Relocating to birmingham - school choice and safe score
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Relocating to birmingham - school choice and safe score
Hi everyone, I am new to this forum. Only came across it day before yesterday. As we are not from Birmingham we didn't take the exam seriously and our dd didn't attend any tutions etc. But someone recommended grammar schools to us so we got her to attempt the entrance exam.
We have now got the results and she has managed to achieve 225 for Birmingham consortium. As we are not from Birmingham and would be relocating to Birmingham for the sake of the admission, we have lot more factors to consider such as accommodation, jobs etc.
Ideally we would prefer to live around kings heath/kings norton so KE camp Hill would be ideal.. however it seems that results are good this year and 225 is borderline even compared to last couple of years.
Is there a lot of difference in standard of education between Camp Hill, Aston and Handworth ?
According to BBC school league tables...Camp Hill is number 9 on the list and the other two are around 160.
My other query is about Sutton Coldfield, Is it feasible for someone to live in Sutton Coldfield and commute to Birmingham for work everyday? How long does it take to commute considering the factors such as traffic and rushhour.
sorry about a long post but we are confused about so many things...
We have now got the results and she has managed to achieve 225 for Birmingham consortium. As we are not from Birmingham and would be relocating to Birmingham for the sake of the admission, we have lot more factors to consider such as accommodation, jobs etc.
Ideally we would prefer to live around kings heath/kings norton so KE camp Hill would be ideal.. however it seems that results are good this year and 225 is borderline even compared to last couple of years.
Is there a lot of difference in standard of education between Camp Hill, Aston and Handworth ?
According to BBC school league tables...Camp Hill is number 9 on the list and the other two are around 160.
My other query is about Sutton Coldfield, Is it feasible for someone to live in Sutton Coldfield and commute to Birmingham for work everyday? How long does it take to commute considering the factors such as traffic and rushhour.
sorry about a long post but we are confused about so many things...
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Re: Relocating to birmingham - school choice and safe score
where are you likely to be working? I know of quite a lot of people who commute from Sutton, Solihull and further afield - the train service to the centre of B'ham is pretty good.
PS train from Sutton coldfield to New Street is 20 mins and goes every 10 mins.
PS train from Sutton coldfield to New Street is 20 mins and goes every 10 mins.
Re: Relocating to birmingham - school choice and safe score
Thank you for your reply.hermanmunster wrote:where are you likely to be working? I know of quite a lot of people who commute from Sutton, Solihull and further afield - the train service to the centre of B'ham is pretty good.
PS train from Sutton coldfield to New Street is 20 mins and goes every 10 mins.
I am not sure.. I have just recently started a new job so I haven't even started looking around Birmingham. I have till next Sept to find work around Birmingham. Train must cost a fortune though?
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- Posts: 12894
- Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
- Location: The Seaside
Re: Relocating to birmingham - school choice and safe score
probably cheaper than driving...echoes wrote:. Train must cost a fortune though?
http://tickets.networkwestmidlands.co.u ... and=ntrain" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
about £56 / month for zones 1-4
Re: Relocating to birmingham - school choice and safe score
Thanks for that..hermanmunster wrote:probably cheaper than driving...echoes wrote:. Train must cost a fortune though?
http://tickets.networkwestmidlands.co.u ... and=ntrain" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
about £56 / month for zones 1-4
Any idea about my other queries.. Ie.. is there a lot of difference in education between handsworth, aston and camp hill schools?
Re: Relocating to birmingham - school choice and safe score
Don't discount KEFW which is co-ed - good green bus service, good access from south birmgham as well as parts of worcestershire.
Re: Relocating to birmingham - school choice and safe score
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..
League table results
Distance/ease of commuting (consider winter is grim up north)
Incidence of bullying/satisfactory outcome
Extra curricular activities
etc..
Re: Relocating to birmingham - school choice and safe score
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
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
Re: Relocating to birmingham - school choice and safe score
Thanks. Relocating from Nottingham.mike1880 wrote: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
I looked at the following when comparing the school. Camphill is 9th on the list and sutton coldfield is 14.. whereas handsworth and aston in 160s..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-16729387" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I guess, I am not making a fair comparison.
The other thing I am confused about is the distance.. We are nowhere near the catchment area.. So if the school has 60 places, would they allocate the place to top 60 students no matter where they live? If enough children don't take up the offer they would then go beyond top 60. Or am I completely barking up a wrong tree here..
Re: Relocating to birmingham - school choice and safe score
Not sure why KEFW wasn't listed on our letter.. Has it got a separate exam? My child did the exam at KE Camp Hills girls highschool.KenR wrote:Don't discount KEFW which is co-ed - good green bus service, good access from south birmgham as well as parts of worcestershire.
Just corrected the pass score for KEFW last year on the sticky - it was 227 not 225 - thanks sss