Brentwood, Essex
11+ Tutoring in Brentwood
Brentwood has no grammar school of its own, and the position it does have is genuinely unusual: it sits between two entirely separate selective systems that share nothing at all. To the north-east are the Essex consortium schools in Chelmsford, entered through the shared CSSE paper. To the south-west are the Redbridge grammar schools in Ilford and Woodford Green, entered through the London Borough of Redbridge’s own eleven-plus, which is a different test, on a different date, with a different registration window and a completely different set of admission rules. A Brentwood family that wants to keep both directions open is not sitting one exam with two outcomes; it is running two parallel applications, and each has its own way of failing. We plan Brentwood preparation around both formats from the start, rather than teaching one paper and hoping the technique carries.
Schools Brentwood families apply to
Ilford County High School
The London Borough of Redbridge's own 11+ selection test — entirely separate from the CSSE paper
Admission number 180 for 2027-28, with a minimum standardised score of 104 before any applicant is ranked. 45 places (25%) are allocated to Pupil Premium children, then places go to the Common Catchment Area and then outside it, each band ranked by score.
King Edward VI Grammar School (KEGS)
CSSE consortium test, sat in September of Year 6
Admission number 150 for 2027, with 120 places reserved for a 12.5-mile straight-line priority area around the school in Chelmsford and 30 offered on score alone.
Key dates for September 2027 entry
CSSE route: registration 12 May to 19 June 2026, test Saturday 19 September 2026. Redbridge route for 2027 entry: registration described by the council as usually running from around 1 May to 15 June, with the test provisionally on or about Friday 18 September 2026 — confirm both against Redbridge’s own published arrangements.
Dates and admission numbers change every year. Always confirm against the school’s own admissions page before you plan around them.
For daughters, the equivalents sit on the same two sides: Chelmsford County High School for Girls through its own separate test, and Woodford County High School through the Redbridge scheme — so a Brentwood family with a son and a daughter may be running two different exams as well as two different systems. The two systems either side of Brentwood measure eligibility in incompatible ways. Redbridge ranks strictly by score inside bands and uses distance only as a tiebreak; the Chelmsford schools reserve the bulk of their places for a 12.5-mile radius and release the rest on score alone. Whether a particular Brentwood address falls inside either scheme’s priority area depends on where in the town you live, and it is worth measuring properly before you decide which paper to prioritise.
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Questions Brentwood parents ask
Are the Redbridge grammar schools part of the CSSE?
No. Ilford County High School and Woodford County High School are in the London Borough of Redbridge and admit through Redbridge’s own eleven-plus, which has separate registration, a separate test date and separate admission rules. Registering for the CSSE test does not enter your child for these schools.
Can my child sit both the CSSE and the Redbridge test?
Yes. They are independently administered, so a child can register for and sit both. The test dates for 2027 entry fell a day apart, which is demanding but manageable — the harder part is preparing for two different question styles rather than the sitting itself.
What score does Ilford County High School require?
Redbridge sets a minimum standardised score of 104, below which an applicant is not ranked at all. Above that threshold, places are allocated within priority bands in descending score order, so 104 is a floor rather than a target.
Which application form does a Brentwood family use?
Brentwood is in the Essex County Council area, so the common application form goes to Essex regardless of whether you are naming a Redbridge school on it. The deadline is 31 October 2026 and National Offer Day is 1 March 2027.