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!

i will be housewife and he will go to find a minimum wage job since his professional is not accredited in UK

You know it is £11.44 ph, from April 2024? Less than £2k pm which is then taxable and national insurance deductible. Think being a housewife might be a luxury you cannot afford, sorry. Alternatively use state schools and use that money for support.

I guess we don’t know what savings @Lalagu has other than those put aside for rent and education. It will still be tight living on one minimum wage though so I think you need to look at cheaper houses, in the Hollymoor or Rubery/Rednal areas.

It seems a bit unrealistic, unless your savings also cover school uniform, trips, transport and the other extras as well as fees.

indeed i never live in UK so I really dont know how much we need for a small family, i dont know whether 3000 (net) is enough or not (excluding school fee and rental).

Friends have had very good experiences with KE however it is worth bearing in mind that there are state grammar schools in Birmingham and, certainly in my experience, some of the KE pupils are ones that didn't pass the grammar test - or at least not at a level which would have got them into the best grammars.

MGS is possibly more academic

Do you have other income to bring up to £3k? That is certainly more typical of an average income. Have you budgeted for 7 years school fees with annual increases?

yes we have regular passive income to support on top of minimum salary
and we reserve around 200K for education and should be enough for secondary+university
if in case I can also work for part time to support the family

thanks for your intelligence
actually KE is running IB and MGS is running AL
i am still exploring its differences and see which syllabus matches with my kid

@Lalagu i think perhaps the starting point is calculating your cost of living in the UK, as to how much you need. £200k is ok for school fees. I’d say if fees rise at 8% a year (and I don’t think it’s going to be that much but need to factor in Labour’s potential of 20%) then you’re looking at that £200k on school fees alone. Set that to one side, now factor in the remaining cost of living.

That’s your starting point. Factor in inflation. £3k net will that include a mortgage or will you buy a house outright?

Also I should add I know plenty of children who undoubtedly got into the top grammars in Birmingham and still chose KES.

Out of interest, do you have an automatic right of residency in the UK? I live in Sutton Coldfield (north Birmingham suburb) and we've had a recent influx of Hong Kong - ers. Particularly doctors I understand.

No idea about MGS but as long as you're close to the cross city line, commuting to KE shouldn't be too bad. I see children on the train going there from where I live. You'll get something in Sutton for the upper end of that budget.

But renting first is a good proposal.

@Sportycustard my son got into a grammar school but not into KES! They’re different style exams so suit different people. I think the KES results are better than any grammar except maybe Camp Hill?

@Lalagu were you eligible for an Assisted Place at KES or does your situation (of not yet being resident in UK) exclude that? Obviously you have money put aside but your projected income for everyday living here is going to be very low, at least in the beginning.

@Sportycustard I don't know MGS but I do know any boy at KES can expect to be academically challenged as much as, if not more than, any of the grammar schools. As @crazycrofter says, the exams are very different styles but KES will also be looking for potential, not just a timed, raw score.

I also know people who chose KES (£££) over the Grammars (free). There's more to life than exam results.
Besides, if OP's DC got into KES and MGS and Solihull (?and others?) then I doubt that he's going to struggle educationally. Well done to him, by the way, OP - it's very impressive.

We chose KEHS over a grammar for dd and didn’t regret it. And she went to a grammar for sixth form so we had a taste of both (plus ds at a different grammar).

We are on the same boat. We moved to UK 2.5 years ago and originally from HK. We have some passive income and only have part time job in min wages. Such income should be sufficient for living cost and school fee in private school. However, we have to cut heavily on our holiday spending.

by the way, we are choosing between camp hill girls and KEHS. We are not finanically eligible for bursary.
@crazycrofter would love to hear your personal experience on both private and grammar

@SwanHK i think it depends on how easy it is to pay the fees. We only had to pay 25% due to a bursary so it felt worth it because of: plentiful school trips and days off syllabus, not tied to the national curriculum so a bit more freedom, loads of extra curricular activities in the (extra long) lunch hour and an expectation that everyone got involved, a small year group of around 90 who all knew each other and got on well, a very supportive atmosphere amongst the girls, high expectations of the girls and very little in the way of punishment, lots of access to support from staff in breaks/lunch if needed. My experience of grammars is of two different boys schools (mixed in sixth form). They were very good schools, teaching quality was no different, staff were very committed and the schools well run but stricter /more draconian (maybe because they’re boys schools?) and just less off curriculum/broadening stuff. KEHS is a bit of a bubble too and girls are quite sheltered (hence why dd wanted a change at sixth form).

well we are similar condition
yes i already give up any trip proposal
maybe trip to Europe as tickets are cheaper than flight to Japan
you understood HKer case, we can only locate minimum wage job and we need to make a significant change of our lifestyle here

I am not qualified for assisted place under our visa
and I know not many private schools support for assisted place
KES does well on assisted place but i am not eligible

3K excluded mortgage but energy price and off school tutorial are my concern

yes my visa allows us to live and work in UK
Sutton Coldfield is too far from KES
yrs Sutton Coldfield and Solihull are hot places for Hong Kong ppl under the continuous promotion by HK KOL

You won't need to worry about outside school tuition -there's enough support at KES for any boy who's struggling, but it doesn't sound like your lad will.

Take into account the cost of bus or train passes - I'm 2 years out of date now, but I'd guess around £40 a month for your son. £3k should be plenty if it's after mortgage.

Have you looked into whether you would get a mortgage having not lived in UK and on a low income. Or is your housing budget capital to invest? Tbh renting at first is a sensible option to work out where is best fir your budget.

thanks for your support and advice.
have a nice day