Relocating to birmingham - school choice and safe score

[echoes]

It depends on the definition of 'difference'
League table results
Distance/ease of commuting (consider winter is grim up north)
Incidence of bullying/satisfactory outcome
Extra curricular activities
etc..

I am presuming that all the grammar schools listed here are capable of dealing with bullying etc.

With regards to extra curricular activities I am not sure how much emphasis I should put on it. I never thought about it like that.

With regards to distance/ease of commuting we were hoping to move to Kings Heath or Kings Norton sort of area or even Acocks green.

[KenR]

KEFW is part of the KE foundation and consortium - you can apply to that school if you wish. Similar pass scores to KECHG in previous years - check the sticky at the top of the B/Ham forum section.

Check out the school website - has quite a large intake (150 per year) and an even bigger 6th form (400+). One advantage is that they offer both A Levels and IB in the 6th form - the only consortium school to offer this.

Exams results and rankings are very good, but in the case of all schools this is down to how tolerant the schools policy is regarding the occasional slipped grade at GCSE or AS - some schools are very rigid in their policy. KEFW is often more flexible.

[Paramjeet]

I forgot to add..
Some schools are mixed and some are single sex.

[echoes]

KEFW is part of the KE foundation and consortium - you can apply to that school if you wish. Similar pass scores to KECHG in previous years - check the sticky at the top of the B/Ham forum section.

Check out the school website - has quite a large intake (150 per year) and an even bigger 6th form (400+). One advantage is that they offer both A Levels and IB in the 6th form - the only consortium school to offer this.

Exams results and rankings are very good, but in the case of all schools this is down to how tolerant the schools policy is regarding the occasional slipped grade at GCSE or AS - some schools are very rigid in their policy. KEFW is often more flexible.

Thank you. That info. is very useful.
And you are right.. I have re-read the letter. KEFW is on the list.. Its Aston thats missing from the list.

How do you mean by schools being rigid or flexible? I didn't quite understand..

[Paramjeet]

KECH limits the number of GCSE's taken, other schools offer upto 14 to inflate their average score for league tables stuff

[echoes]

You'd have trouble separating Camp Hill Girls, Handsworth and Sutton Coldfield Girls in the FT Top 1000 table (based on A-levels and a lot more reliable than the GCSE-based BBC tables). In fact Handsworth was higher last year (123rd vs 128th - SC was 130th). Camp Hill take rather a lot of GCSEs (although not as many as Five Ways) and this skews the BBC table. The DofE attainment tables also show there's very little to choose between them:

http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/per ... 0_all.html

Where are you relocating from? I imagine you won't relocate until after you know school allocation?

Paramjeet, Birmingham is hardly "up north" and winters are positively balmy compared to the Pennines where I grew up. It's just that local authorities and population have a pathetic inability to cope with half an inch of snow.

Mike

Thanks Mike. Just had another look at FT top table.. It makes lot more sense. And yes.. you are right.. There is not much difference between some of these schools. In fact Sutton was way below others on the table.

[KenR]

How do you mean by schools being rigid or flexible? I didn't quite understand..

By that I meant that all the consortium school have policies regarding what GCSE grades are required to study a subject at AS level, and also what AS grades are required to continue studying the subject at A2.

To improve their position in the school league tables some schools maintain strict rules - e.g. must have grade A at GCSE and must have grade B at AS. From discussions with other parents KEFW can sometimes be more flexible if there are mitigating circumstances - other schools are not so.

I understand the criteria for some top London schools is very high and very rigid.

In respect of the school league tables - there are lies, damned lies and statistics!!

[echoes]

How do you mean by schools being rigid or flexible? I didn't quite understand..

By that I meant that all the consortium school have policies regarding what GCSE grades are required to study a subject at AS level, and also what AS grades are required to continue studying the subject at A2.

To improve their position in the school league tables some schools maintain strict rules - e.g. must have grade A at GCSE and must have grade B at AS. From discussions with other parents KEFW can sometimes be more flexible if there are mitigating circumstances - other schools are not so.

I understand the criteria for some top London schools is very high and very rigid.

In respect of the school league tables - there are lies, damned lies and statistics!!

Oh ok. That makes sense.. KEFW is more flexible hence some of its students may receive lower grades (due to mitigating circumstances)... but this means KEFW may be listed lot lower than some other school which may be quite strict.