sample Verbal Reasoning paper can also be purchased from Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex -CSSE

_{Page last updated on 1st February 2012}