Chelmsford County High School for Girls 11+ guide

Applying to Chelmsford County High School for Girls for September 2028? This guide covers the FSCE entrance test, the qualifying score, how the 180 Year 7 places are allocated and the key dates for September 2028 entry.

Chelmsford County High School for Girls 11+ at a glance

• School type: girls' grammar school
• Location: Chelmsford, Essex
• Admissions contact: admissions@cchs.co.uk
• Number of places in Year 7: 180 (2027-entry figure — Chelmsford County High School for Girls confirms each year's admission number in its determined arrangements, published the spring before entry.)
• Qualifying score: No fixed pass mark. The school sets an eligible score each year from girls' rank order in the maths and English elements, once a minimum standard in creativity is met. Looked after girls, and Pupil or Service Premium girls in the priority area, can qualify up to 5 marks below it.
• 11+ test: FSCE entrance test (four papers: Adventure, Beacon, Compass and Discovery)
• Catchment or priority area: yes — a 12.5-mile priority area (144 of the 180 places)

Source: Chelmsford County High School for Girls Admissions Policy for Entry in 2027. Last checked October 2026.

Key dates for September 2028 entry

Chelmsford County High School for Girls confirms its exact dates in the spring before each cycle. The windows below follow the 2027-entry timetable: registration ran from 9am on Monday 13 April 2026 to 4pm on Wednesday 3 June 2026, the test took place on Thursday 3 September 2026 and results were due mid-October 2026, by email. We'll update this page as soon as the school publishes its 2028-entry dates.

CCHS runs its own FSCE test, so these windows follow the school's own timetable, not the CSSE's or other FSCE areas'.

How to apply to Chelmsford County High School for Girls

Chelmsford County High School for Girls is selective, so your child needs to sit the 11+ test to be considered for a place.

Register your daughter directly with the school, using the online registration form on CCHS's admissions pages during the registration window. Late registrations are not accepted.

Once you have your child's result, you apply by naming Chelmsford County High School for Girls on your common application form, which goes to your home local authority. For September 2028 entry the deadline is Sunday 31 October 2027. As it falls on a Sunday, you may find it easier to submit your form in the days before.

Reaching the qualifying score makes your child eligible, but it doesn't guarantee a place. If more qualifying children apply than there are places, the school uses its oversubscription criteria, set out further down this page.

What will my child be tested on?

Chelmsford County High School for Girls sets its own entrance test with Future Stories Community Enterprise (FSCE). It is not part of the CSSE, so if you are also applying to CSSE schools your daughter needs to register for and sit both tests. The FSCE test assesses how girls apply knowledge and skills from Key Stage 2 subjects taught up to and including the Year 5 programme of study.

There are four papers, which may be sat in any order: Adventure and Compass (multiple choice), Beacon (short written answers) and Discovery (a creative response, where only the answer sheet is marked). The school's familiarisation guide says questions can come from art and design, computing, design and technology, English, geography, history, languages, maths, music, PE and science.

The question types, subjects and format change from year to year, and there are no authorised past papers or practice papers. The school publishes free familiarisation guides for children and parents.

How are places allocated at Chelmsford County High School for Girls?

If more children reach the qualifying standard than there are 180 Year 7 places, Chelmsford County High School for Girls offers places in the order below. This order comes from the school's admissions policy for 2027 entry. The school sets its 2028-entry policy separately, and we'll update this table if anything changes.

Places in each category go in descending score order from the ranked list. For category 3, your daughter must have lived at her permanent address in the priority area since 31 October in Year 6.

Does Chelmsford County High School for Girls have a catchment area?

The priority area is a 12.5-mile radius around the school, measured in a straight line. Girls living there can take up to 144 places, and up to 36 places go by score to girls living anywhere.

If girls tie for a place, the girl living closest to the school in a straight line comes first. If the distances are identical, lots are drawn by an independent person.

If you don't live close to the school, it's worth thinking about how your child will get there every day. How long will the journey take? What transport options are available? Will they be travelling independently or with support?

A longer or more complex journey can affect your child's daily routine, including how much time they have for homework, rest and after-school activities. It's a good idea to think about how manageable the school run will be and whether it will work for your family day to day.

How can I help my child prepare for the FSCE test?

Atom Learning is not an official or authorised source of information about FSCE assessments. This guide is based on publicly available information. FSCE assessments are tailored to each school and can change from year to year. For definitive information, always use the familiarisation materials published by the school you are applying to.

There are no FSCE past papers, and the subjects and question styles change each year — so there is no pattern to learn. What the test does reward is a confident grasp of the Key Stage 2 curriculum up to the end of Year 5, applied to unfamiliar questions.

Build solid KS2 knowledge

Because the FSCE test draws on what your child has already been taught, the strongest preparation is making sure those foundations are secure — across the curriculum, not just English and maths.

With Atom Home, your child gets:

• a personalised weekly learning plan tied to their target schools
• adaptive questions that meet them at the right level of difficulty
• coverage of KS2 topics across the curriculum

Enter your target schools on Atom Home and get started with a free trial today.

Encourage regular reading

Reading underpins almost every part of the FSCE test — comprehension, vocabulary, and the creative writing paper. Aim for 10–15 minutes a day, with variety: fiction and non-fiction, different genres and authors.

Explore Atom's free reading and writing starter kit for age-appropriate suggestions.

Get comfortable with the format

The school publishes a free Familiarisation Guide showing the layout of the papers and answer sheets. Read it with your child so the test looks familiar on the day.

Beyond that, Atom's practice papers build the habit of working accurately under timed conditions and filling in an answer sheet correctly. Photograph the answer sheets and upload them for instant marking, a Standardised Age Score — the same age-standardised basis FSCE uses — and a clear view of which topics to work on next.

Celebrate progress, not just scores

Atom's progress tracking shows how your child is doing across topics and how that is developing over time, so you can keep motivation steady and focus on consistent improvement.