Colchester, Essex
11+ Tutoring in Colchester
Colchester has two selective schools with almost opposite admissions philosophies, and a family here should understand which one they are really aiming at before they start preparing. Colchester Royal Grammar School has no residency-based priority area whatsoever: places are offered in descending score order to any boy in the country, and distance is used only to separate two identical scores. It is, in effect, a national academic race that happens to be held in Colchester. Colchester County High School for Girls works the other way, reserving the large majority of its places for families inside a priority area measured from the school, and setting a qualifying score above the general consortium pass mark. Both the radius and that score are reviewed annually, so check the school’s current policy rather than a figure quoted anywhere else. Both schools sit the same shared CSSE paper on the same September morning, so one registration and one test keeps both open. What differs is what the score has to beat.
Schools Colchester families apply to
Colchester Royal Grammar School (CRGS)
CSSE consortium test, sat in September of Year 6
Admission number 128 for 2027. The school operates no priority or catchment area at all — places go in descending score order to applicants from anywhere, with straight-line distance used only to break a tie between equal scores.
Colchester County High School for Girls (CCHSG)
CSSE consortium test, sat in September of Year 6
Admission number 192 for 2027. Its published arrangements set a priority area measured as a 25-mile straight line and a qualifying score above the general consortium mark — confirm the current figure on the school’s own admissions page before you plan around it.
Key dates for September 2027 entry
Registration 12 May to 19 June 2026. Test sat Saturday 19 September 2026, reserve date Tuesday 29 September 2026. Results emailed 12 October 2026.
Dates and admission numbers change every year. Always confirm against the school’s own admissions page before you plan around them.
Living in Colchester gives your daughter a real structural advantage at Colchester County High, whose priority area comfortably covers the whole town, and gives your son almost none at Colchester Royal Grammar, which does not operate one. That asymmetry is the thing worth planning around: a Colchester boy is competing against the strongest applicants nationally for a 128-place intake, whichever street he lives on.
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Questions Colchester parents ask
Does Colchester Royal Grammar School have a catchment area?
No. CRGS operates no residency-based priority area. Places are allocated in descending order of CSSE score to applicants from anywhere, and straight-line distance is used only as a tiebreak between two candidates on the same score.
Is the qualifying score the same at both Colchester schools?
No. Colchester County High School for Girls sets a qualifying score above the general CSSE pass mark, alongside its priority area. Colchester Royal Grammar has no separate qualifying threshold of that kind — the rank order of scores does the work. Check each school’s current published policy, as these figures are reviewed annually.
Do we sit two tests for two Colchester schools?
No. Both are CSSE member schools, so a single registration and a single sitting of the shared paper covers preferences at either or both. You then name the schools you want on the common application form to your local authority.
How many places are available in Colchester?
For September 2027 entry the published admission numbers are 128 at Colchester Royal Grammar School and 192 at Colchester County High School for Girls.