Westcliff High School for Girls 11 Plus (11+) Exam Guide

About Westcliff High School for Girls

Westcliff High School for Girls (WHSG) is a girls’ state grammar school in Westcliff-on-Sea, near Southend, Essex, for 11 to 18-year-olds. It is one of the top-performing girls’ schools in the country for exam results, and entry to Year 7 is highly competitive.

Entry to WHSG is through the shared CSSE 11+, the bespoke test set by the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex, rather than a GL Assessment paper. Your daughter registers once and sits the test once, and the same result can be used for any CSSE school you name on the secondary application form.

WHSG admits girls to Year 7 on their performance in the CSSE test, so a strong score is what counts. The school is heavily oversubscribed, and its combination of academic results and reputation makes it one of the most sought-after grammar schools in Essex.

Key information for 2027: Westcliff High School for Girls at 11 Plus (11+)

• School type: State grammar school (girls)
• Consortium: Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE)
• Registration deadline: 5pm, 19 June 2026
• Exam date: 19 September 2026
• CAF deadline: 31 October 2026
• National school offer day: March 2027
• Contact details: www.whsg.info/Admissions/Year-7/, www.csse.org.uk/examination/

Admissions information for 2027 entry: Westcliff High School for Girls at 11 Plus (11+)

Registration for Year 7 entry into Westcliff High School for Girls opens in May and closes at 5pm on 19 June 2026, via the CSSE registration portal at csse.org.uk. The test is sat once, on 19 September 2026, and results are issued in October, ahead of the secondary application deadline.

You must also submit your Common Application Form (CAF) to your local home authority by 31 October 2026, listing Westcliff High School for Girls if you would like your daughter to be considered; the order you list schools in is treated as your order of preference.

WHSG admits to Year 7 on performance in the CSSE test: girls who reach the qualifying standard are ranked by score, and the published admission number is 192 places. The CSSE-wide minimum is a total standardised score of 303, but WHSG is heavily oversubscribed, so the realistic target is well above this floor. Where the school is oversubscribed at a given score, distance from the school is generally used as a tie-break, so check the current admission policy for the exact criteria. National school offer day is in March 2027.

How can I register my child for the 11 Plus (11+) exam at Westcliff High School for Girls?

To register your daughter for the entrance exam, you as her parent or legal guardian must complete the online registration through the CSSE registration portal at csse.org.uk, before the 19 June 2026 deadline.

Registering does not commit you to Westcliff High School for Girls: you still choose which schools to name, and in what order of preference, on the secondary application form by 31 October 2026.

What is the 11 Plus (11+) entrance exam format for Westcliff High School for Girls?

WHSG does not set its own entrance exam. Like every Essex grammar school, it selects through the shared CSSE 11+, which is written rather than multiple choice and sat over two papers on one day:

• English (60 minutes, plus 10 minutes reading time): a comprehension section based on a reading passage, and a continuous writing section in which your daughter plans and writes an extended piece.
• Maths (60 minutes): questions drawn from the Key Stage 2 curriculum, worked and written out in the booklet.

Each paper is age-standardised and the two are weighted equally to produce a total standardised score, which is what determines eligibility and, ultimately, the offer of a place.

How to prepare your child for the 11 Plus (11+) Westcliff High School for Girls exam

Because WHSG selects on score and the CSSE test includes a real writing task, the aim is to push your daughter’s score as high as it will comfortably go, with particular attention to the writing, which is where many strong candidates lose marks.

Full, timed practice under exam conditions is the most useful preparation, alongside regular reading and short pieces of writing so that planning and structuring an answer becomes routine well before September.

For Westcliff High School for Girls (CSSE) 11+ preparation, we recommend the following packs: