Chelmsford, Essex · Essex

Chelmsford County High School for Girls

Not part of the CSSE consortium at all — it left to run its own three-part test through a different provider, on a scoring scale that isn't comparable to its neighbours'.

CCHS is often assumed to share Essex's CSSE consortium test, but it doesn't: CSSE's own current member list (confirmed directly from csse.org.uk) doesn't include it, and CCHS's own admissions policy states plainly that it is its own admissions authority using a test supplied by Future Stories Community Enterprise (FSCE) — the same provider due to take over Gloucestershire's and Trafford's consortium tests from 2028. Its published cutoff scores sit on FSCE's own scale (roughly 104-119 in recent years), which isn't numerically convertible to CSSE's 300s-400s scale, so a direct comparison to Colchester Royal Grammar or King Edward VI Grammar isn't possible.

Key facts

Gender: girls
Age range: 11-18
Region: East of England
Local authority: Essex
Established: 1907
DfE URN: 136412
Website: https://www.cchs.co.uk/

Admissions

Admissions authority: The school sets its own test and criteria
Entrance test board: Future Stories Community Enterprise (FSCE) — not the CSSE test used by most other Essex grammar schools. Confirmed directly in CCHS's own admissions guide.sources conflict
Wikipedia's article on the CSSE consortium lists CCHS as a current member — this conflicts with CCHS's own admissions policy and CSSE's own current FOI-disclosed member list, neither of which includes CCHS. The primary sources are treated as authoritative here; Wikipedia appears stale. Secondary sources disagree on exactly when CCHS left CSSE (2011 or 2013), so that historical detail isn't included.
Test format: Three elements: English, Mathematics, and Creative Writing, based on the KS2 curriculum up to Year 5 content. English and Maths are computer-marked and age-standardised; only candidates reaching the eligible score in both then have their Creative Writing paper assessed by a panel of CCHS staff. One sitting only.
Qualifying / pass mark: No fixed published pass mark — an 'eligible score' is set annually by the Admissions Committee after testing, and candidates must clear it in each separately-marked element before Creative Writing is even assessed. The Published Admission Number is 180. CCHS publishes its own historical last-place-offered scores (on FSCE's scale, not comparable to CSSE's): September 2026 entry — 106-107 in the priority area, 118-119 outside; September 2024 entry — 108-109 in-area, 113-114 outside.
Superselective?: Yespartly verified
No same-scale FOI score comparison is possible since CCHS uses a different test and provider than the CSSE schools it's often compared to — this rests on test design, demand ratios, and reputational consensus rather than a direct score calculation.

Catchment & priority criteria

A 12.5-mile 'priority area' around the school (permanent residence required since 31 October of Year 6) — 144 of the 180 places go first to qualifying candidates inside it; the remaining 36 places go by score regardless of address. Address affects priority tier and likelihood, but doesn't by itself guarantee or bar a place.

Looked-after and previously looked-after children scoring within 5 marks of the eligible score, regardless of address
Children with an EHCP naming the school who reach the eligible score
Up to 30 of the 144 priority-area places: Pupil Premium/Service Premium-eligible children in the priority area scoring within 5 marks of the eligible score
Remaining priority-area places to other qualifying children in the priority area, by rank order
Remaining 36 places to the next-highest-scoring children regardless of address, by rank order

Results

Year	Attainment 8	GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths	Progress 8	A*–A	A*–B
2025	80.7 (Essex average 45.1, England average 46.1)	99.4%	Not calculated by DfE — no KS2 baseline data for this cohort nationally	~62%	86.6%
EBacc entry 96.7%, EBacc average point score 7.94. 13 A-level subjects achieved 90%+ grades A-B; half the Year 13 cohort achieved 3+ grades at A-A.
2024	80.6 (secondary-sourced, not independently re-confirmed against DfE directly)	—	+0.76 (secondary-sourced, not independently re-confirmed against DfE directly)	58.9%	84.82%

Ofsted

Rating: Outstanding
Date: 23 January 2024
Report: Read the full report

Sources

1. DfE Get Information About Schools — URN, status, gender, LA — https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/136412
2. Admissions Policy for entry in 2027 (approved 11 February 2026) — admissions authority, FSCE test, eligible-score mechanism, priority criteria — https://www.cchs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Admissions-Policy-for-Entry-in-2027-Approved-11-Feb-26.pdf
3. School's own information guide confirming FSCE as test supplier — https://www.cchs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Information-Guide-for-Year-7-2024-Entry.pdf
4. School's own FOI-disclosure page — historical last-place-offered scores — https://www.cchs.co.uk/admissions/foi-requests/
5. School's own history page — opened 1 May 1907 — https://www.cchs.co.uk/about-us/history-of-cchs/
6. Ofsted report, inspected 23 January 2024 — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50239811
7. DfE Compare School Performance — 2025 GCSE results — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/136412/chelmsford-county-high-school-for-girls/secondary
8. School's own A-level results 2025 — https://www.cchs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/A-Level-Results-2025-Website.pdf
9. CSSE's own FOI response confirming its current member schools don't include CCHS — https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/scores_of_last_selective_place_o_2

Last updated 2026-08-30. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.