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11+ prep · Birmingham

Birmingham 11+ tutors and King Edward VI prep

Birmingham's grammar schools, led by the King Edward VI Foundation, with Bishop Vesey's and Sutton Coldfield Grammar alongside, 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 plus Bishop Vesey's, Sutton Coldfield and others
Average tutor rate
£25-£45 per hour

The Birmingham grammar landscape

King Edward VI Foundation

The dominant grammar group in Birmingham. Seven selective grammars sit under the King Edward VI Foundation, originally chartered in 1552:

  • 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 High School for Girls (Edgbaston, independent foundation school)

King Edward VI Sheldon Heath Academy is also part of the wider King Edward VI Academy Trust but is a non-selective academy, not a grammar. Multiple other Birmingham-area grammars also use the consortium test, including Bishop Vesey's Grammar School (Sutton Coldfield, boys) and 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

A few things worth asking a candidate tutor before committing. Whether they've prepped students for the specific King Edward VI Foundation school you're targeting, and where those students ended up. How well they know the GL Assessment question patterns. Whether they cover all four sections (Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning) or specialise in fewer.

One useful filter: a strong Birmingham tutor will give you a realistic appraisal of which grammars are reachable given your location and the child's current level. Trying for an unreachable target wastes preparation time, and a tutor unwilling to say so is not the right tutor.

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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, with deadlines published annually on the relevant consortium and 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 in 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 and South East equivalents. Expect £25-£45/hr for solid 11+ tutoring, and £50-£70/hr for tutors with strong King Edward VI Foundation track records. Across a Year 5 and autumn-Year-6 prep course (~30 sessions), expect £750-£1,800.

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Written by Robert S. Reviewed by Fiona H. Last reviewed