King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys 11+ Guide 2026: Admissions, Exam & Prep

King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys is a selective, state-funded boys' school and one of the eight grammar schools in Birmingham for which the King Edward VI Foundation arranges the entrance test. For September 2027 entry, boys now in Year 6 sat the shared West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test on Saturday 12 September 2026, with the school offering 120 Year 7 places from its Kings Heath site. Camp Hill Boys is entirely separate from King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls — the two schools share a foundation and a test, and for 2027 entry the same qualifying and priority scores, but each publishes its own admissions policy and has its own offers outcomes.

This guide covers Camp Hill Boys’ history within the King Edward VI Foundation, exactly how the shared entrance test and Foundation admissions process work, the current qualifying and priority score picture, the school’s 18-ward catchment area and five-tier oversubscription criteria, the 2026 key dates for September 2027 entry, its Outstanding Ofsted rating and academic results, and how to prepare a boy effectively for the entrance test.

Key Facts: King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys

About Camp Hill Boys: History, Foundation and Character

King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys was founded in 1883 and is based on Vicarage Road in Kings Heath. The school is one of the schools within the King Edward VI Foundation, whose schools have come together over the centuries since King Edward's School, Birmingham was established in 1552; it is part of the King Edward VI Academy Trust, and the Foundation's schools are a mix of independent schools and academies, both selective and comprehensive. Camp Hill Boys sits alongside King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls, King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys, King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls, King Edward VI Aston School and King Edward VI Five Ways School as one of the Foundation's selective grammar schools.

Academically, the school describes itself as renowned nationally for its students' outstanding academic success.

It is worth being explicit about a point of confusion that trips up many families researching Birmingham grammar schools: King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys and King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls are two entirely separate schools. They share a name, a foundation and the same shared entrance test, and for 2027 entry the same qualifying and priority scores, but each school publishes its own admissions policy and has its own offers outcomes. A boy's strong score does not carry over as any guarantee for a sister applying to the Girls' school, and vice versa — each school's own officially published admissions arrangements should be checked individually rather than assumed to be identical.

How Does Admission to Camp Hill Boys Actually Work?

Camp Hill Boys does not set its own, independent entrance test. Instead, it is one of eight grammar schools in Birmingham — alongside Camp Hill Girls, King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls, King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys, King Edward VI Five Ways School, King Edward VI Aston School, Bishop Vesey's Grammar School for Boys and Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls — that share a single test, the West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test, provided by GL Assessment. A family registers their son once for the shared test, he sits it on a single day, and the resulting standardised score is then used by every King Edward VI Foundation and partner school the family lists on their preference form — there is no need to sit separate papers for separate schools.

Registering for the entrance test is a distinct step from applying for a school place through the local authority. To be considered for Camp Hill Boys for September 2027 entry, a family must both register their son for the West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test on the West Midlands Grammar Schools website (registration opened on 5 May 2026 and closed at 4pm on Friday 26 June 2026), and separately submit Birmingham City Council's standard secondary transfer application, naming Camp Hill Boys among up to six preferences, by the national closing date of Saturday 31 October 2026. A boy who was not registered for the test by 4pm on Friday 26 June 2026 cannot be considered, because late registrations are not allowed.

What Does the Camp Hill Boys Entrance Test Cover?

The West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test consists of two papers, each approximately 60 minutes long, entirely in multiple-choice format. Each paper is divided into smaller individually timed sections that test English comprehension, verbal reasoning, mathematics and non-verbal/spatial reasoning. Together, the four skill areas are weighted so that English and verbal reasoning make up roughly half of the overall standardised score, with mathematics contributing around a quarter and non-verbal/spatial reasoning the remaining quarter — meaning a boy's reading comprehension and verbal reasoning ability carries the greatest single influence over his final score, even though mathematics and non-verbal reasoning are far from negligible.

The scores for each section are standardised to take into account differences in age, meaning younger children are not disadvantaged compared to children in the same cohort who could be almost a year older. A boy's test score is what determines both whether he reaches the qualifying score needed to be considered at all, and, separately, whether he reaches the higher priority score used to rank catchment-area applicants once a school is oversubscribed. Because all eight Birmingham grammar schools use the same test, a boy's result can be compared with the scores that the Foundation's offers tables show were required at each school.

What Is the Pass Mark for Camp Hill Boys? Understanding Qualifying and Priority Scores

Camp Hill Boys' admissions policy says the qualifying score and the priority score are published on the King Edward VI Foundation's website before the entrance test. A boy either reaches the required standard or he does not: a child who does not reach the qualifying score is not considered for a place. For 2027 entry, the Foundation gives a qualifying score of 205 for all of the Birmingham grammar schools and a priority score of 224 for all of the King Edward VI grammar schools; the school's admissions page records a priority score of 222 for 2020 entry and 224 for each of 2021 to 2026 entry. The Foundation's results and offers page shows that, for Camp Hill Boys, applicants in the final category (everyone else who reached the qualifying score) were offered places in March down to a score of 254 for 2026 entry and 260 for 2024 entry (242 and 250 respectively by September, after waiting list offers). Applicants with the priority score who lived in the catchment area were all offered places for 2026 and 2024 entry, while for 2025 entry offers in that category stopped at 5698 metres from the school in March (6186 metres by September).

Two figures therefore matter for any family assessing a boy's chances: the qualifying score, which is the minimum standard needed simply to be considered for a place at all, and the priority score, which is the higher threshold used to rank catchment-area children ahead of applicants who reach only the qualifying score once places are oversubscribed. Reaching only the qualifying score gives a boy a chance at one of the places allocated after catchment-area priority applicants have been placed; reaching the priority score gives a materially stronger position if he lives within the designated catchment.

Camp Hill Boys Catchment Area and Oversubscription Criteria

Boys who live outside Camp Hill Boys' catchment area can still be considered: its fifth criterion covers all remaining applicants who achieve the qualifying score. Families whose home address is not within a reasonable commutable distance of the grammar schools may be asked for further information when registering for the test. Camp Hill Boys' catchment area covers 18 electoral wards in Birmingham: Acocks Green, Balsall Heath West, Billesley, Bordesley & Highgate, Bordesley Green, Bournbrook & Selly Park, Brandwood & Kings Heath, Druids Heath & Monyhull, Hall Green North, Hall Green South, Highters Heath, Moseley, Small Heath, South Yardley, Sparkbrook & Balsall Heath East, Sparkhill, Stirchley, and Tyseley & Hay Mills.

Once places are oversubscribed, Camp Hill Boys applies its officially determined oversubscription criteria in the following order:

1. Looked-after and previously looked-after children who meet the qualifying score, ranked by test score and then distance
2. Pupil Premium children within the catchment area, ranked by distance to the school
3. Pupil Premium children outside the catchment area (capped at up to approximately 25% of total places), ranked by test score, then sibling priority, then distance
4. Catchment-area children who meet the priority score, ranked by sibling priority and then distance
5. All remaining children who meet the qualifying score, ranked by test score, then sibling priority, then distance

This ordering means a family's most important early decision is not simply "does my address fall inside the catchment map" but understanding which of the five tiers a boy is likely to be assessed under, since Pupil Premium status and catchment residence interact with test score in a specific sequence rather than catchment residence alone deciding priority. Families uncertain whether an address sits within one of the 18 wards can view the catchment map on the school's website and check which ward a Birmingham address falls into at www.birmingham.gov.uk/wardlookup.

Key 2026 Admissions Dates for Camp Hill Boys, September 2027 Entry

For boys seeking September 2027 entry to Year 7 at King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys, the King Edward VI Foundation's timeline for 2027 entry gives the following dates:

Test registration opened: 5 May 2026, on the West Midlands Grammar Schools website Test registration closed: 4pm on Friday 26 June 2026 Entrance test held: Saturday 12 September 2026 Test scores due to be sent to families by: Friday 16 October 2026 Local Authority preference form deadline: Saturday 31 October 2026 (Birmingham City Council, or the family's home local authority if outside Birmingham)
• National Offer Day: 1 March 2027

Registration for the shared entrance test is completed on the West Midlands Grammar Schools website, not through the local authority. Separately, every family must also submit their home local authority's standard secondary transfer form, naming Camp Hill Boys among their preferences, by the national closing date of 31 October 2026, regardless of whether they have already sat the Foundation's own test. Families weighing Camp Hill Boys against other Birmingham King Edward VI schools may also find our existing King Edward VI Birmingham 11+ preparation hub useful for comparing the Foundation schools side by side.

Ofsted Rating and Academic Results

King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys holds Ofsted's highest possible rating of Outstanding, awarded across every category assessed — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision — following an inspection on 22 November 2023, with the full report published on 19 January 2024.

Academically, the school's own published 2025 A-level results show 85.6% of grades at A*–B.

How Should My Son Prepare for the Camp Hill Boys 11+?

Because the West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test weights English and verbal reasoning most heavily, effective preparation should not treat all four skill areas as equally important from the outset. English comprehension and verbal reasoning deserve the greatest share of preparation time: wide reading across fiction, non-fiction and quality journalism builds the vocabulary and inference skills that comprehension questions test directly, while structured practice with verbal reasoning question types — codes, sequences, word relationships, and hidden words — builds the pattern-recognition speed the test rewards under time pressure.

Mathematics preparation should be built on secure Key Stage 2 arithmetic — times tables, fractions, decimals, percentages and the four operations applied quickly and accurately — layered with multi-step reasoning problems similar in style to the multiple-choice format used on test day. Non-verbal and spatial reasoning, often the least familiar skill area since it maps to no primary school subject directly, responds well to progressive practice with matrices, sequences, shape rotation, reflection and net-folding questions, building from untimed familiarisation up to full timed practice.

Given that, in March, offers in Camp Hill Boys' final category (applicants with the qualifying score but no catchment or Pupil Premium priority) went down to a score of only 254 for 2026 entry and 260 for 2024 entry, families should be realistic that reaching the bare qualifying score of 205 is unlikely to be sufficient for a place outside the priority categories, and that genuine strength across all four tested areas, not just familiarity with one publisher's practice papers, is what separates a marginal result from a comfortably competitive one. A personalised one-to-one approach is particularly valuable here, since a tutor can identify precisely which of the four areas is weakest for an individual boy and rebalance a preparation programme accordingly, rather than applying a generic, evenly-split study plan. At Leading Tuition, our specialist 11+ tutors work with families across Birmingham and the wider West Midlands preparing for Camp Hill Boys and the other King Edward VI Foundation schools.

Starting structured preparation in the autumn term of Year 5, before the test in September of Year 6, leaves time to introduce every question type, address individual weaknesses, and progress to full timed practice papers. Families comparing Camp Hill Boys against other Birmingham King Edward VI options may also find it useful to read our guide to King Edward VI Birmingham 11+ preparation; for a King Edward VI school outside Birmingham, see our guide to King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon. For general background on how 11+ testing works across England's selective regions, see our guide to what the 11+ exam involves.

What Is the Sixth Form at Camp Hill Boys Like?

Camp Hill Boys has a sixth form, and its admissions policy describes the school as an academy for boys aged 11-18 years. Ofsted's provider page records the school's age range as 11 to 18 and the gender of pupils as boys, with 1,059 pupils on roll. The Department for Education’s Get Information About Schools register records the school's gender of entry as boys and notes that it has a sixth form. The sixth form was itself rated Outstanding as a distinct category in the school's 22 November 2023 Ofsted inspection, and the school's 2025 A-level results show 85.6% of grades at A*–B. Families weighing up Birmingham grammar schools more broadly may find our 2026 grammar school league tables useful for comparing outcomes across schools like Camp Hill Boys on a national basis.

Leading Tuition is rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 59 reviews, read on 3 October 2026, and 91% of our students achieve their desired grades.

Reviewed October 2026: dates, figures and rules checked against the King Edward VI Foundation's entrance test, timeline and results pages, Camp Hill Boys' September 2027 admissions policy and admissions page, Birmingham City Council, Ofsted, GIAS and the school's 2025 A-level results.

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