Schools / Westcliff High School for Boys
Westcliff High School for Boys is a selective grammar school for boys in Westcliff-on-Sea, Southend-on-Sea, educating around 1,300 pupils aged 11 to 18. Entry to Year 7 is through the CSSE 11+ examination, the Essex consortium's own English and mathematics papers; no selective place is offered below a total standardised score of 303, and each school's actual cut-off is higher.
Athena holds admission-route records for Westcliff High School for Boys. They are shown by entry cycle below; where the provider changes between cycles, each cycle keeps its own recorded exam.
Set by CSSE
CSSE 11+ Examination (Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex): two written free-response papers, English (60 minutes plus 10 minutes reading; includes continuous writing) and Mathematics (60 minutes); no standalone reasoning paper. Scores standardised separately to a total out of 420; consortium floor 303.
1898 published practice questions tagged for this exam
Route record: verified · Athena schools expansion research 2026-10-27
Set by CSSE
CSSE 11+ Examination (Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex): two written free-response papers, English (60 minutes plus 10 minutes reading; includes continuous writing) and Mathematics (60 minutes); no standalone reasoning paper. Scores standardised separately to a total out of 420; consortium floor 303.
1898 published practice questions tagged for this exam
Route record: verified · Athena schools expansion research 2026-10-27
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Test: Late September of Year 6, on a Saturday (September 2027)
Results: Mid-October 2027 — CSSE publishes results to parents
Offers: National Offer Day — Wednesday 1 March 2028
When to start preparing: Start preparing in the spring term of Year 5 (the standing rule: about 18 months before the test).
General guidance: this follows the rule of thumb of starting about 18 months before the test. It is not the school's own published advice.
Source: official admissions information · checked 2026-10-28
Test: Late September of Year 6, on a Saturday (September 2026)
Results: Mid-October 2026 — CSSE publishes results to parents
Offers: National Offer Day — Monday 1 March 2027
When to start preparing: Start preparing in the spring term of Year 5 (the standing rule: about 18 months before the test).
General guidance: this follows the rule of thumb of starting about 18 months before the test. It is not the school's own published advice.
Source: official admissions information · checked 2026-10-28
No catchment — open competition
There is no catchment area. After children with an EHCP naming the school and looked-after children, places are ranked purely by the child’s standardised CSSE score; the consortium floor is 303 and each school’s effective cut-off is set by demand in the year.
| Entry year | Qualifying score | Notes & source |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 303 — CSSE offers no selective place below a total standardised score of 303 | Consortium floor published by the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE) in its historical guidance; each school’s actual cut-off is set by competition for its places and is higher than 303. Source: official source · checked 2026-10-28 |
| 2025 | 303 — CSSE offers no selective place below a total standardised score of 303 | Consortium floor published by the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE) in its historical guidance; each school’s actual cut-off is set by competition for its places and is higher than 303. Source: official source · checked 2026-10-28 |
| 2025 | Lowest score offered on National Offer Day (1 March 2025): 309 (priority area) / 351 (outside priority area) | From the CSSE Historical Guidance Sheet for 2026 entry: the score of the last selective place offered on 1 March 2025, for September 2025 entry. Figures fluctuate year to year. St Bernard’s High School’s cut-off could not be reliably read from the sheet and is not recorded. Source: official source · checked 2026-10-28 |
| 2024 | 303 — CSSE offers no selective place below a total standardised score of 303 | Consortium floor published by the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE) in its historical guidance; each school’s actual cut-off is set by competition for its places and is higher than 303. Source: official source · checked 2026-10-28 |
GCSE: Attainment 8 score 77.6; 97.7% of pupils achieved grade 9-5 or above in English and maths GCSEs
DfE performance tables
A level: Average point score per A level entry 43.27 (average grade B+); 42.3% of A level students achieved AAB or higher
DfE performance tables
University destinations:
Source: official source · checked 2026-10-28 · official source · checked 2026-10-28
GCSE: Attainment 8 score 77.3; 98.3% of pupils achieved grade 9-5 or above in English and maths GCSEs
DfE performance tables
A level: Average point score per A level entry 45.55 (average grade A-)
DfE performance tables
Source: official source · checked 2026-10-28
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