Essex CSSE schools
All 10, with how each one actually allocates places. That varies far more than most parents expect — at some, your score decides everything and where you live is irrelevant; at others it is the exact reverse.
What to know first
Qualifying is not the same as getting in. Passing gets your child considered. The schools are then oversubscribed, and the score that actually secures a place is usually well above the pass mark.
1 rank purely by score. At Colchester Royal Grammar School, distance is only a tie-break. Living next door does not help.
3 are not grammar schools. Shoeburyness High School, St Thomas More High School for Boys, St Bernard's High School admit only a small quota on the test — the rest of the intake comes through ordinary criteria. Worth knowing before you count them as grammar options.
No offer is made below 303 at any consortium school. Unlike most of England, CSSE publishes the score of the last place offered at every school every year — so the numbers below are real, not estimates.
All 10 schools
| School | Town | Selection | Places |
|---|---|---|---|
| King Edward VI Grammar School | Chelmsford | Catchment, then score | 150 |
| Colchester County High School for Girls | Colchester | Catchment, then score | 192 |
| Colchester Royal Grammar School | Colchester | Ranked by score | 128 |
| Shoeburyness High Schoolnot a grammar school | Shoeburyness | Small selective quota | 310 |
| Southend High School for Boys | Southend-on-Sea | Catchment, then score | 180 |
| Southend High School for Girls | Southend-on-Sea | Catchment, then score | 224 |
| St Bernard's High Schoolnot a grammar school | Westcliff-on-Sea | Small selective quota | 175 |
| St Thomas More High School for Boysnot a grammar school | Westcliff-on-Sea | Small selective quota | 180 |
| Westcliff High School for Boys | Westcliff-on-Sea | Catchment, then score | 185 |
| Westcliff High School for Girls | Westcliff-on-Sea | Catchment, then score | 192 |
Often assumed to be on this list, but aren’t
- Chelmsford County High School for Girls — Runs its own entrance test through Future Stories Community Enterprise, on a separate and earlier timetable, with an extra Creative Writing paper. Sitting the CSSE test does not make your daughter eligible for a place here, and registration closes months before the CSSE deadline.
What’s next
Work out where a score lands with the CSSE 11+ calculator.
Built from published admissions arrangements for 2027/28. Last checked against primary sources on 20 August 2026. Each school page links to the document it was built from.