CSSE-Style English Mock 4 (Essex)
The CSSE-Style English Mock 4 (Essex) is a fourth full practice sitting of the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex's English format: a source text, then reading comprehension, vocabulary in context, spelling/punctuation/grammar (SPaG) and a continuous writing task, all within one hour. By a fourth mock, the SPaG section is usually worth the closest attention, since a small number of error types, homophones, apostrophes and subject-verb agreement, recur across most CSSE-style papers.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Before starting, keep a short error log from any previous CSSE-style mocks you have sat, listing the specific mistakes made in the SPaG section, and check this mock's answers against that list afterwards.
- Learn the three homophones that cost the most marks in practice papers: 'their/there/they're', 'its/it's' and 'affect/effect', and test yourself on each in a sentence rather than in isolation.
- For apostrophe questions, decide first whether the word needs an apostrophe for possession, for a contraction, or not at all, since guessing between these three is the most common source of error.
- In the comprehension section, underline or note the key word in the question itself (for example 'suggests', 'describes' or 'explains') before answering, since each of these words expects a slightly different kind of answer.
- In the vocabulary section, reread the full sentence with your chosen meaning substituted in, to check it still makes sense, rather than trusting your first instinct alone.
- Plan the continuous writing task with a one line summary of the ending before you start, so the middle of the piece is written with a clear destination rather than being extended until the word count is reached.
- Leave two or three minutes at the end of the writing task specifically to check for the error types in your log, rather than a general reread, since a targeted check catches more of your own recurring mistakes.
Worked example
Correct the errors in this sentence, then explain which type of error each correction fixes: 'The bakery's ovens where always lit before dawn, there heat filling the whole street with the smell of fresh bread.'
- Identify the first error: 'where' should be 'were', since the sentence needs the past tense of the verb 'to be', not the word used for a place.
- Identify the second error: 'there heat' should be 'their heat', since the heat belongs to the ovens, meaning the possessive homophone is needed, not the one meaning 'in that place'.
- Classify each error: the first is a homophone confusion between a verb and a place word; the second is a homophone confusion between a possessive and a location word.
- Write the corrected sentence: 'The bakery's ovens were always lit before dawn, their heat filling the whole street with the smell of fresh bread.'
- Final answer: two homophone errors, 'where' corrected to 'were' (verb, not place), and 'there' corrected to 'their' (possessive, not location).
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1'The apprentice worked with audacious confidence for someone on their first week in the workshop.' What does 'audacious' suggest about the apprentice?Show answer
Answer: That the apprentice was bold or daring, in this case in a way that seemed surprising for someone so new to the job.
Q2Correct the error: 'The old man effect a calm manner, though his hands shook slightly.'Show answer
Answer: The old man affected a calm manner, though his hands shook slightly. ('affected' is the verb meaning to put on or pretend; 'effect' as a verb means to bring about or cause)
Q3Which sentence uses the apostrophe correctly: 'The apprentices tools were kept in a locked chest' or 'The apprentice's tools were kept in a locked chest' (for one apprentice)?Show answer
Answer: 'The apprentice's tools were kept in a locked chest' (the apostrophe before the s shows the tools belong to one apprentice)
Q4'Her erratic timekeeping meant nobody knew when the workshop would actually open.' Which word below is closest in meaning to the opposite of 'erratic': steady, chaotic, unpredictable, hasty?Show answer
Answer: steady (erratic means irregular or unpredictable, so a word close to its opposite is one meaning regular or consistent, such as steady)
Q5What is the past tense of 'lay' (as in 'to lay something down')?Show answer
Answer: laid
Q6'The workshop fell solemn as the old clockmaker examined the broken mechanism.' What does 'solemn' suggest about the mood in the workshop?Show answer
Answer: That the mood became serious, quiet or grave, suggesting the moment felt important.
Q7Identify the error in this sentence and correct it: 'Each of the apprentices were given there own set of tools.'Show answer
Answer: Each of the apprentices was given their own set of tools. ('each' takes a singular verb, 'was', and the tools belong to the apprentices, so the correct homophone is 'their')
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a 11+ exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
This sentence contains three errors: one homophone, one apostrophe error and one subject-verb agreement error. Find and correct all three, then state which type each one is: 'The apprentices workbench were cluttered with tools, but she always knew exactly where each one where.' (6 marks)
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Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 6 available
Continuous writing task: 'Write about a skill that took much longer to learn than you first expected.' Write a continuous piece of about 300 to 400 words. (15 marks)
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Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 15 available
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the csse-style english mock 4 (essex) worksheet pack - 11 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
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