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Schools near Benfleet

18 open schools in Benfleet, Essex · Ofsted ratings, catchment areas and admission criteria · see all Essex schools · grammar schools in Benfleet

Benfleet has 18 state schools: 12 primary, 3 secondary, part of Essex's wider catchment. 18 have a published Ofsted rating, and 15 of those are rated Good or Outstanding.

Cedar Hall School Benfleet · Not judged Glenwood School Benfleet · Outstanding Hadleigh Infant and Nursery School Benfleet · Good Hadleigh Junior School Benfleet · Not judged Holy Family Catholic Primary School Benfleet · Good Jotmans Hall Primary School Benfleet · Requires improvement Kents Hill Infant Academy Benfleet · Good Kents Hill Junior School Benfleet · Good Montgomerie Primary School Benfleet · Good South Benfleet Primary School Benfleet · Good The Appleton School Benfleet · Good The Deanes Benfleet · Good The King John School Benfleet · Good The Robert Drake Primary School Benfleet · Good Thundersley Primary School Benfleet · Good USP College Benfleet · Good Westwood Academy Benfleet · Outstanding Woodham Ley Primary School Benfleet · Good

Undersubscribed schools rated Good or Outstanding

These schools didn't fill on first preference in the latest admissions year, despite an Ofsted rating of Good or Outstanding — worth a look if you're chasing the same handful of famous names everyone else applies to.

The Appleton School Good · ×0.68 1st prefs/place (2026/27) The Deanes Good · ×0.68 1st prefs/place (2026/27) Montgomerie Primary School Good · ×0.73 1st prefs/place (2026/27) Hadleigh Infant and Nursery School Good · ×0.76 1st prefs/place (2026/27) Holy Family Catholic Primary School Good · ×0.76 1st prefs/place (2026/27) Thundersley Primary School Good · ×0.95 1st prefs/place (2026/27) South Benfleet Primary School Good · ×0.97 1st prefs/place (2026/27) Kents Hill Infant Academy Good · ×0.98 1st prefs/place (2026/27)

How places are allocated in Essex

Primary schools: 'Priority admission area' (catchment) is an explicit oversubscription criterion before the distance tiebreaker; Essex publishes an online catchment-area finder. (source)

Most schools use the local authority's default scheme rather than a school-specific catchment map — see each school's page for its own designated/catchment area where one is published.

Essex entrance test format

Essex has TWO different 11+ tests: 1. The CSSE exam — used by King Edward VI Grammar School (Chelmsford), Colchester Royal Grammar School, Colchester County High School for Girls, and the Southend grammar schools: English (60 minutes — comprehension, applied reasoning and a short continuous-writing element) and Mathematics (60 minutes, Key Stage 2-based), each marked out of 60. NO verbal or non-verbal reasoning; written (not purely multiple-choice) answers. One registration (csse.org.uk) and one mid-September sitting covers all CSSE schools; a combined standardised score around 303+ has historically been the consideration threshold. 2. Chelmsford County High School for Girls — NOT in the CSSE: it runs its own FSCE (Future Stories Community Enterprise) test, registered direct with the school on a separate date. FSCE questions can draw on the whole primary curriculum to the end of Year 5, in a different style from the CSSE papers — a girl applying to CCHS plus other Essex grammars prepares for two different exam formats.

Key dates

Entry yearEventDate
Sept 2028 Application deadline 2027-10-31
Sept 2028 Primary application deadline 2028-01-15
Sept 2028 Offer day 2028-03-01
Sept 2028 Primary offer day 2028-04-17
Sept 2027 Registration opens 2026-05-12 (passed)
Sept 2027 Registration closes 2026-06-19 (passed)
Sept 2027 Test date 2026-09-19
Sept 2027 Results released 2026-10-15
Sept 2027 Application deadline 2026-10-31
Sept 2027 Primary application deadline 2027-01-15
Sept 2027 Offer day 2027-03-01
Sept 2027 Primary offer day 2027-04-16
Sept 2026 Registration opens 2025-05-08 (passed)
Sept 2026 Registration closes 2025-06-30 (passed)
Sept 2026 Test date 2025-09-21 (passed)
Sept 2026 Results released 2025-10-11 (passed)
Sept 2026 Application deadline 2025-10-31 (passed)
Sept 2026 Primary application deadline 2026-01-15 (passed)
Sept 2026 Offer day 2026-03-01 (passed)
Sept 2026 Primary offer day 2026-04-16 (passed)

Out-of-area applications

Three of Essex's four grammar schools (King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford, Colchester Royal Grammar School, Colchester County High School for Girls) select through the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE) — a single shared 11+ exam also used by the Southend grammar schools. One registration (online at csse.org.uk, historically mid-May to mid-June of Year 5) and one sitting covers every CSSE school. EXCEPTION — Chelmsford County High School for Girls is NOT in the CSSE: it runs its own FSCE (Future Stories Community Enterprise) entrance test with separate registration direct with the school. A girl applying to CCHS and other Essex grammar schools sits two different exams. Children living outside Essex can register and sit the exam — but check each school's oversubscription criteria: several CSSE schools operate priority admission areas, and some allocate a portion of places by score rank regardless of address. Apply for places via your home LA's Common Application Form by 31 October. A total standardised score of roughly 303+ has historically been the consideration threshold for CSSE schools, but each school sets its own cutoff based on demand.

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