We are currently living abroad and have recently been informed that we will have to return to the UK and will be moving to Edgbaston in the summer of 2021. I have a DD studying in an international British school and she is in year 5, she is generally in the top 3/4 pupils in her class. As we will not be in the country for when she would have sat the 11+ grammar school exam, that is not an option for us. I am new to the forum and we have been out of the UK for 7 years. I have spoken with KEHS and EHS. Are there other schools you would recommend, public or independent? Also how should I prepare my DD for the admission exams? Tutoring etc is not an option here. Having hovered on the forum for a few weeks I am confused, would I prepare her for 11+ English, Maths, VR, NVR and cloze? Apologies for my first post being so long, but in need of a lot of advice, as a novice.

Solihull School is worth considering too, if you are interested in a mixed school. The independent school entrance exams are completely different to the Birmingham grammar schools 11+ exam, so there is no need to worry about VR and NVR. KEHS and Solihull have sample questions/papers on their website so you can see the sort of thing to expect. DD is currently in year 6 at EHS and was given generic key stage 2 English and Maths revision guides and a creative writing booklet to help her prepare for their exam. The schools all stress that they don’t expect candidates to have gone beyond key stage 2 material (e.g. don’t need to know formal algebra) so if your DD is working at a high level in current school she should have covered material required. Does she have formal end of term/end of year exams in current school? If not it may be worth doing some timed practice tests at home to get used to the experience. You could use the schools’ sample papers or some of the many 11+ maths or comprehension practice tests available to purchase. Good luck.

I would recommend contacting the KE Foundation (by Skype phone if necessary) to discuss your situation. They are very helpful.

Your daughter will be able to sit one of the late sitting 11+ grammar exams once you are back in the country and have accommodation. The late sitting exams are often scheduled right up until August in the year of entry. Your child wouldn’t get a place on the 1st March but would be placed high on the weighting list if she performs well. If you want a KE grammar then you need to be aware of the local KE catchment area for you B/ham accommodation. Take a look at the KE Foundation website for the catchment areas for girls grammar schools.

Some friends of our went through a similar process to this many years ago. Their son actually took the 11+ exam in late Feb and got a place at KEFW.
Best of luck

Thank you JM40 and KenR.

Hi,

Could someone explain a little more about the content of the KEHS and EHS exams? How should we prepare, are there any textbooks that anyone would recommend? Are the English and Math Bond books worth buying?

Thanks

Hi - I am not sure re specific books - hopefully someone with more recent experience of the school will know! ( started there 50 years ago )
Meantime it may help to have a look at threads started by other people who have come back from abroad - one was jojo67 who was in Singapore at the time - might be worth sending jojo a private message and see if they have any info .

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My daughter got a place at KEHS, we just went through past papers. You can google Independent schools and majority of them have past papers. She will need to be strong in her creative writing and English generally. They mark children highly when they show their working out in Maths and not just the answer. The child needs to be natural in mu opinion, and not overly tutored. We felt the same when our son did the KES exam few years ago and got in.