Manchester Grammar School or King Edward's School Birmingham

@Lalagu article in Sunday Times today

What the UK’s 184,000 new Hongkongers really think about life here

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/96a4ecc4-65a7-4fb5-b393-45728f07a417?shareToken=d581120fe949e4e383a018e9d14bc335

i can only comment, HKers are also chinese and some also have similar characteristics and personality like mainland chinese......

indeed, I stayed in HK for an extended time back in the 1980s and travelled across land to Beijing, it was very different and enlightening

hope you settle well here and enjoy life in the uk

it makes me feel living with HKers community may not be a good choice in UK

I sometimes work in a place with 4/5 HKers and they stick together, they are lovely woman.

there is lot of HKers in Sale, Manchester, not sure about Birmingham

@Lalagu super impressed by how prepared you are!! Good luck!

My husband went to KES although many years ago now. He has very fond memories of it and his friends from that time seem to largely be high achievers but also balanced people. He had a long commute in. He is white but even then it was ethnically diverse with various of his friends having well educated first generation immigrant parents who similarly prioritised school fees over nicer houses.

I can quite understand not wanting to waste money on rent. However buying, and the friction costs of selling/buying elsewhere, are really significant. It is also not a quick process. I would therefore strongly recommend renting somewhere close to the school you choose to give yourself more time to really understand the areas and then choose. Particularly as the available area options for both might be significant.

in case helpful generally The Times has a big article today on people settling from Hk. The Times is paywalled but this should work as a share token:

What the UK’s 184,000 new Hongkongers really think about life here

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/96a4ecc4-65a7-4fb5-b393-45728f07a417?shareToken=ee7335a92674e34d1d8bdd83c11788bc

@Lalagu super impressed by how prepared you are!! Good luck!

Read this thread with great interest. I went to KEHS (KES sister school) in the 90s and lived in Solihull. My cousins went to MGS and lived in Cheadle.

A lot of the points I would have made have already been made. So I'll just make some points that I don't think have been mentioned.

1. Is your son musical? KES/KEHS always seem to attract extremely talented musicians, and the musical provision is (or certainly was) excellent. I'm sure there's been at least one Young Musician of the Year finalist from the two schools.

1. I get the impression from the alumni news network that KES/KEHS students are majority ethnic minority background now, so that could be helpful? The schools were relatively ethnically diverse even in my day.

1. Lots of talk about the 885/S1 school bus, but don't forget the train. I started off getting the 885 in year 7. But when older, along with many others, I would get the train into Birmingham Moor Street, then catch the 61/62/63 bus down the Bristol Road (A38) to the bottom of Edgbaston Park Road and walk up from there. This was quicker, more pleasant, and you could meet up with friends from elsewhere for the bus journey. (Bus numbers may have changed!) The fast trains from Solihull into Birmingham take only 9 minutes, but as you don't have the budget to live near to Solihull Station that might not be that helpful.

Best of luck with the move! You sound well prepared. It's been insightful for me to learn about the preparations and sacrifices those coming to the UK from HK are having to make.

But as suggested further down you may be better renting for the first six months while you research public transport routes and areas to buy in. It is a significant purchase and you will not want to get it wrong. Also the bureaucracy of transferring money from abroad and opening UK accounts will slow the process down

The student housing tends to be the other side of Raddlebarn Road, between Raddlebarn Rd and the Bristol Road. One of those houses looks like a shared house but it's a family area not a student area. that side of Raddlebarn Rd around Muntz Park. Hope that helps!

@Lalagu looking at property sites is a bad habit/hobby. I grew up near the area and occasionally my husband and I have "What if we moved to Birmingham and the kids went to KES or KECH?" conversations and used to say to ourselves this is the area we'd live in if we ever moved back and were not on a huge budget. So it's interesting that's what you're actually doing!

Selly Park /Raddlebarn area is also on the doorstep. Walkable to. Include houses within your budget.
Good idea but you have to be really precise on area.
Google properties to the north of Raddlebarn Road and to the west of the railway line (use postcode B29 6WT, for example). There are lots of new-build / turn-key properties on the site of the old Selly Oak Hospital. Probably good for families.
However, move a little east - to the other side of the railway line, so Tiverton Road etc - and you are into student-let territory. Not such great neighbours.
Move a little more east/north along Raddlebarn and the houses are lovely. But with price tags to match.

I know the area and previously suggested the area just to the south of Raddlebarn Road, as @senua has mentioned. There are some decent houses/roads there in walking distance of KES, e.g.

https://www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/66348698/?search_identifier=34a0bd338788f6ec1e17906b31972a3c

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/141098603#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/65544276/?search_identifier=cb90a270c4e21d14af3dad4ae774d208