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 went to the KES girls school. Great school. My brother went to KES. Not sure it was quite the right school for him: He was middle of the road there (tho he went onto oxbridge), quite shy. KES was quite “alpha” (or his year was, at least), and he’s chosen to send his kids to his local comp (they both got 4 A*s in STEM subjects at A level). That all said, this isn’t a debate about private vs state, and I really rate KES. Do recommend a visit to both of your school choices — in my opinion you only get a real feel for a school if you visit it.

Anyway, if you go for KES then Selly Park /Raddlebarn area is also on the doorstep. Walkable to. Include houses within your budget.

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.

Agree with Senua, If £300K gets you a house with enough rooms for ds, parents, and OP's Mum to all sleep, then it isn't going to be in the 'naice' part of Selly Park - in particular not the houses on the old Selly Oak Hospital site.
You would definitely find yourself surrounded by student housing.

Not sure about that. I found a couple of 3-bed houses in budget on the old Hospital site (is the site now called 'The Oaks'?). They were townhouses which I don't think suit UG students, though they might appeal to Post Grads. They are probably snapped up by workers at the QE hospital.
Like I say, old terrace houses in Tiverton Rd etc were the traditional UG area but the University has a lot of new purpose-built accommodation these days.

Edgbaston is a nice area of Birmingham.
All I know about King Edwards is that Tolkien went there.

Again, there are a lot of very different parts of Edgbaston.
Keep in mind the OP's budget.

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

Very appreciated
It is impressive that you gave a hand to search
yes these properties matched my budget and also close to the school
just need to take a look whether there are student accommodations nearby to avoid noisy
btw thank you very much

you are extremely right, avoiding student-let zone is also considered

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!

exactly!!!

yes i also spot this area but indeed there is little houses available for sales at the moment

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

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.

i will come to birmingham to live around 10 days and mainly take a look on the potential zone i prefer

we have uk bank acct already and everything is ready

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

very appreciated of your sharing
yes diverseness is crucial in this era and happy to have diverse nationality in KES (as my kid now studying in HK and already adapt this situation....many of his current schoolmates are korean indian american england and russian...)

i considered to find a place near Shirley station as well since the property price is within budget but it also takes around 45-60min if interchange bus in moor street

btw your idea is great!

i am sure most parents contribute much to their kid in anywhere

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

thanks for sharing the news article
yes it is 100% true that HK people face employment issue in UK and we face the same problem .... we are working as financial experts in HK and earn a decent wage but....it is impossible to get back the position in UK and thus immigration is indeed not an easy choice for our life

i am also impressed that UK mummy help me a lot in this thread
you dont know i tried to ask the similar question to HKers who already moved to UK for one or two years, most of them are reluctant to share any or just said if you worry anything please stay in HK...... it makes me feel living with HKers community may not be a good choice in UK

except school fee and rental

what school fee? am I missing something here?

Birmingham will be cheaper in parts than Manchester, but there are cheaper parts of Manchester for rental

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

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