Sutton Coldfield Secondaries

[5Makes9]

I’ve read a few threads that seem to say Fairfax, Plantsbrook and Arthur Terry are the ones to aim for. Possibly John Wilmott?
But checking OFSTED is this maybe out of date? Only Arthur Terry is outstanding now but with a tiny catchment. Or are the OFSTED results misleading?

How do grammars work? Are they hard to get into? We’re a few years off secondary and thinking of moving from a non-grammar area.

I’m afraid I don’t know about the Sutton comps as we live on the south side of Birmingham.

The two Sutton grammars are part of the Birmingham grammar schools consortium. You take one test (at the beginning of year 6 - registration July of year 5) and you get the score mid October. You can then tell by looking at previous cut offs whether they would qualify and apply accordingly.

There are also boys and girls grammars in Walsall, which is travelable from Sutton. There’s a separate test for the Walsall/Wolves consortium, usually the week after the Birmingham one. If you live within reach of both it gives your child two chances.

The grammars are pretty selective. There are just over 1000 places in the Brum ones and about 6000 take the test (it’s opt in, so that’s probably only the top quarter/third of the age range).

Hopefully someone will be able to tell you about the comps. It’s a nice area to live though!

Thank you that’s really helpful.

My order would be:
Arthur Terry
Fairfax (top 2 v. Similar now)
Plantsbrook (improved greatly)
John Willmott (slowly improving, but a way to go. Massive catchment spanning up to 7, 8, 9 miles)

Ask me anything about them. Are you looking to move? It's possible to move to Fairfax catchment and be in catchment for PB

For Arthur Terry the catchment is around a mile. It's very sought after and property can be £££ that said, there are some reasonably priced properties on Clarence Rd still.

If you're going to move from out of area, I'd try to buy in the Arthur Terry catchment if you can afford it, but go through 11+ preparation as well - if your child misses out on a grammar place, at least they can still go to Arthur Terry, which is a perfectly good school.

I still hear bad things about John Willmott, and wouldn't consider it an option myself.

Bishop Walsh is worth considering if you are Catholic.

I'm not a fan of Arthur Terry personally. It's got very complacent. I would go for Fairfax.