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Shoeburyness High School 11 plus: 2024 entry guide

School guide

Feb 15, 2023, 4:01 PM

Shoeburyness High School, Essex (CSSE)

Are you considering the selective stream at Shoeburyness High School, Essex for your child's secondary education? We've collated everything you need to know about entry to Year 7 in 2024, including how to apply and what's on the 11 plus exam.

Contents

About Shoeburyness High School

Shoeburyness High School is a large academy for boys and girls 11–18, serving the families of Southend-on-Sea and the surrounding area. It has a reputation as a friendly and caring school, dedicated to fostering positive relationships.

The school is bilateral, which means that children applying for entry in Year 7 can register for the selective pathway. This allows the most talented and able students to follow the academic rigour of a grammar school education within a more relaxed environment. Children on the selective pathway have extended curriculum opportunities and enrichment activities, and access to an aspirational university programme including successful applications to Oxford and other Russell Group universities.

  • Address: Shoeburyness High School, Caulfield Road, Shoeburyness, SS3 9LL

  • Local authority: Essex County Council

  • School type: bilateral mixed school

  • Headteacher: Teri-Leigh Jones

  • Number of pupils: 1,700+

Year 7 admissions: key info

  • Admissions contact: [email protected]

  • Number of places in Year 7: 310 (including 31 selective places)

  • Open evening: September in Year 6

  • 11 plus registration opens: Thursday 16th May 2023

  • 11 plus registration closes: 30th June 2023

  • Exam date: Saturday 23rd September 2023

  • Exam type: CSSE 11 plus

  • Results posted: 16th October 2023

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

  • National school offer day: 1st March 2024

Shoeburyness High School term dates

The term dates for Shoeburyness High School in 2023–2024 have not yet been announced. You may find the 2022–2023 term dates useful as a guide:

  • Autumn term: 5th September – 20th December 2022

  • Half term: 24th–31st October 2022

  • Spring term: 5th January – 31st March 2023

  • Half term: 10th–17th February 2023

  • Summer term: 17th April – 20th July 2023

  • Half term: 29th May – 2nd June 2023

How to apply to Shoeburyness High School

Shoeburyness High School is a bilateral school. This means that only a proportion of places are academically-selective and reserved for children who pass the 11 plus exam. There are 310 places available in Year 7 overall, of which 31 are selective places.

Regardless of the type of place you are applying for, you will need to register for a school place by 31st October 2023. Registration is carried out on the Essex County Council website and you will need to submit the local authority common application form, and the school's supplementary information form (SIF).

If you would like your child to be considered for one of the selective places, you will also need to register them to take the 11 plus exam. This is administered by the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CCSE); registration opens on the CSSE website on Thursday 16th May 2023 and closes on 30th June 2023.

The 11 plus at Shoeburyness High School

Children who are registered for a selective place at Shoeburyness High School take the 11 plus exam on Saturday 23rd September 2023. All of the grammar schools in the CSSE take the same exam, which is created and administered by the CSSE itself.

The CSSE 11 plus consists of two papers:

  • English: one hour, with some additional reading time. It comprises questions that test reading comprehension, grammar, vocabulary and applied literacy and verbal reasoning. There will also be two pieces of creative writing.

  • Maths: one hour. Children will be tested on the Key Stage 2 national curriculum, with additional non-verbal and mathematical reasoning questions.

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

CSSE 11 plus: everything you need to know

What is the pass mark for Shoeburyness High School?

After your child takes the CSSE exam, a team of independent professional markers will double-mark and check the papers. Some scores will be age-standardised and then the results for each school will be ranked in order.

The pass mark can vary from year to year. In 2022, the pass mark at Shoeburyness High School was 303 – both within and outside the priority area.

Shoeburyness High School priority area

The catchment area at Shoeburyness High School mostly covers the suburb and surrounding area of Shoeburyness, just outside Southend-on-Sea. A map is available on the school website. If you live within the Southend-on-Sea City Council local authority area, you can also use the online look up facility.

Shoeburyness High School oversubscription criteria

If the number of children who express Shoeburyness High School as their preferred school exceeds the number of places available, places will be allocated using the school's oversubscription criteria. This does not apply to children who have a statement of Special Educational Needs (SEN) or an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan that names the school – these children will automatically be admitted.

The admissions criteria are as follows:

  1. Looked After and previously Looked After children

  2. Up to 31 children are granted preferential admission on the basis of their performance in the CSSE 11 plus exam (those with scores of 303 and above), and who live within the priority area

  3. If fewer than 31 selective places are filled, the school governors will decide whether any other children who took the CSSE exam and who achieved a borderline mark (scores of 295 to 303), and who live within the priority area, can be admitted

  4. Children living within the priority area who have a sibling attending the school

  5. Other children living within the priority area

  6. Children living outside the priority area who have a sibling attending the school

  7. Children attending Year 6 at the following feeder primary schools: Bournes Green Junior, Friars Primary, Hinguar Primary, Richmond Avenue Primary, St George's Catholic Primary and Thorpedene Primary

  8. Any other children living outside the priority area

How to help your child prepare for the 11 plus

Here are our top tips on how to best prepare your child for the CSSE 11 plus.

Cover all the content

The 11 plus assesses a large breadth and depth of learning objectives across the Key Stage 2 national curriculum and beyond.

We recommend that your child starts revising content at least one year before the test. Setting aside study periods using a 'little and often' approach will give them time to build the skills and knowledge they need. When preparing, avoid falling into the trap of over-focusing on either the topics your child enjoys or the topics they find hardest.

Atom Nucleus is an 11 plus online course that tailors your child's personalised learning journey to cover all elements of the CSSE at the right pace for them.

No surprises

Your child will encounter lots of unfamiliar types of questions in the 11 plus exam. Building exam technique with 11 plus test papers will help your child to feel fully confident with the styles of questions they'll encounter in the exam, reducing the potential for stress on the day.

Celebrate their progress

Setting regular goals and celebrating achievements will help keep motivation high. Atom Nucleus offers data-driven insights into your child’s progress towards mastering the 11 plus curriculum, making it easy to see where they need to focus next.

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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.

CSSE 11 plus practice papers

Atom Nucleus gives children access to unlimited online practice papers. Our online tests are designed to mirror the format and style of the real CSSE 11 plus, so your child will go into the exam knowing exactly what to expect.

And what's more, everything is automatically marked for you.

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Personalised 11 plus support for you

We know how keen you are for your child to do well in the 11 plus, to give them every chance of securing a place at their school of choice. Our dedicated team of Education Experts are on hand to support you and your family every step of the way:

Ask us anything

We're happy to help with any questions you may have about admissions processes and helping your child prepare for entry to Essex schools.

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