Essex CSSE 11+ 2027: guide for 2028 entry
For children in Year 5 now, who sit the CSSE test in September 2027 to start secondary school in September 2028. Dates and format are taken from the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex's own information guide.
At a glance
- Test date
- Not yet published for 2028 entry. This year's test was on Saturday 19 September 2026
- Registration
- Not yet published for 2028 entry. This year it opened on 12 May 2026 and closed on 19 June 2026
- Papers
- English and Maths, 60 minutes each. English has 10 minutes' extra reading time
- Marks
- Each paper is standardised and worth 50% of the marks
- Results
- This year, results were due by email after close of business on 12 October 2026
- Schools
- Ten, including Colchester Royal Grammar, Colchester County High School for Girls, King Edward VI Grammar, and the Southend and Westcliff high schools
- Familiarisation
- Free familiarisation papers to download from the CSSE website
Key dates
For 2028 entry (test in September 2027)
The CSSE has not published these dates yet. When we checked, its newest guide was the one for 2027 entry.
Source: CSSE: 11+ examination
This year's dates (2026 test, 2027 entry), as a guide to the pattern
- 12 May 2026
- Registration opened
- 19 June 2026
- Registration closed
- Saturday 19 September 2026
- Test day
- Tuesday 29 September 2026
- Alternative test date (religious objection, or illness with medical evidence)
- 12 October 2026
- Results were due by email, after close of business
Get an email when Essex CSSE publishes new 11+ dates
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The papers
Two papers, equally weighted
The CSSE's guide describes two assessments, English and Mathematics. Each is standardised and counts for half of the marks, so neither subject can be left to chance.
Ten minutes to read
The English paper gives ten minutes of reading time on top of the hour. Practise using it: read the passage carefully once, then read the questions.
An alternative test date
This year the CSSE offered a second date, Tuesday 29 September 2026, for children who could not sit the main Saturday test because of religious objection, or illness with medical evidence. For other exceptional circumstances it asks families to contact the CSSE office.
Five CSSE-style sample questions
These are our own questions, written in the style of the test so you can see the level. They are not taken from any real paper. Tap a question to see the answer and the method.
1. What is 15% of 240?
- A) 24
- B) 36
- C) 40
- D) 48
2. What is the mean of 4, 7, 9 and 12?
- A) 7
- B) 8
- C) 9
- D) 32
3. A recipe uses 250 g of flour to make 10 biscuits. How much flour is needed for 24 biscuits?
- A) 500 g
- B) 550 g
- C) 600 g
- D) 625 g
4. Choose the word that best completes this sentence. The explorers were ___ after walking all day without food.
- A) exhausted
- B) delighted
- C) curious
- D) generous
5. Which word is the adverb in this sentence? The fox crept silently across the frozen field.
- A) fox
- B) crept
- C) silently
- D) frozen
What a Year 5 parent can do now
- Download the CSSE's free familiarisation papers and look at one together, so your child sees the style of both papers.
- Build steady weekly practice in English and maths across the Key Stage 2 curriculum, working up to hour-long papers.
- Check the CSSE website in the spring for the 2028 entry guide. This year registration opened on 12 May 2026 and closed on 19 June 2026.
How to prepare
- Download the CSSE's free familiarisation papers and do them under timed conditions.
- Practise hour-long maths papers, showing working.
- Practise hour-long English papers, using ten minutes to read first.
- Cover the whole Key Stage 2 curriculum in both subjects, since each paper is worth half the marks.
Try a free Essex CSSE-style mock
Set out like the papers the school or area describes, with your child's score at the end and, where the school sets a writing task, their writing marked from a photo. Where a timing is not published, ours is an estimate. Free 3-day trial, no card needed.
Start my Essex CSSE-style mockOr get a free Essex CSSE-style practice paper (PDF)
Our mocks follow the published format where there is one. The timings we estimate and the questions are our own, not real past papers.
The other 32 school and area guides
Blackheath High 11+ guide · Eltham College 11+ guide · Dulwich College 11+ guide · Alleyn's 11+ guide · Kent Test guide · Bexley 11+ guide · Colfe's 11+ guide · St Olave's 11+ guide · Medway Test guide · Tiffin 11+ guide · Sutton SET guide · ISEB Pre-Test guide · London 11+ Consortium guide · Latymer Upper 11+ guide · Henrietta Barnett 11+ guide · Dame Alice Owen's 11+ guide · QE Barnet 11+ guide · Redbridge 11+ guide · Buckinghamshire Transfer Test guide · Slough Consortium 11+ guide · Kendrick School 11+ guide · Bournemouth and Poole 11+ guide · South Wilts Grammar 11+ guide · Bishop Wordsworth's 11+ guide · Torbay grammar schools 11+ guide · Plymouth grammar schools 11+ guide · Lincolnshire 11+ guide · West Midlands grammar schools 11+ guide · Wirral 11+ guide · Ripon Grammar School 11+ guide · Lancaster Royal Grammar 11+ guide · Northern Ireland SEAG Transfer Test guide
More free practice: Free 11+ Maths practice questions → · Free 11+ Verbal Reasoning practice → · Free 11+ Fractions questions → · Free 11+ Vocabulary questions →
Quick answers
When is the Essex CSSE 11+ exam?
Not yet published for 2028 entry. This year's test was on Saturday 19 September 2026.
What is in the Essex CSSE 11+ exam?
English: 60 minutes, plus 10 minutes' reading time. Tests Key Stage 2 National Curriculum content. Worth 50% of the marks. Maths: 60 minutes. Tests Key Stage 2 National Curriculum content. Worth 50% of the marks.
When do I need to register for the Essex CSSE 11+?
Not yet published for 2028 entry. This year it opened on 12 May 2026 and closed on 19 June 2026.
Are there sample or past papers for the Essex CSSE 11+?
Free familiarisation papers to download from the CSSE website.
How can my child practise for the Essex CSSE 11+?
Download the CSSE's free familiarisation papers and do them under timed conditions.
Sources
Checked 6 October 2026. Schools change their tests, so always confirm dates and details on the official pages below.
Eleven Plus Academy is independent. It is not affiliated with the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex or any of its schools.