CSSE score calculator
303 is the lowest total any CSSE school offers a place to.
CSSE 2026 entry
Enter both marks and a birth month
Your result
- Published score
- Your score, across the birth month
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Questions people ask
What is a good CSSE score?
303 is the lowest total any CSSE school offers a place to. Beyond that it depends on the school and where you live: for 2025 entry the last places at King Edward VI Grammar School went at 355 inside its priority area and 372 outside, and at Southend High School for Girls at 303 inside and 321 outside. The cut-off tool shows every school and year.
How does CSSE work out the standardised score?
Each paper's mark is turned into a score where the average child scores 100 and most children are within 15 either side, an age allowance is added, and the total of the two is multiplied by 1.5. A child of average marks born on 1 September scores exactly 300.
Does a younger child get extra points?
Yes. For 2026 entry each day younger than 1 September added 0.038 points, so a child born on 31 August got about 14 more points than one born on 1 September with the same marks. For 2025 entry it was about 9 points, because the maths paper had no age allowance that year.
Can this tell me my child's score from the September 2026 test?
Not exactly. The 2027-entry conversion is set from the September 2026 papers and children, and CSSE releases results after close of business on 12 October 2026. Past years show the range the same marks have scored.
How many children sit the CSSE 11+?
CSSE published 5,295 scores for 2025 entry and 5,115 for 2026 entry. Its candidate count has risen from 3,572 for 2010 entry.
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How we work this out
What it does
Turn English and maths marks out of 60 into a CSSE total score, with CSSE's own formula for 2024, 2025 or 2026 entry.
The Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE) 11+: one English and one maths paper, each marked out of 60. Conversions use the formula CSSE published for 2024, 2025 and 2026 entry. Ranks compare with every score CSSE published for that year (4,981, 5,295 and 5,115 children).
Method
- Each year CSSE publishes a standardisation report with the average and spread of marks on each paper and an age allowance per day.
- Score = 1.5 x (200 + 15 x (English - average) / spread + 15 x (maths - average) / spread + days younger than 1 September x age allowance). For 2026 entry, English 40 and maths 40 for a child born on 15 May 2015 gives 346.48.
- We ask only for the birth month, so we work out the score on its first and last day. For May 2015 that is 345.95 to 347.10.
- The rank counts how many of that year's published scores were lower. 5,295 children sat for 2025 entry; a score of 330.33 had 3,896 below it and 3 level with it, so 73.58% to 73.64% scored lower.
- The one score shown is the middle of the range across the days of your child's birth month.
Published figures
CSSE’s published conversion, year by year
Each year’s standardisation report gives the average and spread of marks on each paper and the age allowance per day. The score lists give every child’s total.
| Entry year | English average | English spread | Maths average | Maths spread | Points per day younger | Children | Middle score | Top 10% from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 34.99 | 7.61 | 27.30 | 13.08 | 0.0383 | 5,115 | 309.8 | 355.5 |
| 2025 | 34.36 | 7.76 | 27.49 | 11.77 | 0.0243 | 5,295 | 305.8 | 354.2 |
| 2024 | 31.46 | 7.74 | 28.34 | 11.18 | 0.0277 | 4,981 | 304.8 | 356.5 |