King Edward VI Five Ways School
King Edward VI Five Ways School in Birmingham is a mixed grammar school with 180 Year 7 places. Children sit the test shared by Birmingham’s grammar schools: 205 qualifies, and 224 brings priority for children in its catchment wards, after places for pupil premium children until they reach a quarter of the places.
At a glance
- Where
- Birmingham, West Midlands
- Takes
- Mixed
- Year 7 places
- 180
- Applicants
- 1,380 for 2026 entry, about 7.7 for each place. This counts the times the school was named on local authority application forms, not the number who sat the test.
Applicants figures aren’t counted the same way at every school, so they don’t compare from one school to another.
Admissions
The test
The Grammar Schools in Birmingham entrance test, set by GL Assessment and shared by the 8 Birmingham grammar schools: two multiple-choice papers of about 60 minutes (English comprehension, verbal reasoning, maths, non-verbal reasoning), weighted 50% English and verbal reasoning, 25% non-verbal reasoning and 25% maths, with scores standardised for age.
What qualifies
Qualifying score 205 and priority score 224 for 2027 entry. For 2026 entry, catchment children on 224 or more were offered places up to 4384 metres from the school in March (all by September), out-of-catchment pupil premium children needed 232, and no one else was offered a place in March (250 by September).
Who gets priority
In order: looked after and previously looked after children on 205 or more (by score, then distance); pupil premium children on 205 or more in the catchment (by distance); out-of-catchment pupil premium children by score until pupil premium offers reach 25% of places; catchment children on 224 or more (older sibling first, then distance); then all others on 205 or more by score, with sibling then distance to split ties. The catchment is the Birmingham wards of Allens Cross, Bartley Green, Bournville & Cotteridge, Frankley Great Park, Harborne, King's Norton North, King's Norton South, Longbridge & West Heath, Northfield, Quinton, Rubery & Rednal and Weoley & Selly Oak, plus Sandwell's Abbey, Bristnall and Old Warley; distance is a straight line to the front gates.
Registering
Registration ran from 5 May to 4pm on 26 June 2026 on the West Midlands Grammar Schools website, with the pupil premium form uploaded when registering (and no later than test day). The test was on Saturday 12 September 2026 (AM and PM sessions); scores came by 16 October 2026 and the local authority form was due by 31 October 2026.
Open events
Open Evening on Thursday 8 October 2026 (5pm to 8pm); Sixth Form Open Evening on Wednesday 4 November 2026 (6pm to 8pm).
Good to know
Co-educational 11 to 18, so boys and girls are admitted in Year 7 and the sixth form (about 20 external Year 12 places for 2027, needing six GCSEs at grade 6 or above including English and maths). The school's 2027 document is headed 'proposed admissions arrangements' (PAN 180, the same rules as 2026). Pupil premium means Targeted FSM: children eligible only for the Expanded FSM from September 2026 get no pupil premium priority. Offers come on 1 March 2027; appeals are lodged in March or April and heard in May and June. The applicants figure is the number of times the school was named on local authority forms for 2026 entry (387 as first preference), from DfE school-level data, not the number who sat the test.
Not confirmed yet
- A determined (not 'proposed') 2027 admissions policy was not found on the school website.
- Number of children who sat the September 2026 test is not published by the school or the King Edward VI Foundation.
Check these on the official page: view.publitas.com/king-edward-vi-five-ways-schoo/king-edward-vi-five-ways-school-proposed-admissions-arrangements-2027
The 11+ in Birmingham
The papers, registration, test dates, results and how qualifying works for every school there.
With Exam Prep, Thena sets practice papers in your child’s test’s style and goes over every mistake with them on her board: £49 a month with the Solo plan.
More on the 11+
Sources
Every fact here comes from the official pages below. Admissions rules change each year, so check them there before you rely on them.
- kefw.org
- kefw.org/the-school/admissions
- view.publitas.com/king-edward-vi-five-ways-schoo/king-edward-vi-five-ways-school-proposed-admissions-arrangements-2027
- view.publitas.com/5925/2598575/pdfs/052ffda3-b365-43e3-afbf-f27b18551da7.pdf
- view.publitas.com/king-edward-vi-five-ways-schoo/king-edward-vi-five-ways-school-2026-admissions-policy
- kingedwardvifoundation.co.uk/the-test
- kingedwardvifoundation.co.uk/admissions-timetable
- kingedwardvifoundation.co.uk/results-and-offers
- kingedwardvifoundation.co.uk/pupil-premium
- westmidlandsgrammarschools.co.uk
- kingedwardvifoundation.co.uk/open-days
- explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/primary-and-secondary-school-applications-and-offers
- content.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/api/releases/0bf4f9cf-721d-44e3-8473-266c87e17e00/files?fromPage=ReleaseDownloads
Checked 2 November 2026.
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