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11+ prep · Birmingham

Birmingham 11+ explained

Birmingham's grammar schools — led by the King Edward VI Foundation, plus Bishop Vesey's, Sutton Coldfield Grammar, and others — share a GL Assessment-format 11+ test sat in September of Year 6. The King Edward VI schools sit among the top-performing UK state schools nationally.

Quick reference

Test name
Birmingham Grammar Schools Consortium 11+
Test provider
GL Assessment
Sat in
September of Year 6
Subjects tested
Maths · English · Verbal Reasoning · Non-Verbal Reasoning
Number of grammars
8 King Edward VI Foundation grammars + Bishop Vesey's + Sutton Coldfield + others
Average tutor rate
£25 – £45 / hour

The Birmingham grammar landscape

King Edward VI Foundation

The dominant grammar group in Birmingham. Eight schools founded under the original 1552 Royal Charter:

  • King Edward VI Aston School (boys)
  • King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys
  • King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls
  • King Edward VI Five Ways School (co-ed)
  • King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls
  • King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys
  • King Edward VI School (Birmingham, girls)
  • King Edward VI Sheldon Heath Academy

Multiple other Birmingham-area grammars also use the consortium test — Bishop Vesey's Grammar School (Sutton Coldfield, boys), Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls.

The consortium test

GL Assessment provides the test. Four sections — Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning — sat over one morning in September of Year 6. The test produces a combined standardised score; each school then has its own pass threshold and oversubscription policy.

How tutoring usually focuses

Curriculum content (Maths and English)

Birmingham's test draws on KS2-level Maths and English. Strong preparation includes arithmetic fluency, fraction and percentage calculations, comprehension skill, and vocabulary range. Wider reading helps the English section consistently.

Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning

These question types aren't taught at school. Tutors drill recurring patterns systematically — coded language, analogy, sequence detection, matrix patterns. Pattern recognition fluency develops over months of practice rather than weeks.

Past-paper density

Multiple commercial publishers (Bond, CGP, Letts) provide GL-style practice papers that match the Birmingham test format closely. Past-paper density rises in the final 2-3 months before the September test.

Time discipline

Birmingham's test is tightly time-constrained. Students need to develop both speed under pressure and the discipline to skip questions they can't answer quickly rather than getting stuck. Tutors drill timing under realistic exam conditions.

Choosing a Birmingham 11+ tutor

  • Consortium track record — ideally tutors with previous students placed at the specific King Edward VI Foundation school you're targeting.
  • GL Assessment familiarity — strong tutors know the GL question patterns intimately.
  • Comfortable with all four sections — Maths, English, VR, NVR. Specialists in single sections exist but for most families a generalist 11+ tutor across all four works better.
  • Honest about oversubscription — strong tutors give realistic appraisals of which grammars are reachable given the family's location and the child's current level. Trying for an unreachable target wastes preparation time.

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Common questions

  • Which grammars use the Birmingham test? +

    The Birmingham Consortium grammars all use the same GL Assessment test. The largest group is the King Edward VI Foundation: King Edward VI Aston, Camp Hill (Boys and Girls), Five Ways, Handsworth (Girls and Wolverhampton), and Edgbaston/Birmingham. Plus Bishop Vesey's Grammar School (boys, Sutton Coldfield), Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls, and several others. They all sit one combined test that the consortium uses for entry decisions.

  • Is Birmingham 11+ very competitive? +

    Yes — particularly for the King Edward VI Foundation schools, which sit at the top of national grammar-school league tables. Pass thresholds are high; oversubscription rules then determine which qualified candidates get places at which schools. Children outside the Birmingham catchment can sit but face severe oversubscription disadvantage at most of the in-demand schools.

  • How is the test structured? +

    GL Assessment-format. Four sections: Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning. Sat over a single morning in September of Year 6. Registration happens in the summer term of Year 5 — deadlines published annually on the relevant consortium / school websites.

  • When should we start preparation? +

    Most Birmingham 11+ families start in Year 5 — 12-18 months before the September sitting. The high competition for King Edward VI Foundation places means many ambitious families start late Year 4. The test rewards both fluency on the curriculum content (Maths and English at KS2 level) and pattern-recognition skill on the Reasoning sections, both of which take sustained practice.

  • Are tutoring rates lower in Birmingham than London? +

    Yes — Birmingham 11+ tutoring runs at lower rates than London / South East equivalents. Expect £25-£45/hr for solid 11+ tutoring; £50-£70/hr for tutors with strong King Edward VI Foundation track records. Across a Year 5 / autumn-Year-6 prep course (~30 sessions), expect £750-£1,800.

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Last reviewed: 2026-04-29