Manchester Grammar School or King Edward's School Birmingham

[Lalagu]

My kid has received offers from both schools for Year 7 in the upcoming year. I am wondering which school he should choose. Do you have any insightful ideas? Thanks!

Where do you live?

This seems like the obvious question.

I can live anywhere as I am new immigrant from Hong Kong, so, my new home will completely depend on my kid school location

I don't have boys, nor any knowledge of the independent sector. I do know however that Manchester has a reasonably sized Hong Kong expat community if that's something that matters to you. Both my DC have friends within that community through an out of school activity, including a couple of lads at Manchester Grammar. Perhaps someone local to the other school can comment on the community there?

Depends how you feel the school would suit your child. They're both excellent schools with national reputations. Very few people will have experience of both recently.
Do you not have to factor in work and housing availability?

@TheTurn0fTheScrew There has been a large resettlement of people from Hong Kong too recently in the West Midlands, particularly Solihull. King Edward's School has a quite a few pupils with Chinese heritage.

I don't see how the OP can make a decision between the two based on a recommendation on here. I know a lot, personally, about KES and would recommend it. No doubt people would say similar about MGS. I think she needs to dig deeper reflecting on her child's strengths (and weaknesses).

thanks! as my kid is just 10 years old therefore it is not easy to say what is his strength.....maybe I can say he is a fast learner.....

if choosing KES, i may choose to live nearby of Northfield instead of Solihull........

btw thanks!

I think you might be better considering what life may look like for you at either location - what kind of housing your budget will cover, travel links, work opportunities (if relevant), what the social and cultural scene looks like.

Ultimately they are both good and well respected schools.

Thanks for your advice. As we are newbie to the UK, we dont know much about the cities. If ignore the school factor, which city is better for life? We are self employed and work at home normally and we plan to locate a property around 300-400K.

Northfield is a bit of a dump (kindly).

Well I know both Manchester and Solihull and nothing of either school. Do you prefer to live in a city or more rurally? Manchester is a city.

MGS is in a rough (er) area of Manchester with good bus services from all over. The areas to live in would be expensive but you could still move to a cheaper area. Manchester and Solihull are equally pricey but Solihull will have more large detached properties so you get more for your money. Manchester is lots of semis and terraced and these can still be very expensive.

I live in Manchester and by far prefer it for convenience and culture. Family live near Solihull and I find it nice in terms of big houses, nice gastropubs and reasonable access to shops but otherwise nothing else. Manchester is way better for things to do. And we have great parks. I don't know where King Edwards is but if you are near the city centre then I personally find Birmingham too bug and spread out a city. Manchester is a manageable city easy to get around by public transport and easily navigable by car. Birmingham I will admit to not knowing well enough but doesn't seem to have a lot of nice areas like Manchester.

In summary I'd say MGS.

Appreciate you can tell me more about Northfield. As we never visit Birmingham and the property agent advised us to find a property in Northfield or longbridge based on our budget

I live not too far from MGS. Don’t have direct experience but it certainly has a good reputation.
£300-400k is not necessarily a great budget for a house in Manchester the area around MGS is not particularly expensive and there are buses in all directions. Greater Manchester is great to live in and there’s definitely a big HK community if that is important.

however I can’t comment on your other option. Due to them being in different parts of the country I doubt anyone on here can comment on how they compare.

how about Stockport? i see the MGS is quite closed to Stockport then Man city

great! any postcode nearby MGS you can suggest for us to take a look. Really appreciate your kind advice.

Well I live in Stockport (sk postcodes) which isn’t too far away and Stockport is definitely affordable but has nice and not so nice areas. You’d really need to come and have a look round and also check out the bus routes to MGS. Some def do go from around here.

For King Edward’s you’d be better looking in Moseley or Kings Heath. Obviously I don’t know what your budget is but if you can afford KE fees presumably you can do better than Northfield.

Look at Bournville instead, especially houses on the Bournville Village Trust.
Depending on whereabouts you pick, he can either catch a bus up the Bristol Road to school or catch the train from Bournville station.

if taking Stockport Primark as the centre, which direction is good place to live (East South West North)? thanks!

King Edward's is in a very nice location in Edgbaston opposite Birmingham University. The school campus is big and well maintained with excellent facilities. It's easy to get to by public transport- both bus and train - and is a safe location but not too far from the city centre.

Parts of Northfield are fine, especially if you veer more towards Kings Norton and South Birmingham generally. £300 - 400k will buy a modest property - certainly not the aforementioned detached in Solihull (where you pay for the name anyway) but you could find something to suit your budget.

Plenty going on in both cities, culturally and otherwise, ( (I have a son living in Manchester) though Birmingham is obviously closer to London if that's a factor.

re stockport look at the Heatons, Davenport, Bramhall, Cheadle. north/western Stockport. South also also fine but prob too far way. Avoid the east of the borough.
I’d highly recommend coming up and having a drive around if possible. Are you in the UK already?

but property agent told us there are many south asian and indian there (even i am asian, i never discriminate any) in King Heath and Moseley. I pick these two places at beginning and already booked bnb in coming month in King Heath to take a short visit

i m still in HK and I firstly got the offer from KES so focus on birmingham and luckily notified by MGS, so now also take a look on Man.

Btw your suggested locations also mean a lot to me! Really Appreciated!

If you’re going to have to make a decision before moving tbh I’d look at renting something which is close to the school in the first instance. So at least travel will be easy. And once here research where to settle longer term.

I find Birmingham generally very much like that - areas are very much a mixture of good and avoid, it’s one of those local knowledge things annoyingly. Northfield is fine and well served by public transport but posters are right, look at the areas closer to Bournville. You’ll be able to track the price differences - believe them! Edgbaston can be lovely and very grand, but in the same postcode you’ll have streets you need to give a wide berth.

Another way to find out how good/bad an area is, is to get some house or car insurance quotes online and build yourself up a map of the locations you’re thinking about. In Northfield you’ll notice prices shoot up from one street to the next. Probably holds true for Manchester as well but I don’t know anything about Manchester.

KE has had a great reputation consistently for years and is highly regarded in the area.

I’ve never found Birmingham overwhelmingly big - it’s definitely not London!