A highly selective girls grammar school in Essex with a two-stage 11+ admissions process and strong published attainment outcomes.
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At a glance
Chelmsford County High School for Girls is a selective girls' grammar school on Broomfield Road in Chelmsford. It opened in 1907 to provide girls with an academic education, and that founding purpose still matters to the way the school presents itself: pioneering, engaged, dynamic and openly proud of being a grammar-school community. It now educates about 1,236 girls from 11 to 18, including a substantial sixth form.
The academic offer is broad and intellectually serious. CCHS publishes detailed curriculum pages, including a history curriculum that moves from evidence, analysis and writing in Key Stage 3 through to AQA GCSE and A-level options; the wider school record points to languages, Classics or Latin, personal development and sixth-form study. The school is not just selling high attainment: it places that attainment inside a language of service, compassion, opportunity and active participation.
Sixth-form life adds some of the clearest texture. The school welcomes internal and external applicants, publishes A-level options and entry requirements, and runs a community-service programme in Year 12. Mock interviews are offered for students applying to courses with academic or multiple-mini interviews, which is a useful signal of the destinations culture around medicine, competitive university courses and other selective pathways.
Admission to Year 7 is for 180 places and requires registration for the school's entrance test as well as the local-authority application. For 2027 entry the school uses the Future Stories Community Enterprise test, with English, maths, science and wider reasoning components. The policy combines a 12.5-mile priority area, score ranking, looked-after priority and reserved priority-area places for Pupil Premium or Service Pupil Premium applicants. Published measures show Ofsted Outstanding, +0.76 Progress 8, 98.9% grade 5+ in English and maths and 56% AAB or better at A level.
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Latest 2024/25 KS4 measures compared with Essex and England.
Recent published Attainment 8 scores compared with Essex and England.
Latest 2024/25 Year 11 destination mix compared with Essex and England.
Whole-school roll of 1,236 pupils; 1,218 had a recorded ethnic group.
A 12.5-mile priority area plus score-based ranking applies for Year 7 entry. Only offered-score bands, not exact cutoffs, are available from the March 2026 FOI page.
A 12.5-mile priority area applies rather than a published catchment map. Within the priority area and outside it, eligible girls are then ranked by score under the published rules.
Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school
Girls whose Education, Health and Care Plan names Chelmsford County High School for Girls are admitted before the oversubscription criteria are applied.
Looked after and previously looked after girls
Priority then goes to looked after children, previously looked after children, and children who appear to have been in state care outside England and ceased to be so because of adoption or a related order.
Priority-area girls ranked by score
The next places are offered to eligible girls who live within 12.5 miles of the school, ranked by test score under the school's published priority-area rules.
Priority-area pupil premium and service premium places
Within the priority-area allocation, up to 30 places are reserved for eligible girls receiving Pupil Premium or Service Pupil Premium under the school's published score tolerance.
Remaining eligible girls ranked by score
Any remaining places go to other eligible girls in rank-score order. If scores are tied for the last place, the nearer permanent home address is prioritised.
The FSCE test has multiple-choice, short-written-answer and handwritten creative-response papers. Marked papers are age-standardised, while the creative response is judged separately after the qualifying standard is met.
Official exam resources
No released past entrance-test papers are currently verified here. The resources below are labelled by type.
Essex (CSSE) test guideFree parent account
Create a free parent account to open the official papers, sample questions and guidance listed here.
Paper 1
English, Maths, Science, Other
Adventure Paper
Multiple-choice questions may draw on Key Stage 2 subjects including English, maths, science and wider curriculum areas.
Paper 2
English, Maths, Science, Other
Beacon Paper
Short written-answer questions may draw on the same Key Stage 2 subject range.
Paper 3
English, Maths, Science, Other
Compass Paper
Multiple-choice questions may draw on Key Stage 2 subjects including English, maths, science and wider curriculum areas.
Paper 4
Writing task, Other
Discovery Paper
A handwritten creative-response paper is considered after the qualifying standard is met.
English, Maths and Science are included in the published format.
Verbal reasoning and Non-verbal reasoning are not listed in the current published format.
English
Maths
Science
Multiple-choice questions may draw on Key Stage 2 subjects including English, maths, science and wider curriculum areas.
Verbal reasoning
Non-verbal reasoning
Registration opens
Monday 13 April 2026 at 9am
PastOpen evening
Thursday 30 April 2026
PastRegistration closes
Wednesday 3 June 2026 at 4pm
PastEntrance test
Thursday 3 September 2026
PastResults issued
Mid-October 2026
CAF deadline
Saturday 31 October 2026
Read the 2027 admissions policy
Check the published admission number, the 12.5-mile priority-area rules, and the score-based oversubscription criteria before registering.
Open admissions policyRegister online for the Year 7 entrance test
Complete the school's online registration form between 13 April 2026 and 4pm on 3 June 2026. Test registration does not replace the local-authority application.
Open Year 7 entry pageSit the FSCE test and wait for results
The entrance test is scheduled for Thursday 3 September 2026, with results due in mid-October 2026.
Open familiarisation guideSubmit your Common Application Form
If you want a school place, list Chelmsford County High School for Girls on your home local authority Common Application Form by 31 October 2026.
Review application routeLatest inspection: 24 January 2024
Local rivals appear first, followed by nearby alternatives where the journey and admissions route are still comparable.
Same Essex area with a comparable local commute
Same wider selective region with a comparable travel distance
Same wider selective region with a comparable travel distance
Closest comparable alternatives with a similar academic profile, so parents can weigh local fit and results together.
Similar Attainment 8 and Progress 8
Similar Attainment 8 and Progress 8
Similar Attainment 8 and Progress 8
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FAQ
CCHS currently uses FSCE.
1. Read the 2027 admissions policy: Check the published admission number, the 12.5-mile priority-area rules, and the score-based oversubscription criteria before registering. 2. Register online for the Year 7 entrance test: Complete the school's online registration form between 13 April 2026 and 4pm on 3 June 2026. Test registration does not replace the local-authority application. 3. Sit the FSCE test and wait for results: The entrance test is scheduled for Thursday 3 September 2026, with results due in mid-October 2026. 4. Submit your Common Application Form: If you want a school place, list Chelmsford County High School for Girls on your home local authority Common Application Form by 31 October 2026.
Registration opens: Monday 13 April 2026 at 9am. Open evening: Thursday 30 April 2026. Registration closes: Wednesday 3 June 2026 at 4pm. Entrance test: Thursday 3 September 2026. Results issued: Mid-October 2026. CAF deadline: Saturday 31 October 2026
CCHS is currently rated Outstanding following the latest published inspection dated 24 January 2024.
