Best grammar schools in Birmingham 2026

Birmingham has eight state grammar schools that families typically apply to at 11+, all of them selective. Six sit under the King Edward VI Foundation, which traces back to the original grammar school founded in 1552. The other two are Bishop Vesey's Grammar School and Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls, both standalone academies in Sutton Coldfield. The King Edward VI Foundation administers a single shared entrance test, and families can ask for the score to be considered by any of the eight schools, so a child usually sits the exam once.

This guide covers the schools families typically consider for 2026 entry, how the shared test works under GL Assessment, and how to think about realistic chances given how competitive the county-wide pool is.

There are eight selective grammar schools that families typically consider across the Birmingham area at 11+, and they all use a shared entrance test administered by the King Edward VI Foundation. Six of them sit within the King Edward VI Foundation itself (often shortened to KEVI), a charitable foundation that runs both fee-paying independent schools and state-funded grammars under the same umbrella.

The six KEVI grammars are: King Edward VI Aston, King Edward VI Camp Hill Boys, King Edward VI Camp Hill Girls, King Edward VI Five Ways, King Edward VI Handsworth Boys, and King Edward VI Handsworth Girls.

The other two are Bishop Vesey's Grammar School and Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls, both based in Sutton Coldfield. Neither is part of the Foundation; both converted to standalone academy status (Bishop Vesey's in 2012). They use the Foundation's shared test under a partnership arrangement, with families opting to share their child's score with these schools as part of the registration. Each school then applies its own oversubscription criteria once a child has qualified.

For 2023 entry onwards, the Foundation switched the entrance exam from a CEM-based paper to a test administered by GL Assessment, with the first GL paper sat in September 2022. The shift was made partly to reduce the advantage of heavy tutoring on the previous format and partly to align with how most other selective consortiums in England now operate.

The test is sat in early to mid September of Year 6, at one of the Foundation schools (you'll be allocated a venue, not given a choice). It covers English, maths, verbal reasoning, and non-verbal reasoning, in two multiple-choice papers. Children sit one test, and on the registration form parents can opt to share the score with the six KEVI schools and with Bishop Vesey's and Sutton Coldfield Grammar for Girls. Each school then applies its own oversubscription criteria.

Results are released in mid October, before the secondary application deadline of 31 October. Families then list their preferred grammars on the standard Birmingham City Council common application form alongside any non-grammar options.

There's no single pass mark across the eight grammars. Each school sets its own qualifying score, and the score that ends up needed for a place depends on how competitive demand is in any given year. The Foundation-wide qualifying mark is typically in the standardised range used by most GL-administered tests, but the effective score for an offer at the more oversubscribed schools (Camp Hill Boys, Camp Hill Girls, Five Ways) tends to sit well above the qualifying threshold.

Looked-after children, pupil premium eligibility, sibling priority, and proximity all feed into the order in which qualifying scores convert into actual offers. The KEVI Foundation runs a fair-access scheme prioritising pupils from pupil-premium-eligible backgrounds (around 25% of places in recent years at each Foundation grammar) to widen access from across the city.

If you want a realistic read on the score needed for your shortlist, look at each school's most recent admissions outcome data rather than the qualifying threshold. Schools publish this in their annual admissions arrangements documents.

Bishop Vesey's Grammar School and Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls (SCGSG) are the two Sutton Coldfield grammars that sit outside the King Edward VI Foundation itself. Both are standalone academies. They use the same Foundation-administered test, so families applying to either alongside a KEVI school sit one test, not two; on the registration form, parents opt to share the score with these schools. Once a child has qualified, each school ranks applicants using its own oversubscription criteria, which differ from the KEVI schools'.

Handsworth Grammar School (officially King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys) is part of the KEVI Foundation and uses the same shared test. It tends to be slightly less oversubscribed than the Camp Hill or Five Ways schools, which can make it a more achievable target for a child sitting safely above the qualifying threshold but not into the very top band.

The Birmingham timetable runs tight in autumn term. Test in early September, results in October, common application deadline 31 October, allocation in March. That sequence means most of the meaningful preparation needs to happen in Year 5 and the summer holiday before Year 6, not in the weeks before the test.

A workable preparation arc is six to twelve months of light, regular practice rather than a short intense push. Aim for short sessions (25-30 minutes) four or five times a week across English, maths, verbal reasoning, and non-verbal reasoning. Add timed practice papers from late summer through to the test date so the format itself isn't a surprise. Our verbal reasoning worksheets guide explains how to structure practice sessions around the question types that appear in GL papers.

It's worth being honest about chances. The eight Foundation-tested grammars together offer somewhere in the region of 1,100-1,300 places a year against an applicant pool that's several times larger. Sitting the test costs nothing and there's no real downside to trying, but a sensible application list pairs a grammar shortlist with one or two strong non-selective options on the common application form. Our guide to the best schools in Birmingham covers non-selective state schools and independent options worth considering alongside grammar applications.