King Edward VI Grammar School Chelmsford

King Edward VI Grammar School was founded in 1551 through a royal warrant from King Edward VI - although the school's history dates even further back to the 13th century. The school is boys-only until the age of 16, after which girls are accepted into the sixth form.

The school has an excellent academic reputation. Recently inspected by Ofsted in December 2021 and rating ‘outstanding’, King Edward VI Grammar School is currently ranked 8th out of all grammar schools in the country, based on 2022 exam results, and is a top choice for Essex families aiming for a strong, broad curriculum and superb university preparation.

• Address: King Edward VI Grammar School, Broomfield Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 3SX
• Local authority: Essex County Council
• School type: boys' grammar with a mixed sixth form
• Headteacher: Tom Carter
• Number of pupils: 1,100+
• National rank (Sunday Times Parent Power): 8
• A level results: 93.3% A*–B
• GCSE results: 93.8% A*/A/9/8/7

King Edward VI Grammar School is a member of the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE). You will need to complete two forms to register your child for a place:

• Register for the 11 plus: firstly, you will need to register your child to take the CSSE 11 plus exam on the CSSE website. Registration opens on Thursday 16th May 2023 and closes on 30th June 2023.
• Register for a school place: you will need to submit the common application form (CAF) and name KEGS as your preferred school of choice. You will be able to complete the form on the Essex County Council website between 1st September and 31st October 2023.

After your child takes the CSSE exam, a team of independent professional markers will double-mark and check the papers. Some scores will be age-standardised and then the results for each school will be ranked in order.

The cut-off score can also change between the national offers day (1st March 2024) and the start of the school year; if a child is offered a place on 1st March but then declines this, it will be offered to the next person on the waiting list – therefore changing the cut-off mark. Example scenarios of this are available on the KEGS website.

In 2022, the pass mark at King Edward VI Grammar School was 345 for children living within the priority area, and 366 for children living outside the priority area. This was the highest pass mark of all grammar schools in Essex.

The CSSE does not normally make secondary school offers to any child who has scored under a total standardised score of 303. However, some appeals outside of this criteria are successful.

There are 150 places available in Year 7 at King Edward VI Grammar School. These places are available for children who have qualified for a place (based on their CSSE exam results), have named the school as a preference on the common application form, and have not been offered a place at another school for which they expressed a higher preference on the form.

If the number of children who meet these criteria exceeds the 150 places available, then the school will offer places in rank order using standardised scores from the test.

120 places are reserved for boys who have been continuously living within the priority are (see below) since 31st October in Year 6. Of these 120 places:

• Up to 8 places are available to the top performing boys who are either in receipt of Pupil Premium or classified as Looked After or previously Looked After children, and achieve a final standardised score of at least 340.
• The remaining places will be offered in descending rank order of marks until 120 places have been awarded to priority area applicants.

The remaining 30 places will be allocated to boys regardless of where they live:

• Up to 2 places are available to the top performing boys who, at the time of test registration, are either in receipt of Pupil Premium or are classified as Looked After or previously Looked After children, and achieve a final standardised score of at least 368.

The remaining places will be offered in descending rank order of marks until all 30 places have been filled.

The priority area for King Edward VI Grammar School covers a distance of 12.5 miles from the school. Pupils whose primary home address is within 12.5 miles of the school address, and who have been living at that address since 31st October when they were in Year 6, are classed as living within the priority area.