Chelmsford County High School 11 plus guide

About Chelmsford County High School

Chelmsford County High School (CCHS) is a grammar school for girls aged 11–18 in Chelmsford, Essex, about 25 miles from London. The school is highly selective and consistently high-achieving, with students' exam results placing it within the top 20 grammar schools in the country.

Students at CCHS study a dynamic and progressive education distinguished by breadth, balance and challenge. The academic pace is fast and standards are high, resulting in ambitious young women who are passionate about learning. Students are particularly active in the sciences, engineering and debating, competing in regional and national competitions.

The school prides itself on offering a broad enrichment programme for students to extend learning beyond the classroom. There are plenty of opportunities in sports and the creative arts, in addition to the popular Duke of Edinburgh's Award, charity work, a variety of student-led societies and friendly but fierce house competitions.

• Address: Chelmsford County High School, Broomfield Road, Chelmsford, CM1 1RW

• Local authority: Essex County Council

• School type: girls' grammar

• Headteacher: Stephen Lawlor

• Number of pupils: 1,100+

• National rank (Sunday Times Parent Power): 17

• A level results: 87.5%

• GCSE results: 95.4% A*/A/9/8/7

Key info for Year 7 admissions

• Admissions contact: [email protected]

• Number of places in Year 7: 180

• Open events: Thursday 27th April 2023

• 11 plus registration opens: Wednesday 26th April 2023

• 11 plus registration closes: Friday 23rd June 2023

• 11 plus exam date: Friday 22nd September 2023

• 11 plus exam type: FSCE (Future Stories Community Enterprise)

• Common application form (CAF) deadline: 31st October 2023

• National school offer day: 1st March 2023

How to apply to Chelmsford County High School

Chelmsford County High School for Girls is a selective school and its own admission authority. It's the only grammar school in Essex which is not a member of the CSSE (Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex). If you're thinking about applying to other grammar schools in the area, you will need to register for the CSSE exam separately.

1. Register for the CCHS entrance exam

Girls applying for a place at Chelmsford County High School take an 11 plus exam supplied by FSCE (Future Stories Community Enterprise). This is an academic test, designed to select the 25% of children working at the top ability range in their year group.

You will need to register for a passcode for the CCHS entrance test before completing the registration form. The registration window will be open from 9am on Wednesday 26th April 2023 and will close at 4pm on Friday 23rd June 2023.

2. 11 plus exam

Girls applying for a place in Year 7 at Chelmsford County High School will take the entrance test on Friday 22nd September 2023.

Chelmsford County High School uses test papers created by Future Stories Community Enterprise (FSCE). The exam consists of three separate tests:

• English: reading comprehension, vocabulary and spelling

• Maths: Key Stage 2 maths

• Creative writing: original writing based on a prompt

Find out more in our comprehensive guide to the FSCE 11 plus and get free resources to help your child prepare.

3. Apply for school places

Chelmsford County High School will let you know if your child is eligible for a place at the school, based on their results in the exam, in mid-October 2023. You can use this information to decide whether to name CCHS as one of your preferred schools on your local authority common application form.

Make sure to check the admissions policy for the school before you complete your common application form. Chelmsford County High School is a top choice in the area; each year, more children achieve an eligible score than there are places available. We've summarised the key points in the school admission policy below.

Your common application form must be submitted to your home local council by 31st October 2023. The form must be completed for your home local authority – i.e. if you live in Essex, you will need to complete the form on the Essex County Council website. If you live in a different local authority, make sure to apply through the relevant website for that council.

How is the CCHS 11 plus test marked?

The English and maths tests will be marked by computer. The raw marks from each test will be standardised to ensure that children born later in the school year aren't disadvantaged by their age.

Children who have performed well in these tests and met an 'eligible score' will then have their creative writing test assessed. This will be marked by examiners.

What is the pass mark for the CCHS 11 plus test?

There is no set pass mark for the Chelmsford County High School 11 plus test. Children will need to meet an eligible score to pass, but this cannot be set until after the exam has been taken. The school admissions team will determine an appropriate eligible score based on how the year group has performed as a whole and a rank order of children who should be offered a place.

However, achieving a particular score cannot guarantee that your child will be offered a place at the school; Chelmsford County High School is consistently oversubscribed with qualified candidates. We always recommend researching the admission policies for your target schools, looking at their oversubscription criteria and their catchment area. We've included the admission criteria for Chelmsford County High School below.

Chelmsford County High School admission criteria

There are 180 places available in Year 7 at Chelmsford County High School. If the number of children who have met the eligible score and applied for the school exceeds the number of places available, CCHS will offer places to successful candidates in the following order of priority:

1. Looked after and previously looked after children

2. Children with an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP)

3. Up to 30 places will be offered to children who receive pupil premium and live within the priority area

4. Up to 114 places will be allocated to children who live within the priority area

5. All remaining places (up to 36) will be offered to children in descending score order from the ranked list, irrespective of where they live, until all 180 places are filled

CCHS catchment area

Chelmsford County High School has a priority area (catchment area) which covers a distance of 12.5 miles from the school. This is measured in a straight line from the school address to the home address.

You can check to see if your postcode is within 12.5 miles of the school on the Essex County Council website.

Personalised 11 plus prep for your child

Wondering how to make sure your child covers the depth and breadth of the entire 11 plus curriculum, stays on track with their progress, and gets help when they're stuck? Online learning is a particularly efficient, cost-effective (and fun) way to do this!

Atom Nucleus is the award-winning online 11 plus practice platform that gives your child everything they need to prepare for grammar school exams.

Children work independently through over 90,000 interactive practice questions in English, maths and reasoning. Teacher-created helpsheets and videos help them discover new concepts and consolidate their learning.

Atom's algorithm keeps children on their ideal learning path, tailored to their unique learning style and pace to keep them challenged and motivated.