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Education
The CSSE maths paper is a one-hour written test with no calculator, worth half of your child’s total score. This guide covers the topics it tests and works through five typical question styles, showing the traps that cost marks. It ends with a preparation plan running from Year 4 to the summer before the test.
The CSSE 11 plus maths paper counts for half of your child's total score for the Essex grammar schools that use the CSSE test. It is a one-hour, written paper with no calculator, and it mixes straightforward arithmetic with problems that need several steps of reasoning.
Racing ahead to secondary-school topics is not the key. Children who are fast and accurate with Key Stage 2 maths, and who can work out what a wordy question is really asking, are in the strongest position.
According to the CSSE information guide for 2027 entry:
Time: 60 minutes.
Content: based on Key Stage 2 of the national curriculum.
Weighting: standardised and worth 50% of the total score, alongside English.
Equipment: pen, pencil, ruler and eraser only. Calculators are not allowed, and nor are calculator watches.
There is no non-verbal reasoning paper: the CSSE test is English and maths only.
The most recent maths paper CSSE has published (for 2023 entry) had 60 marks spread across 20 questions, most with lettered parts. Answers are written into answer spaces, some with the units already printed, rather than chosen from multiple-choice options. Children do their working in the spaces on the paper, and the instructions tell them not to waste time on a question they cannot do but to move on to the next one.
You can download that paper and its mark scheme from CSSE's practice material page.
The 2023-entry paper gives a good sense of the range:
|
Area |
Examples of what was tested |
|---|---|
|
Number and arithmetic |
Written methods for the four operations, decimals, fractions, prime numbers, rounding |
|
Money and percentages |
Discounts, costs, sharing amounts of money |
|
Measurement |
Converting units (kilometres to metres, yards to inches), perimeter and area, time calculations |
|
Geometry |
Angles in triangles, shapes built from cubes |
|
Statistics and data |
Completing tables and plotting graphs, input-output flowcharts, finding the mean |
|
Algebra and reasoning |
Simple formulas with letters, sequences, number puzzles, combinations, ages over time |
Almost all of this is in the national curriculum for mathematics up to Year 6. The challenge lies in how it is combined: a single question might need a unit conversion, a multiplication and a subtraction before reaching the answer.
The examples below were written for this guide in a similar style to CSSE questions.
How many metres are there in 3.75 km?
1 km = 1,000 m, so 3.75 × 1,000 = 3,750 m.
Trap: moving the decimal point the wrong way. Ask "should the answer be bigger or smaller?" before calculating.
The angles in a triangle are x, 2x and 3x. Find x.
Angles in a triangle add up to 180°, so x + 2x + 3x = 6x = 180°, which gives x = 30°.
Trap: forgetting to state the value asked for, or giving the largest angle (90°) instead of x.
Find two prime numbers between 20 and 40 that differ by 6.
Primes between 20 and 40 are 23, 29, 31 and 37. Pairs that differ by 6 are 23 and 29, and 31 and 37. Either pair is correct.
Trap: including 27 or 33, which look prime but are not.
£48 is shared between Ali and Ben so that Ali gets three times as much as Ben. How much does Ben get?
There are 3 + 1 = 4 equal parts. £48 ÷ 4 = £12, so Ben gets £12 (and Ali £36).
Trap: dividing by 3 instead of 4.
A train leaves at 14:47 and arrives at 16:12. How long is the journey?
From 14:47 to 15:00 is 13 minutes; 15:00 to 16:00 is 60 minutes; 16:00 to 16:12 is 12 minutes. Total: 85 minutes, or 1 hour 25 minutes.
Trap: subtracting times as if they were decimals (16.12 − 14.47 = 1.65).
Without a calculator, slow or shaky arithmetic eats into thinking time. Short daily practice of times tables, written multiplication and division, and fraction and decimal conversions is one of the most worthwhile habits your child can build.
Marks are often lost on questions children could do but misread. Encourage them to underline what is being asked and the units required.
A quick estimate catches impossible answers: a journey of 85 hours, or a shared amount larger than the total.
The paper has 60 marks in 60 minutes. A question that is taking several minutes should be marked with a circle and returned to at the end.
The CSSE 11 plus maths paper rewards fluency built over time, so the plan starts well before the test year.
Year 4 and early Year 5: make Key Stage 2 arithmetic automatic. Free topic worksheets, such as Merit Study Resources' Year 4 maths worksheets, are useful for short, regular practice.
Spring of Year 5: introduce multi-step word problems and CSSE-style questions, untimed at first.
Summer term of Year 5: complete CSSE past papers in 60 minutes and mark them with the official mark scheme. Keep a list of mistakes by type.
Summer holiday: one timed paper a week, with targeted practice on recurring mistakes in between.
If maths is holding your child back, Merit Tutors offers KS2 maths tuition as well as small-group 11+ classes in Forest Gate, Ilford and Plaistow.
Ready to try it? Every paper in the library comes with its mark scheme and a worked solution, so you can practise without hunting for files.
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