11+ and GCSE Tutoring in Birmingham
Eight grammar schools, one test, and half the marks are English
The King Edward VI entrance test is the biggest single 11+ sitting outside the south east. Maths strong children still miss places on it, and the weighting is usually the reason.
How the King Edward VI test works
One sitting in early September of Year 6 covers all eight grammar schools, so a Birmingham child's whole selective application rests on a single morning. The format is two papers of roughly an hour, each broken into individually timed sections covering English comprehension, verbal reasoning, maths, and non verbal reasoning with a spatial element.
That spatial element deserves its own sentence, because Birmingham is unusual in testing it. Folding nets, rotating shapes, visualising a solid from a different angle. Children are rarely taught this at primary school and rarely meet it in general 11+ books, yet here it carries real marks. It responds well to deliberate practice, but only if that practice actually happens.
The test moved to GL Assessment format in 2023 after years of CEM, which quietly outdated a lot of the advice and second hand material circulating among Birmingham parents. If a practice paper does not match the current structure, it is nostalgia rather than preparation.
The Foundation publishes a qualifying standard, and treating it as the finish line is the subtlest mistake here. For the most competitive of the eight schools the score that actually wins a place sits well above qualifying, so the target should always be set by the school you want, not by the floor.
The schools the one test covers
The test serves King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys, Camp Hill School for Girls, Aston School, Five Ways School, Handsworth School for Girls, Handsworth Grammar School for Boys, Bishop Vesey's Grammar School and Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls. You rank your choices among them on the council application after results arrive, which takes some of the gamble out of the process.
They are not interchangeable, in ethos or in effective entry standard, and visiting before Year 6 saves families from ranking on rumour.
Beyond selection, Birmingham is a major GCSE city for me. Maths support across its secondary schools, students inside the grammars discovering that everyone else in the room also came top of their primary, and resit candidates who need a grade 4 to move on with their plans.
What we actually do
11+ entrance preparation
Built for the King Edward VI Foundation entrance test, GL format papers weighted towards English and verbal reasoning, with Birmingham's unusual spatial questions covered properly.
GCSE Maths, English and Science
Weekly one to one or small group sessions built round the topics costing your child marks, not a march through the whole specification.
Self guided Maths Mastery Lessons
Interactive topic lessons that teach the method first, then test it. Answers are built in so you can check work quickly. Some lessons regenerate their questions so the same topic can be practised again.
Mock exam marking
Papers marked by an experienced teacher, returned with written feedback showing where the marks went and why.
Not sure where your child actually stands? A diagnostic assessment finds the gaps before you spend anything on lessons, and free past papers are on the exam resources page if you want to test that yourself first.
GCSE results these methods have produced
Real students, real timeframes. These are GCSE grade movements, including students already inside grammar and independent schools, where getting in was the easy half.
Groundwork started in Year 9 or Year 10 produces those numbers far more often than a panic started in Year 11. Nothing here is a promise attached to a booking.
On the entrance exam side, which is a separate job entirely, three students have won scholarship places at grammar or independent schools.
What it costs
One to one tuition starts from £40 per session, priced on level and exam focus.
Tutoring with Friends is the group option. Bring one or two friends and the price starts at £20 per student per session. Same lesson, same teacher, split cost.
Mock exam marking starts at £39.99 per paper, rising to £69.99 and £99.99 for faster turnaround and a one to one review. Bulk rates for schools on 20 papers or more.
Self guided lessons are the cheapest route in, priced per topic with no subscription.
If you are not sure which of those fits, a free consultation sorts it in fifteen minutes. Booking one does not commit you to anything.
How the online sessions run
Every session is live and one to one, or live with the friends your child brings. Nothing is pre recorded.
Sessions run with a shared interactive whiteboard, so your child works through questions while the teaching happens rather than watching someone else write. Work is saved and sent over afterwards, along with short targeted practice for the week.
Parents get progress updates rather than having to ask. If something is not landing, you hear it from me first.
Common questions
Which schools does the single test cover?
All eight King Edward VI Foundation grammar schools, from Camp Hill to Sutton Coldfield. One September sitting, then you rank the schools you want on the application form once the score is known.
My child is excellent at maths. Is that enough here?
On its own, no. English and verbal reasoning carry about half the marks, so a brilliant mathematician with slow comprehension is only competing for half the paper. The good news is that reading speed and question technique train well over a year.
What is spatial reasoning and can it be taught?
It is the visual half of non verbal reasoning, nets, rotations and reflections, and Birmingham's test is one of the few that includes it. It absolutely can be taught, mostly through structured practice that builds the visualisation habits step by step.
Is reaching the qualifying score enough for a place?
It qualifies your child, nothing more. Offers at the most oversubscribed of the eight schools go at scores comfortably above the published standard, so aim at the school's real level rather than the minimum.
Start with a conversation, not a contract
Tell me your child's year group, the school or exam you are aiming at, and where they are getting stuck. If I am not the right fit for Birmingham I will say so and point you somewhere better.
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