CSSE marks needed calculator
CSSE does not offer a place to any child scoring under 303.
CSSE 2026 entry
Enter the known mark and a birth month
Your result
The chart shows the total for every maths mark once the inputs are in.
- Total, oldest day of the month
- Lowest mark that reaches the target
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Questions people ask
What is the CSSE pass mark?
CSSE does not offer a place to any child scoring under 303. That is a floor, not a pass: at most schools the last place went to a higher score, which the Essex cut-off tool shows by school, area and year.
Is a maths mark worth the same as an English mark?
No. Each mark is worth 22.5 divided by that paper's spread. For 2026 entry an English mark was worth 2.96 points and a maths mark 1.72, because maths marks were more spread out.
Why does the birth month change the answer?
CSSE adds an age allowance for every day a child is younger than 1 September. For 2026 entry it was 0.038 points a day, so a child born on 31 August got about 14 more points than one born on 1 September with the same marks.
What marks do I need for King Edward VI Grammar School (KEGS)?
The last place at KEGS for 2025 entry went at 355 inside its priority area and 372 outside. Enter one of those as the target to see the marks it would have needed on a past year's papers.
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How we work this out
What it does
Know one paper's mark? See the lowest mark on the other paper that reaches 303, or any target, on CSSE's own published formula.
The CSSE 11+ English and maths papers, each out of 60, with the conversion CSSE published for 2024, 2025 or 2026 entry. You give a target total, one paper's mark and the birth month; we give the lowest whole mark on the other paper that reaches the target.
Method
- CSSE's total is 1.5 x (200 + 15 x (English - average) / spread + 15 x (maths - average) / spread + days younger than 1 September x age allowance), with that year's published averages, spreads and allowances.
- We fix the known mark, then solve for the other paper and round up to the next whole mark. For 2025 entry, English 40 and a birthday of 15 May 2014 needs 41.83 in maths to reach 350, so 42 marks, which gives 350.32.
- We ask only for the birth month, so we solve for its first day (the oldest, who needs the most) and its last day. The mark for the first day works for any day in the month.
- If even 60 marks cannot reach the target we say so, and if 0 marks already reaches it we say that instead.
Published figures
What one mark was worth in each year
One mark on a paper adds 22.5 divided by that paper’s spread to the total. Maths marks are usually more spread out, so each is worth less.
| Entry year | One English mark | One maths mark | Average marks score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2.96 points | 1.72 points | English 35.0, maths 27.3 |
| 2025 | 2.90 points | 1.91 points | English 34.4, maths 27.5 |
| 2024 | 2.91 points | 2.01 points | English 31.5, maths 28.3 |