Birmingham, West Midlands · Birmingham
King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys
A modest qualifying bar around the 70th percentile sits behind a defined catchment and Pupil Premium quotas — a genuinely different admissions shape from schools that rank strictly by score.
Opened in 1862 on land purchased in 1857, this is one of six state academies under the King Edward VI Academy Trust Birmingham — the actual legal admissions authority, distinct from the historic King Edward VI Foundation charity, which mainly commissions the shared GL Assessment entrance test and publishes common qualifying and priority scores. Easily confused with two similarly-named neighbours: King Edward VI Handsworth School (the separate girls' grammar sibling, on a different street about a mile away) and King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy (a non-selective comprehensive with no relation to the entrance-test consortium). Its own qualifying score sits at a comparatively modest threshold — described by the school as around the 70th percentile — with a defined catchment and Pupil Premium quota doing real work ahead of open competition, a different shape from a school that simply ranks every qualifier by score.
Key facts
- Gender
- boys
- Age range
- 11-18
- Region
- West Midlands
- Local authority
- Birmingham
- Established
- 1862
- DfE URN
- 143562
- Website
- https://www.handsworth.bham.sch.uk
Admissions
- Admissions authority
- The school sets its own test and criteria
- Entrance test board
- GL Assessment, commissioned by the King Edward VI Foundation on behalf of the Birmingham grammar school consortium.
- Test format
- Two multiple-choice papers of around 60 minutes each, sat on one day: English comprehension, verbal reasoning, non-verbal/spatial reasoning, and mathematics, weighted 50% English/verbal reasoning, 25% non-verbal reasoning, 25% mathematics. No writing component; machine-scored.
- Qualifying / pass mark
- Qualifying score 205, priority score 224 (standardised scale), consistent across the 2024, 2026 and 2027 entry cycles found in this research. The school describes its qualifying score as normally sitting above the 70th percentile of the national ability range — a comparatively moderate bar rather than an extreme one. In practice, realised offers for September 2026 entry needed scores well above the bare floor: general-category offers went down to 216, and Pupil-Premium-outside-catchment offers to 211.partly verified
205/224 is confirmed on the King Edward VI Foundation's site and appears consistently across the 2024, 2026 and 2027 cycles found, but no single source shows a multi-year table proving the figure hasn't quietly changed between cycles.
- Superselective?
- No
Catchment & priority criteria
A defined catchment covering 13 Birmingham wards (Birchfield, Edgbaston, Handsworth, Handsworth Wood, Holyhead, Kingstanding, Ladywood, Lozells, Newtown, North Edgbaston, Oscott, Perry Barr, Soho & Jewellery Quarter) plus 4 Sandwell wards (Smethwick, Soho & Victoria, St Paul's, West Bromwich Central).
- Looked-after and previously looked-after children achieving the qualifying score, ranked by test score then distance
- Pupil Premium children living within catchment achieving the qualifying score, ranked by distance
- Pupil Premium children living outside catchment achieving the qualifying score, capped at 25% of places, ranked by score then sibling then distance
- Applicants achieving the priority score (224) living within catchment, older sibling first then ranked by distance
- All other applicants achieving the qualifying score (205), ranked by test score, tie-break sibling then distance
Results
| Year | Attainment 8 | GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths | Progress 8 | A*–A | A*–B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 72.0 (DfE); the school's own press release for the same results self-reported 71.6 | 93.3% (DfE) | A figure of +0.78 is repeated across several tutoring/aggregator sites for this cohort, but could not be independently confirmed on DfE's live service in this research — this cohort's KS2 baseline (2019) predates COVID disruption, so a genuine figure likely exists, but +0.78 should be treated as unconfirmed rather than a verified DfE figure. | 32% | 60% |
| A-level (school-reported): A*-A 32%, A*-B 60%. DfE's own average-grade/points and value-added figures for this year's A-levels could not be retrieved. | |||||
| 2025 | 72.0 (DfE); the school's own press release for the same results self-reported 71.8 | 96.6% (DfE) | Not calculated — confirmed as the nationwide COVID-era gap (no KS2 baseline for this cohort), consistent with the complete absence of a Progress 8 figure on this school's DfE page | 41.3% | 66.6% |
| A-level (154 students, DfE): average grade B (40.53 points per entry), value-added progress score +0.13 ('Above average', confidence interval +0.02 to +0.24, England average -0.03). 31.3% achieved AAB+ with 2 facilitating subjects. School's own site reports A*-A 41.3%, A*-B 66.6%, retention 94.2%. | |||||
Ofsted
- Rating
- Good overall (this was a full graded inspection under the pre-September 2024 framework, before Ofsted's move to report cards). Sub-judgements: quality of education and personal development both Outstanding; behaviour and attitudes, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision all Good.
- Date
- 16-17 April 2024
- 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/143562
- 2. School's own Admissions page — https://www.handsworth.bham.sch.uk/about-the-school/admissions/
- 3. Birmingham City Council — admissions arrangements, September 2026 entry — https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/29901/king_edward_vi_handsworth_grammar_school_for_boys_proposed_admissions_arrangements.pdf
- 4. King Edward VI Foundation — The Test — https://kingedwardvifoundation.co.uk/the-test/
- 5. King Edward VI Foundation — Results and Offers — https://kingedwardvifoundation.co.uk/results-and-offers/
- 6. Ofsted report, inspected 16-17 April 2024 — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50249901
- 7. School's own history page — https://www.handsworth.bham.sch.uk/history/
- 8. School's own exam results page, 2024-2025 — https://www.handsworth.bham.sch.uk/exam-results-2024-2025/
- 9. DfE Compare School Performance — results over time — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/143562/king-edward-vi-handsworth-grammar-school-for-boys/secondary/results-over-time
Last updated 2026-09-01. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.