Essex Grammar Schools

There are twelve Grammar Schools in Essex:

Chelmsford County High School for Girls       Southend High School for Boys

Colchester County High School for Girls         Southend High School for Girls

Colchester Royal Grammar School                  St Thomas More High School

King Edward VI Grammar School                     St Bernard’s Girls High School 

King John School                                                 Westcliff High School for Boys

Shoeburyness High School                               Westcliff High School for Girls

As Essex only has partial provision of Grammar School places competition for places is high.

Essex- Choosing your new Grammar school

Parents should check with each school for their admissions criteria because these do change frequently. In some cases Grammar Schools will have geographic restrictions on who can apply and in others they are open entry. Often Parents will want to apply to more than one school if they are eligible to ensure they give their child the best chance of a place.

Do visit any school you are thinking of with your child. Try and visit more than one if it is relevant for you to get a feel of how they differ. We would also advise you to visit the local comprehensive school as well because it is useful to get a feeling for any differences between the two systems. Most schools have open days so ask the school for the dates (most are in the late spring or early summer).

We do have some more detailed information on our Essex 11 Plus admissions and applications pages.

11 Plus Age adjusted results in Essex

Because Chelmsford County High School for Girls uses CSSE or FSCE papers these are age adjusted, this is done to ensure younger children are not disadvantaged. The difference varies by paper and by year but if there is a year gap then the oldest children would need to score roughly 10% more to get the same result as someone a year younger than them.

The other seven schools in Essex are school written. These cannot be age adjusted. It is as well to be aware of this when helping your child. It means that younger children will have to be more advanced for their age than older children because they will not benefit from age adjustment.

Preparation for the Essex 11 Plus test

If you’d like to understand what the Essex exam involves then please go through to our page on the Essex 11 Plus Exam Format.

If you’d like more information on how to prepare your child for the test and when to start then have a look at our Essex 11 Plus preparation page which will help you to find your way through the options.

Completing 11 Plus Mocks are also useful preparation for the real thing. You can get more information on completing an 11+ Mock at home here or visit our Essex Mock Exams page for more information on Essex Mock test centres.