Grammar Schools in the West Midlands Grammar School Partnership: Complete Guide

About the West Midlands Grammar School Partnership

Nineteen grammar schools across Birmingham, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Walsall and Wolverhampton share one 11 plus (11+) entrance test. Your child sits a single exam on a single day, and that one set of scores goes to every partnership school you name on your application. There is no separate paper to sit for each school.

Parents often still see the three older groupings named separately: the Birmingham schools, the Warwickshire schools, and the Shropshire, Walsall and Wolverhampton schools. The test and the registration process are now run centrally across all three, so the preparation is the same wherever your child applies.

Admission criteria, catchment rules and open events still vary from school to school, so each of the nineteen links to its own guide further down.

Key information for 2027 entry to the West Midlands grammar schools at 11 Plus (11+)

• Exam date: Saturday 12 September 2026. Two sessions run, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, so keep the whole day clear until you are told which one your child has been given.
• Who sits it: children born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016. They register during Year 5 and sit the test at the very start of Year 6.
• Where you register: on the West Midlands Grammar Schools website, not through your council. Registration for the September 2026 test closed at 4pm on Friday 26 June 2026; the next cycle opens in the spring.
• Results: Friday 16 October 2026.
• Common Application Form: submitted to your home local authority, deadline 31 October 2026.
• National Offer Day: Monday 1 March 2027.
• Sitting on another day: an alternative date can be arranged where a Saturday test conflicts with religious observance, with a supporting letter uploaded at registration.

The test date is published on the King Edward VI Foundation’s own entrance test page, which states that the test for 2027 entry will be held on Saturday 12 September 2026 with two sessions, morning and afternoon.

What is the 11 Plus (11+) entrance exam format for the West Midlands?

The test is written by GL Assessment. Your child sits two papers, each around 50 to 60 minutes once the instructions and example questions are included, with a short break between them.

Each paper is split into several separately timed sections, and between them those sections cover four strands:

• English comprehension
• Verbal reasoning
• Maths
• Non-verbal and spatial reasoning

Both papers draw on all four strands. There is no single maths paper or English paper to revise for in isolation, so your child needs to be ready to switch subject several times inside one sitting.

The marks are weighted. English and verbal reasoning together are worth 50%, maths 25%, and non-verbal and spatial reasoning 25%. Half the total therefore rests on reading comprehension and verbal reasoning, which is worth knowing when you decide where your child’s practice time goes.

Every question is multiple choice and there is no writing task. Answers go on a separate answer sheet, and only that sheet is marked.

What happens on test day

The partnership publishes the rules for the day, and several of them shape how your child should practise:

• Instructions, example questions and timings are played from an audio recording. Once a section begins, your child cannot go back to an earlier section or jump ahead to the next one.
• Working out is done in the question booklet. There is no rough paper, and the booklet itself is not marked.
• Your child brings two HB pencils, an eraser and a sharpener in a clear pencil case or clear food bag. Rulers and highlighters are not allowed. Spare stationery is available in each room.
• Watches, timers and stop clocks are not permitted. There is a clock in the room.
• Phones, calculators, smart watches, tablets and music players are not allowed in or around the test rooms.
• There is a short comfort break between the two papers and light refreshments are allowed, though not nuts, chewing gum or fizzy drinks.
• School uniform is not needed, and parents cannot wait on site during the test.

Two of these are worth rehearsing at home rather than simply reading about: transferring answers onto a separate sheet without losing your place, and working inside a timed section you are not allowed to return to.

How the scores work and how places are offered

Each section is standardised for age, so a child born in late August is not judged against a September-born child on raw marks alone. The standardised scores are then combined using the 50/25/25 weighting to produce one result, which is sent to every partnership school named on your application.

The schools do not publish a qualifying score ahead of the test; it is set once the papers have been marked. Reaching it does not by itself secure a place either, because each school then applies its own oversubscription criteria, and those differ across the nineteen. Priority categories, catchment rules and tiebreakers are all set individually, so check the admission arrangements on your target school’s official admissions page before you rank your preferences.

Which schools are in the partnership?

All nineteen use the same test and the same result. They are grouped here the way parents usually search for them.

Birmingham (see the Birmingham area guide)

• Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School
• King Edward VI Aston School
• King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys
• King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls
• King Edward VI Five Ways School
• King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys
• King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls
• Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls

Warwickshire (see the Warwickshire area guide)

• Alcester Grammar School
• Ashlawn School
• King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon
• Lawrence Sheriff School
• Rugby High School
• Stratford Girls’ Grammar School

Shropshire, Walsall and Wolverhampton (see the Shropshire, Walsall and Wolverhampton area guide)

• Haberdashers’ Adams Grammar School
• Newport Girls’ High School
• Queen Mary’s Grammar School
• Queen Mary’s High School
• Wolverhampton Girls’ High School

West Midlands 11 Plus (11+) top tips for your child

• Practise marking your answers on a separate answer sheet, not on the question page. Check the number of the question every few answers so a slip never travels down the whole sheet.
• You will not have your own watch, so get used to checking the clock in the room instead.
• When a section is finished, it is finished. Answer every question before the time goes, even the ones you are unsure about, because a blank cannot score.
• Do your working in the booklet. Nobody marks it, so use as much space as you need.
• Read the comprehension questions before you race through the passage. It tells you what you are reading for.
• Use the comfort break properly. Have a drink, stretch, and reset before the second paper.

How to prepare your child for the West Midlands 11 Plus (11+) exam

The West Midlands test falls in the first fortnight of Year 6. That means the summer at the end of Year 5 is the last full block of preparation time your child gets, and there is no autumn term to fall back on.

A schedule that works: occasional papers in Year 4, one a week through the autumn of Year 5, two or three a week in the spring, and then building up to roughly one full practice test a day across the summer holiday, with one rest day a week. Mark each one with your child, and spend longer on the questions they got wrong than on the ones they got right.

Papers alone are not enough. Daily spelling and vocabulary work and timed drills on the question types your child finds slowest both move the score. So does reading widely, and with English and verbal reasoning carrying half the marks, that is where the time pays off most.

One of the most effective ways to prepare for an 11+ entrance exam is to use practice tests written by experts. We publish a full range of 11+ revision resources: area and school-specific practice tests, subject-specific packs, spelling and vocabulary resources, and reading books.

Each of our practice tests:

• is available as a PDF download or in physical format
• familiarises your child with the types of questions they will face in the real exam
• includes answers to every question, with detailed, step-by-step explanations for the maths and reasoning questions
• builds your child’s confidence before the actual exam.

For West Midlands 11+ preparation, we recommend the following packs: