Shoeburyness High School 11+ guide

Thinking about applying to Shoeburyness High School? Find out everything you need to know about admissions and how to prepare your child for success in the 11 plus.

Key information about Shoeburyness High School

• Address: Shoeburyness High School, Caulfield Road, Shoeburyness, Essex, SS3 9LL
• Number of pupils: 1,800+
• Admissions contact: [email protected]
• Number of places in Year 7: 310 (including 28 selective places)
• 11+ exam: CSSE 11+
• Catchment area: yes

Dates for your diary

• Tuesday 13th May 2025: registration opens for the CSSE 11 plus
• Friday 27th June 2025: registration closes for the CSSE 11 plus, and deadline for requests for special adjustments
• July 2025: parents receive test centre information by 16th July
• Saturday 20th September 2025: CSSE 11 plus exam
• Monday 13th October 2025: parents receive CSSE 11 plus results
• Friday 31st October 2025: secondary school applications close at 5pm
• Monday 2nd March 2026: secondary school national offers day

About Shoeburyness High School

Shoeburyness High School is a large academy for boys and girls aged 11–18 in Southend-on-Sea. It has a local reputation as a friendly and caring school which is dedicated to fostering positive relationships.

Shoeburyness High School is a bilateral school. This means that children applying for Year 7 entry can apply for a place on the selective pathway. This gives bright children access to a grammar school education within a more relaxed environment. Children on the selective pathway have extended curriculum opportunities and enrichment activities. An aspirational university programme helps students secure places at top universities such as Oxford and the Russell Group.

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. These places are reserved for children who pass the 11 plus entrance exam.

Shoeburyness High School is a member of the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE). All 10 schools in the CSSE use the same 11 plus exam. This means that your child will only need to take the exam once – even if they’re applying to other schools in the consortium.

The deadline to register for the CSSE 11 plus exam is 27th June 2025. The exam will take place on Saturday 20th September 2025 and you’ll receive your child’s results in mid-October. You can then use these results to decide whether to apply for a place at Shoeburyness High School.

Regardless of whether you intend to apply for a selective or non-selective place at Shoeburyness High School, you’ll need to name the school as one of your preferred schools on the secondary school common application form. This will be available on your home council website from early September and must be submitted by 31st October.

Remember – passing the entrance exam doesn’t guarantee that your child will be allocated a selective place. Many schools are often oversubscribed with qualified children. Schools and their admissions authorities work through admissions criteria to prioritise children for places. We’ve included the admissions criteria for Shoeburyness High School below.

What subjects are on the entrance exam?

The CSSE 11 plus exam consists of two papers. Each paper lasts around one hour.

1. English: this consists of reading comprehension and creative writing
2. Maths: questions are based on the Key Stage 2 maths curriculum

How does place allocation work at Shoeburyness High School?

Each of the two CSSE papers are worth up to 60 marks (120 in total). Your child’s final marks will be standardised and weighted.

Each school in the CSSE sets its own qualifying score, and this varies from year to year. In 2023, the lowest score for which a child was offered a place on the selective pathway at Shoeburyness High School was 305.

If more children apply to Shoeburyness High School than there are places available, the school applies oversubscription criteria in the order below.

1. ‘Looked after’ and ‘previously looked after’ children
2. Up to 28 places are available for children who achieve a score of 303 and above in the CSSE 11 plus, and who live within the priority area
3. If any selective places are unfulfilled, the school Governors will decide whether to award borderline selective places (children who achieved a score of 295–303 in the CSSE 11 plus). These children must also live within the priority area
4. Children who live within the catchment area and who have a sibling at the school
5. Children who live within the catchment area
6. Children who live outside the catchment area and who have a sibling at the school
7. Children who attend one of the feeder schools
8. Children who live outside the catchment area

What is the catchment area for Shoeburyness High School?

The catchment area for Shoeburyness High School covers the eastern end of Southend-on-Sea, including Thorpe Bay, North Shoebury and Shoeburyness. A map is available on the Southend Council website.

The priority area for children who are eligible for a place on the school’s selective pathway extends further to cover all of Southend-on-Sea. A map is available on the Shoeburyness High School website.

Atom’s top tips for 11 plus preparation

The 11 plus is designed to select the most academically able children in the country. Here are our top tips to help you and your child feel confident for exam day!

Bitesize learning

It’s important to build a good knowledge base before the 11 plus. Using a ‘little and often’ approach when learning is key – our brains encode new information more effectively when dealing with smaller ‘chunks’ of information. For children aged 10–11, child psychologists recommend regular study sessions of 20–30 minutes.

Atom Home makes learning a more enjoyable process for your child. They'll explore exciting worlds full of interactive questions, earning coins to spend in the Atom shop. Atom adapts to your child, showing them questions at just the right level of difficulty to keep them motivated.

Read widely

11 plus exams test your child’s ability to analyse and interpret written information. Regular reading is a great way to help your child build these skills.

Encourage them to read books from different genres and by a diverse range of authors. Increasing the variety of your child’s reading will help them understand different styles, tones and purposes. Meanwhile, reading a little every day will help widen their vocabulary, sharpen their analytical thinking, and enhance their imagination.

Refine exam technique

When your child feels confident with the topics they’ve learnt in Year 5, they’ll be ready to put their knowledge to the test.

Practice tests can help your child develop problem-solving skills and build confidence working under test conditions. They’re also a great way to consolidate learning and highlight knowledge gaps for further improvement.

With Atom Home, you'll unlock online mock tests and printable practice papers. Enjoy automatic marking and progress tracking with the online tests, and help your child get familiar with the real exam experience with printable practice papers.

Celebrate progress

Setting regular, achievable goals and celebrating your child’s progress – no matter how big or small – will help keep their motivation high.

Make sure to encourage a growth mindset. This means celebrating effort, as well as achievement! When your child makes mistakes or struggles to understand a particular topic, help them understand that they’ll improve through practice. Regular praise will help your child improve their resilience when tackling new and challenging topics.