11+ · CSSE and GL
Two different exams sit behind the words "the 11+", and the preparation for one is only partly useful for the other. Which one your child sits depends entirely on which schools you are applying to, so that is the place to start.
Updated 23 September 2026 · CSSE tuition · Free worksheets · Pass mark and scores · The Essex grammar schools
Who uses which
Two Essex exceptions. Chelmsford County High School for Girls is not in the consortium and sets its own test, the FSCE, sat in early September; a girl applying to CCHS and a CSSE school sits both. And providers change: Bexley used GL until recently and moved to a different provider for 2026 entry. Always check the admissions page of the school itself for the current year.
How the preparation differs
Maths carries across almost entirely. Both tests examine the Key Stage 2 curriculum. The difference is the answer format: CSSE wants working and written answers, GL wants the right option chosen quickly. A child prepared for the CSSE can do GL Maths with a couple of weeks on multiple choice technique; the reverse takes longer, because written working has to be taught.
English partly carries across. Comprehension is common to both. The CSSE's continuous writing task has no equivalent in GL, and GL's spelling, punctuation and cloze style questions have no equivalent in the CSSE.
Reasoning does not carry across at all. Verbal and non-verbal reasoning appear only in GL. A CSSE child should not spend an hour on them. A GL child cannot skip them, because they are often half the marks.
If your child is sitting both, prepare for the CSSE first, because it comes first and because its written Maths is the harder habit to build, and add the GL reasoning papers from the spring of Year 5. My free worksheets are labelled by exam so you can tell which is which.
The two timetables
The dates below are for children sitting in September 2026, entering Year 7 in September 2027, taken from the consortium's and the council's own pages. Both registration windows closed in June, three months before the test, which is the single thing families miss. A child in Year 4 now registers in the equivalent window next May and June.
| CSSE | Redbridge (GL) | |
|---|---|---|
| Schools | The Essex and Southend consortium grammars | Ilford County High School for boys, Woodford County High School for girls |
| Papers | English and Maths | English with Verbal Reasoning, Maths with Non-Verbal Reasoning |
| Who you register with | The CSSE, at csse.org.uk | Redbridge council, not the school |
| Registration | 12 May to 19 June 2026. No late entries. | 1 May to 15 June 2026, 5pm. No adjustments after that date. |
| Test day | Saturday 19 September 2026 | Friday 18 September 2026 |
| Results | 12 October 2026, by email | Mid October 2026, by email |
| Then, for both | Your council's Common Application Form by 31 October 2026. Offers on 1 March 2027. Registering for a test is not applying for a school place. | |
Redbridge's own page says the test "is provided by GL Assessment". Children are ranked by total standardised score, with those inside the common catchment area placed ahead of those outside it; the council has a postcode checker for that boundary. Note the two test days: Friday the eighteenth and Saturday the nineteenth of September. A child sitting both takes two very different sets of papers on consecutive days.
Sources, fetched 23 September 2026: Redbridge 11 plus, Ilford County High School admissions, and the CSSE Information Guide as set out on the CSSE dates page. Dates change: check the consortium and your council before acting on any of them.
Questions
The CSSE, for the ten consortium schools. Registering once with the consortium covers every one of them; you then name the schools you want on the Essex or Southend application form. The one exception is Chelmsford County High School for Girls, which sets its own FSCE test.
Different rather than harder. The CSSE has no reasoning papers but expects written working and a piece of continuous writing. GL is mostly multiple choice but tests four subjects, two of which are not taught in school.
For maths content, partly. For technique, no: the CSSE gives no options to eliminate and marks method, so multiple choice practice teaches the wrong habits. Use CSSE style papers for the CSSE.
CSSE first, since it is sat in September and its written maths takes longest to build. Add GL verbal and non-verbal reasoning from the spring of Year 5, alongside rather than instead.
Yes. The CSSE is my specialism, because I sat it, but the free library and the platform cover GL papers too, including verbal and non-verbal reasoning.
Book a free 20-minute call. I will ask about where they are, tell you honestly what I think, and you decide what to do next.
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