King Edward VI High School for Girls (B’ham)

What is your local comprehensive like? She doesn't sound as if she's quite grammar material - I'd usually say you'd need to be top 10% across English and Maths at least, but obviously it depends on the cohort she's with. There are some primary schools in Sutton or Harborne with very high achieving cohorts.

EHS may be a good fall back for you - but you'd need to work out what it offers over and above your local comprehensive and whether that's worth it for you. It's a very personal decision.

I'm a little unsure about grammar school ...but will probably try I think. Don't really want her to feel the pressure of not being as bright as others in grammar if she did get in... still a bit undecided tbh as private is a big stretch for us....different worries with either option

Crazy crofter - that's really useful info thank you. She is currently 2nd group for maths and middle of class for English. Her yr 4 report states meeting expectation for reading writing and science. Maths she is at the upper end of meeting expectation

No, the independent schools don't have a pass mark. They're not very transparent to be honest, you don't get a mark just a 'yes' or 'no'. But I suspect EHS give a lot of places out because they lose loads of their first choice girls to KEHS (plus quite a large number move from their prep to KEHS - about 14 in my daughter's year).

I was looking at leavers destinations and scholarship awards at a large local prep school for this year - 20 girls were offered scholarships and only 3 took them up, the rest going mainly to KEHS and a few to grammars. I reckon they must give out a lot of offers in order to fill their places, so can't be anywhere near as selective as KEHS or the grammar schools. How is your dd performing at the moment? Whereabouts in the class is she?

Thank you that's helpful info on kehs as well. Does anyone know if there is a pass Mark for ehs ?

Sorry, I see you’re only asking about EHS - my first paragraph refers to KEHS. EHS certainly seems easier as they lose a lot of their first choice girls to KEHS. My daughter didn’t take the exam though.

I think if your daughter is at the top of her class, or maybe in the top handful she has a good chance. We found there wasn’t much need to prepare for the exam as it was very similar to Key Stage 2 work.

A lot of girls who get into KEHS also get scholarships to EHS (although they generally choose KEHS!). They can be very generous, up to 50%.

Sorry to hijack this thread but can anyone advise me on how difficult it is to gain entry to ehs please? My dd is in a state primary and were considering ehs. Many thanks

i went there mumble mumble years ago, as di my mum and my sisters - al enjoyed it, all bright enough and muscial but would do anything to get out of sports (4 week fake period to avoid swimming anyone?). Go for it.

Crazy - I agree.

In my experience the competition comes not from the school but from from the pressure the girls and their families put on themselves. It is a school that attracts a certain type because of its high academic reputation. There is a real drive for perfect marks and the desire be top tier academically. The sheer number of girls with that pressure on them creates a subtle competition between the girls. As I said some thrive in that environment but for others it can be soul destroying and can impact on mental health. I do think the school is very good at managing the girls and it definitely does not try to exacerbate that in any way.

I suppose it depends what you mean by competitive. I haven’t found KEHS competitive - they don’t do the things my ds’ grammar do to fuel competition eg read out everyone’s marks in order/ only allow top students to enter the Maths Challenge/ set the students for core subjects etc. It feels very egalitarian to me.

Obviously girls know how their friends have done so if you’re lagging behind it could be demoralising. It sounds like the OP’s daughter would be near the top though.

As a I said before KEHS sounds like a perfect school from your description of your D.D. The teachers care for and support their girls well. It is however a competitive environment and some are stimulated by that and others not. if you want a very nurturing school that will definitely get the best academics out of your DD, I would say St Martin’s. It is gentle and they do an amazing job building the confidence of their girls.

The real question is whether a particular child will do any better in a school where 92% of results are 9-7 compared to 52%. It’s obviously impossible to know.

I think if your daughter is likely to be nearer the bottom of KEHS it might not be the best place for her. Or if she’s one-sided rather than an all-rounder. Otherwise, it’s a pretty supportive place and actually very non-competitive.

I should have added these were the 2018 results for Bromsgrove.

Doing a quick calculation from the results list on the website, Bromsgrove’s has around 54% A*/A at GCSE. They do have an intake of about 200 DCs which is double the size of Solihull and dwarfs a tiny school like St Martin’s. There were around 950 top grades awarded to their students so the actual numbers getting top grades is high but they have a larger tail of students getting lower grades than say Solihull which only needs to fill 100 places.

Obviously none of these schools are in the same academic league as KEHS or the Birmingham grammar schools. And all these schools traditionally have suffered from the best DCs being creamed off to these schools. King’s also competes with Stratford Girls grammar school but KEHS is probably too far for most DC in Warwickshire.

Solihull’s results aren’t as transparent. They list percentage of 7-9 per subject but not the number of entries nor the overall percentage. Figures range from in the 40s for some subjects up to 70s for others so I suspect they wouldn’t be as good as St Martin’s.

Bromsgrove has a full breakdown of results but only for 2017! From a quick scan they look good though.

There seems to be some fallacy that St Martin’s is weak academically. If you look at the results for last year v Edgbaston High, St Martin’s had 68% A* or A equivalent and Edgbaston was lower at 58%. Interestingly I can’t find Solihull’s results or at least they are not boasting about them as they are deeply hidden in their website. However, in the past St Martin’s often outperforms Solihull at GCSE. As a small girls school they do lose girls in 6th form and unlike some schools eg Solihull they don’t ask pupils to leave at 6th form if they aren’t performing.

What about Edgbaston High? I suspect that would also suit and its more academic than St Martin's!

If you are considering Solihull, you may also want to consider St Martin’s. It’s a small girls school, very nurturing and there are loads of opportunities to join in and shine because of its size. Academically the DDs do very well (albeit that they take a wider academic intake than other schools) and actually get similar GCSE results to Solihull despite being less selective.

Personally, I think DCs are more likely to get lost at Solihull than at Bromsgrove. It is a large school but the house system means there are high levels of pastoral care and lots of staff to give personal attention to DCs. Inter-House competitions also mean that DCs are expected to join in with anything from house singing to poetry reading and sport. Solihull notices the kids who have something special to offer or those that are failing but tend to overlook the DCs in the middle. But at Bromsgrove you have to sign up to long days and lots of Saturday sport. All DC are expected to be in a team even if it’s 5th team! Bromsgrove because of its size also takes a wider intake but academically does as well as Solihull or St Martin’s. Most schools around Birmingham suffer from the KEHS and grammar school effect as the brightest kids often choose these schools.

Kings Warwick is hard to join in seniors. Most DDs come from the junior school and I know several DDs who just couldn’t break into the established groups, never settled and ended up leaving. However, the new school site on the boys’ grounds does look amazing and gives the best of both all girls and co-ed especially at 6th form.

From my experience based on my own DD and experience of friends there seems to be more friendship issues and falling out between girls in the co-ed schools than single sex. I know a lot depends on the personalities in a year group but the competition for male attention seems more pronounced and creates more bad behaviour in the co-ed schools.

You have nothing to lose (well £25!) by entering her. What does she think? What’s travel like?

It’s a good school, I have no idea how it compares to other independents like Solihull, but I tend to think a bright child will do equally well at most decent schools. However it’s possible your daughter would be happier in one environment over another. You will get a feel for that by visiting the options.

You definitely haven’t left it too late. The exams consist of typical key stage 2 type work - Maths, comprehension, creative writing. Nothing that needs specific prep!

Change, if she lives Solihull way (just a guess) the Birmingham grammars aren’t really an option with the new catchment rules. Warwickshire grammars would be but I’m guessing she’s missed that deadline too.

KEHS is competitive but I don’t think much preparation is necessary. It’s not like the grammar test where you need to practise exam technique. We didn’t do any prep at all for KEHS - we were in two minds whether she should take it - and dd got offered an assisted place. I think the cut off for applications is Sept but I may be wrong.

What year is your DD? As you've missed the registration date for the grammars are you sure you are on time for any entrance at the independents? KEHS is a competitive school to get into and some girls will have been preparing for months, even years. To suddenly jump in at this stage, fees are not cheap, to think that this can suddenly be an option, seems a bit disorganised OP. To say you have sussed the secondary options in Birmingham for an academically able musically inclined kid without registering for the grammars doesn't ring true.