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Area guide · entry in September 2027

The 11+ in Southend

Southend's four grammar schools, and selective places at three more of its schools, are filled through the CSSE exam, the same English and maths test used across Essex. Applications for Southend families go through Southend-on-Sea City Council, and most grammar school places are reserved for children living in postcodes SS0 to SS9.

On this page
  1. Entry in September 2028: what is published so far
  2. The calendar
  3. The Southend schools that select
  4. The test
  5. Scores and the SS0 to SS9 priority area
  6. Applying through Southend City Council
  7. Things that catch families out

Southend at a glance

  • CSSE exam Saturday 19 September 2026: English and maths. Results emailed after close of business on 12 October 2026.
  • How places are decided No CSSE school offer below a total of 303. Then places go in score order, with most reserved for postcodes SS0 to SS9.
  • Apply by 31 October 2026 Name the schools on your home council's form: Southend City Council if you pay council tax there. Registering for the test is not applying.
  • Offers National Offer Day, 1 March 2027.

What the test covers

The CSSE 11+ examination: one English paper and one maths paper, based on the Key Stage 2 curriculum. There is no verbal or non-verbal reasoning.

For children in Year 5 now · starting secondary school in September 2028

Entry in September 2028: what is published so far

CSSE says registration for 2028 entry will open next year, with important dates published by Easter 2027. No dates have been published yet.

Only what has been published. From: CSSE — 11+ Examination.

The calendar

Every date for entry in September 2027, from the published arrangements. Dates that have passed are in grey.

Date What happens
12th May 2026 CSSE registration opened
19th June 2026 CSSE registration closed The absolute deadline to register online or by post.
26th June 2026 Deadline for special adjustment requests
1 September 2026 Southend application window opened
Saturday 19th September 2026 CSSE 11+ examination
Tuesday 29th September 2026 Alternative test day For religious, illness or exceptional circumstances only, with evidence.
After the close of business on 12th October 2026 Results emailed to all candidates Allow 24 hours for receipt. CSSE publishes its guidance sheet of historical scores the same day.
31 October 2026 Secondary school application deadline Southend's online form closes at midnight. Also the deadline for Pupil Premium forms to the CSSE schools you name, and for the St Bernard's and St Thomas More supplementary forms.
20 November Address used for your application fixed Southend uses the child's normal residence on or before this date. Later changes are at the council's discretion.
1 March 2027 National Offer Day Offers are emailed during the day, usually by 5pm.
13 April 2027 Closing date for on-time appeals to schools
16 June 2027 All on-time appeals completed

The Southend schools that select

Seven of the ten CSSE schools are in Southend. Four are grammar schools that admit only through the test. Three more admit a set number of pupils through the test, in addition to their usual admission criteria.

Southend High School for Boys
Grammar school. 180 places in Year 7 for 2027.
Southend High School for Girls
Grammar school. 224 places.
Westcliff High School for Boys
Grammar school. 185 places.
Westcliff High School for Girls
Grammar school. 192 places.
Shoeburyness High School
Mixed. Up to 28 selective places within 310, for children in the school's priority area scoring 303 or more, with borderline selective places considered for scores of 295 to 303.
St Bernard's High School
Girls, Catholic. Up to 30 places for girls who pass the test and live within the school's postcode area, within 175.
St Thomas More High School
Boys, Catholic. Up to 30 places for boys who pass the test and live in postcodes SS0 to SS9, within 180.

The test

This is the CSSE examination, the same test as in the Essex guide: one English paper and one maths paper, sat on Saturday 19 September 2026. Registration ran from 12 May to 19 June 2026 and has closed.

Results are emailed to every candidate after the close of business on 12 October 2026, with the raw score for each paper and an overall standardised score. CSSE does not re-mark papers, and does not adjust scores for a child's circumstances. Those can be put to an independent appeal panel after offer day.

The part most families need

Scores and the SS0 to SS9 priority area

CSSE makes no offer to a child scoring under a total standardised score of 303. Places won on appeal, and places under special considerations criteria, sit outside that figure. Each Southend grammar school also sets a pass mark every year, intended to keep the entrance standard comparable with the period 1990 to 1994, and admits no one below it.

Above that, each grammar school fills places strictly in score order within its categories: looked-after children who pass first, then a local quota for children living in postcodes SS0 to SS9, then everyone else. It is the postcode of your home that counts, not the council you live in. Within each area, a small number of places go first to children entitled to preferential consideration: those on free school meals or receiving the Pupil Premium when they registered for the test, and who said so on the CSSE registration form.

Southend High School for Boys
Up to 150 of 180 places for SS0 to SS9, of which 15 for preferential consideration. 3 of the remaining 30 for preferential consideration from outside.
Southend High School for Girls
Up to 179 of 224 places for SS0 to SS9, of which up to 17 for preferential consideration. Up to 4 for preferential consideration from outside, and at least 41 for children outside.
Westcliff High School for Boys
Up to 148 of 185 places for SS0 to SS9, of which up to 15 for preferential consideration. Up to 4 of the remaining 37 for preferential consideration from outside.
Westcliff High School for Girls
Up to 154 of 192 places for SS0 to SS9, of which up to 15 for preferential consideration. Up to 4 for preferential consideration from outside.
  • 303 is a floor, not a target. The score that secures a place at a particular school depends on who applies that year. CSSE's guidance sheet of historical scores, published on 12 October, shows past years only, and CSSE's own advice is that it may still be worth applying below the lowest score seen before.
  • Children outside SS0 to SS9 do get places, competing on score alone. On National Offer Day 2026, the council's booklet records 27 such offers at Southend High School for Boys, 110 at Southend High School for Girls, 33 at Westcliff High School for Boys and 65 at Westcliff High School for Girls.

Applying through Southend City Council

If you pay council tax to Southend-on-Sea City Council, you apply to it, online between 1 September and 31 October 2026, naming up to five schools, including selective schools and schools outside the city. You can apply before results arrive and change your preferences up to 31 October.

The council recommends that families applying for a Southend grammar school name both of the boys' or both of the girls' grammar schools. For a selective place at Shoeburyness, St Bernard's or St Thomas More, you name the school once and tick the box saying you are applying for a selective place. Your child is then considered under the school's other criteria too, without using a second preference.

  • St Bernard's and St Thomas More also need their own supplementary information form by 31 October 2026.
  • For preferential consideration, CSSE asks you to send its Pupil Premium Form, with confirmation from your child's primary school, to each CSSE school you name, by 31 October 2026, not to the CSSE office.
  • Offers come from the council on 1 March 2027, by email for online applicants. The council keeps the waiting lists from 1 March to 21 August 2027, after which they pass to the schools. A child can only be on a grammar school waiting list if they reached the pass mark.

Things that catch families out

  • Registering for the CSSE test is not applying. A school can only consider your child if you name it on your home council's application form by 31 October 2026.
  • Live outside Southend? Apply to your own council. Southend's booklet says families outside the city must use their own local authority's form, but Southend's address rules are still used to assess applications for Southend schools.
  • Your address is fixed at 20 November. Southend uses the child's normal residence on or before that date, and an intended future address cannot be used. If you move, updating your address online is not enough: tell the admissions team and send proof such as exchange of contracts or a signed tenancy agreement.
  • Preferences are ranked by you, offers by the rules. If your child qualifies for a school you placed higher than a grammar school, that higher school is the one offered.
  • Late applications are dealt with last. If one cannot be met at a preference school, the council offers the nearest non-selective, non-faith school in the city with places.
  • The child's name, date of birth and address on the CSSE registration must match the council application exactly, or the result cannot be matched to it.

Sources

9 official pages, checked 4 October 2026

Admissions rules are set again every year, so check the council's own pages before you rely on a date, and tell us if you find something out of date.

Southend-on-Sea City Council

CSSE

Southend High School for Boys

Southend High School for Girls

Westcliff High School for Boys

Westcliff High School for Girls

All areas Practise for the Southend test