Essex grammar schools & how to get in.
Essex has 8 grammar schools, clustered in Chelmsford, Colchester and Southend. Most are entered through the CSSE test, with Southend’s schools running their own. This page explains how qualifying and catchment work, and lets you check your postcode against all 8.
Check your postcode against every Essex grammar
See which catchments you fall inside, your distance to each school and your eligibility — free, no account needed.
Real, published boundaries and the latest distance cut-offs — not straight-line estimates.
How Essex grammar admissions work.
Most Essex grammars — the two in Chelmsford and two in Colchester — share the CSSE test (the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex), which you register and pay for directly with CSSE and sit in the autumn of Year 6. Southend’s four schools run their own admissions test. You then apply through your home council by 31 October.
Offers go out on 1 March.
Each school sets its own pass standard and oversubscription rules, so qualifying for one doesn’t guarantee another.
Score, then catchment.
Colchester Royal Grammar admits essentially on score; the other 7 use the test as a gateway and then apply a catchment area or distance rule — a radius for the Chelmsford and Colchester girls’ schools, a postcode-based area for the Southend and Westcliff schools.
These schools draw from a wide area and are heavily oversubscribed, so distance can be decisive even after a strong score.
GrammarBound maps each school’s area and latest distance — open the map or check your postcode above.
Every Essex grammar school, by town.
All 8 grammar schools across Chelmsford, Colchester and Southend. Each links to a plain-English admissions guide.