Birmingham, West Midlands · Birmingham
King Edward VI Aston School
Around 7-8 applications for every place: a distinct, higher 'priority score' sits above the nominal qualifying score, and the bulk of places still go by strict rank order among qualifiers.
Founded in 1883, Aston is one of six state academies governed by the King Edward VI Academy Trust Birmingham — the actual legal admissions authority, confirmed by direct reading of the school's own policy, which is distinct from the historic 'King Edward VI Foundation' charity that today mainly coordinates the shared entrance test and publishes common qualifying/priority scores across all eight Birmingham grammar schools. Meeting the qualifying score here is necessary but not sufficient: the largest category of places is allocated by strict rank order of test score among everyone who clears the bar, and heavy demand (reportedly around 1,000+ preferences a year for 140 places) pushes the effective cutoff well above the minimum — a genuinely superselective structure, unlike some of its Birmingham siblings where catchment plays a bigger role.
Key facts
- Gender
- boys
- Age range
- 11-18
- Region
- West Midlands
- Local authority
- Birmingham
- Established
- 1883
- DfE URN
- 137043
- Website
- https://www.keaston.bham.sch.uk
Admissions
- Admissions authority
- The school sets its own test and criteria
- Entrance test board
- GL Assessment, shared across eight King Edward VI Foundation grammar schools and coordinated via the Foundation's website — reportedly also used by other West Midlands grammar schools, so a child sits one test for multiple schools.partly verified
The claim that the test moved from a CEM-based paper to GL Assessment for 2023 entry onward comes from a tutoring blog rather than a Foundation or GIAS primary source; GL Assessment as the current provider is confirmed directly on the Foundation's own site.
- Test format
- Two multiple-choice, machine-marked papers of around 60 minutes each, age-standardised, covering English comprehension, verbal reasoning, mathematics, and non-verbal/spatial reasoning, weighted 50% English/verbal reasoning, 25% non-verbal reasoning, 25% mathematics.
- Qualifying / pass mark
- No fixed permanent pass mark. A 'qualifying score' and a higher 'priority score' are set each year and published by the King Edward VI Foundation shortly before the test — 205 and 224 respectively for 2027 entry. For 2026 entry, the school's own realised general-admission cutoff (the rank-order threshold actually needed for a place) was 217 — well above the nominal qualifying score, since meeting the minimum only makes a candidate eligible, not admitted.
- Superselective?
- Yes
The school's own admissions policy confirms its largest category of places is allocated by strict rank order of test score among everyone meeting the qualifying score, until the 140-place admission number is exhausted — clearing the minimum bar is necessary but not sufficient. A separate, materially higher priority-score tier exists above the qualifying score for catchment applicants. Reported demand of roughly 1,000-1,100 preferences a year against 140 places (partly-verified, from a tutoring site) is consistent with an effective cutoff well above the nominal minimum.
Catchment & priority criteria
Not a blanket eligibility requirement — the main open category is available Foundation/region-wide — but used to prioritise within two of the five oversubscription categories. Defined by specific electoral wards across Birmingham (including Aston, Erdington, Sutton wards, Nechells, Ward End, Yardley) and Solihull (Castle Bromwich, Chelmsley Wood, Kingshurst & Fordbridge, Smith's Wood).
- Looked-after and previously looked-after children achieving the qualifying score, ranked by test score then distance
- Pupil Premium children achieving the qualifying score and living in catchment, ranked by distance
- Pupil Premium children achieving the qualifying score living outside catchment, capped at 25% of places, ranked by score then sibling then distance
- Applicants achieving the priority score and living in catchment, priority to older sibling then ranked by distance
- All other applicants achieving the qualifying score, ranked by test score, tie-break sibling then distance
Results
| Year | Attainment 8 | GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths | Progress 8 | A*–A | A*–B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 71.2 (DfE); 71.08 school-reported, closely matching | 97.1% (DfE) / 97.15% (school-reported) | Not calculated — confirmed both on DfE's own page and the school's own site as unavailable due to the nationwide COVID-era KS2 data gap. Secondary/tutoring aggregators show a Progress 8 of +0.14 attributed to this year, which appears to be a stale prior-year figure mis-attached to the current cohort — not used here. | verify with school | verify with school |
| A-level: average grade B (38.54 points per entry). A*-A/A*-B percentages: two secondary sources gave conflicting figures and are reported as 'verify with school' rather than picking one. DfE's own page states it cannot yet publish an A-level value-added trend, citing fewer than three years of post-COVID progress data; a standalone value-added figure of -0.16 was found on the school's own site. | |||||
| 2023 | verify with school | verify with school | This cohort should have a calculable, genuine DfE Progress 8 figure (its KS2 baseline predates the COVID disruption), but it could not be safely retrieved during this research — see flags. | — | — |
| Not retrieved. DfE's performance-data service was inaccessible during this research. | |||||
Ofsted
- Rating
- Outstanding, in every category: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. This was a full graded inspection under the pre-September 2024 framework; no inspection has occurred since the framework changed.
- Date
- 10 May 2022
- Report
- Read the full report
Sources
- 1. DfE Get Information About Schools — URN, status, gender, LA — https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/137043
- 2. GIAS — King Edward VI Academy Trust Birmingham (admissions-authority MAT) — https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Groups/Group/Details/16826
- 3. School's own Admission Policy, September 2026 — https://www.keaston.bham.sch.uk/_site/data/files/statutory-documents/BF6DA3C2DFC903CBF84ED1B167CCFD5E.pdf
- 4. School's own Year 7 admissions page — https://www.keaston.bham.sch.uk/year-7-admissions
- 5. School's own History page — https://www.keaston.bham.sch.uk/page/?title=History&pid=18
- 6. School's own GCSE Results 2024-25 — https://keaston.bham.sch.uk/page/?pid=1556&title=GCSE+Results+2024-25
- 7. King Edward VI Foundation — The Test — https://kingedwardvifoundation.co.uk/the-test/
- 8. King Edward VI Foundation — Results and Offers — https://kingedwardvifoundation.co.uk/results-and-offers/
- 9. Ofsted report, inspected 10 May 2022 — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50187390
- 10. DfE Compare School Performance — secondary overview — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/137043/king-edward-vi-aston-school/secondary
Last updated 2026-09-01. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.