A complete, original practice paper set written in the style of the Essex CSSE exam, and built to the real structure: a written English paper of 60 marks and a Mathematics paper of 60 marks. Children write their answers out, exactly as they will on the day. Full mark schemes included. Free, no sign-up.
Essex is unusual. Instead of buying a paper from GL Assessment or CEM, the selective schools in Essex write their own, through the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex. That one fact changes almost everything about how a child should prepare.
Ten schools use the test, across Colchester, Chelmsford and Southend. They are not all grammar schools, which is worth knowing before you apply: alongside the six grammars there is a mixed comprehensive and two Roman Catholic bi-lateral schools.
| School | Type | Area |
|---|---|---|
| Colchester County High School for Girls | Girls grammar | Colchester |
| Colchester Royal Grammar School | Boys grammar | Colchester |
| King Edward VI Grammar School | Boys grammar | Chelmsford |
| Shoeburyness High School | Mixed comprehensive | Southend |
| Southend High School for Boys | Boys grammar | Southend |
| Southend High School for Girls | Girls grammar | Southend |
| St Bernard's High School | Girls RC bi-lateral | Southend |
| St Thomas More High School for Boys | Boys RC bi-lateral | Southend |
| Westcliff High School for Boys | Boys grammar | Westcliff |
| Westcliff High School for Girls | Girls grammar | Westcliff |
School list and admission numbers taken from the official CSSE Information Guide for 2027 Entry.
Children sit both papers on the same morning. The English paper gives 10 minutes of reading time and then 60 minutes; the Mathematics paper gives 60 minutes. Each paper is standardised and weighted so that it is worth half the final mark, which means a child cannot carry a weak English score on the strength of maths alone.
| Paper | Section | Time | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| English 10 min reading + 60 min | Section One: comprehension | about 30 min | 35 |
| Section Two: applied reasoning | about 10 min | 5 | |
| Section Three: continuous writing | about 20 min | 20 | |
| Mathematics 60 min | About 20 questions, working shown | 60 min | 60 |
The applied reasoning section is the one piece that behaves like traditional verbal reasoning. It uses coded four-letter words: the first number gives the position of the first letter in the alphabet, and the next three numbers move forwards or backwards through it. So GOAL is coded [7][+8][-14][+11]. Some questions leave a gap and ask which word it must be, which is a deduction problem rather than a decoding one.
The two raw scores are mathematically standardised, weighted equally, and combined. Every candidate's result is also analysed by date of birth so that a statistical age adjustment can be applied where needed, which stops summer-born children being penalised for being up to eleven months younger.
This is why chasing a target number is unhelpful. The useful question is not "what score do we need" but "where is my child losing marks", which is exactly what a marked paper tells you. Our 11+ score calculator explains how standardised scores work if the arithmetic is new to you.
Both papers, built to the official structure, with mark schemes. Sixteen pages in total.
An original passage written for this paper, with 15 written-answer questions worth 35 marks: inference, vocabulary in context, quotation analysis and writer's technique.
Five coded four-letter word questions in the exact CSSE scheme. Every gapped question was checked against a full dictionary so that only one real word can fit.
Two 20 minute tasks worth 20 marks, plus a band guide covering ideas, vocabulary and spelling, structure and punctuation, so you can mark it fairly at home.
Twenty questions worth 60 marks: bounds, weighted averages, age problems, symbol equations, primes, reverse percentages and a question with deliberately too little information.
Indicative answers for every comprehension question, worked reasoning for the codes, and every maths answer. Nothing in the key was typed by hand: all of it is computed.
Clean A4 with proper writing space and working space, so your child answers the way they will in the hall rather than on a screen.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 12 May 2026 | CSSE registration opens for 2027 entry |
| 19 June 2026 | Absolute deadline to register online |
| Mid July 2026 | Test centre information emailed, by 15 July |
| 31 August 2026 | Deadline to withdraw a child from the test |
| 19 September 2026 | The 11+ tests take place |
| 29 September 2026 | Alternative Tuesday sitting, for religious observance, illness or exceptional circumstances only |
| 12 October 2026 | Results emailed after close of business |
Dates from the official CSSE Information Guide for 2027 Entry. Always confirm against csse.org.uk before relying on them.
A practice paper is worth very little if it is simply sat and scored. It is worth a great deal if it is used to find out what a child does not yet know.
If your child is also sitting a test outside Essex, the format changes completely. These are the other free Pip papers.
The CSSE 11+ is the entrance test used by the ten schools in the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex, across Colchester, Chelmsford and Southend. Unlike most areas, the consortium writes its own papers rather than buying them from GL Assessment or CEM. Children sit two written papers on the same morning: English, which allows 10 minutes reading time and then 60 minutes, and Mathematics, which lasts 60 minutes. Answers are written out by hand, not marked as multiple choice.
Each paper carries 60 marks. The English paper is made up of about 35 marks of comprehension, 5 marks of applied reasoning and 20 marks of continuous writing. The Mathematics paper carries 60 marks across roughly 20 questions. The two raw scores are then mathematically standardised and weighted so that each paper is worth 50% of the final result.
There is no fixed pass mark. The CSSE states that no offer is made to any child scoring under a total standardised score of 303. Above that, places are allocated by each school in order of score and its own admissions criteria, so the score that actually secures a place at a particular school changes every year and is only known after national offer day in March.
No. This is the single biggest difference between the CSSE and tests like the Kent Test or the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test. Children write their answers in the booklet, explain comprehension answers in their own words, show their working in maths, and produce two pieces of continuous writing. Practising by shading multiple-choice boxes will not prepare a child for it.
There is no separate verbal or non-verbal reasoning paper. The English paper does include a short applied reasoning section, worth about 5 marks, which uses coded four-letter words: the first number gives the alphabet position of the first letter and the next three numbers move forwards or backwards through the alphabet.
For 2027 entry the test takes place on Saturday 19th September 2026, with an alternative Tuesday sitting on 29th September 2026 for religious observance, illness or other exceptional circumstances. Registration opens on 12th May 2026 and closes on 19th June 2026. Results are emailed after the close of business on 12th October 2026.
The CSSE publishes genuine past papers and mark schemes free on its own website at csse.org.uk, under Practice Material. At the time of writing these cover 2021, 2022 and 2023 entry, with English, English Continuous Writing and Mathematics papers plus mark schemes for each. Those are the best possible preparation because they are the real thing. This Pip paper is written to match their structure so your child has something fresh to sit once the real ones are used up.
No. This is an original practice paper written by Pip in the CSSE house style, and the comprehension passage is our own writing. It is not produced or endorsed by the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex. We built it to the same structure, timings and mark allocation as the official papers so that sitting it feels like the real thing.
The full parent guide: the two written papers, why continuous writing matters so much, the 303 minimum and how to prepare.
Read the guideFree practice questions by subject for Essex, covering comprehension, written maths and the applied reasoning codes.
Practise by subjectEvery free Pip paper in one place: English, maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning, plus the Bucks and CSSE style papers.
See all printablesPip is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex. These practice papers are original material written in the style of the published test format and contain no official questions. The comprehension passage is our own writing. Genuine CSSE past papers and mark schemes are published free by the CSSE at csse.org.uk.