One-to-one tuition for Birmingham families, including focused preparation for the West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test — the single test that decides entry to the city's grammar schools.
Birmingham is unusually straightforward compared with London, and that is genuinely good news for families. The city's grammar schools — the King Edward VI foundation schools among them — sit within a wider West Midlands partnership that uses a single entrance test. Your child registers once, sits one exam, and that result is considered by every school you list.
The test is set by GL Assessment and covers English comprehension, verbal reasoning, maths, and non-verbal and spatial reasoning across two papers of roughly an hour each. Scores are age-standardised, so a child born in August is not penalised for being eleven months younger than a classmate, and individual schools then set their own qualifying and priority thresholds against those standardised scores.
The Birmingham test is sat at the very start of Year 6 — in September, before the school year has properly begun. That is considerably earlier than parents expect, and it means the useful preparation window is Year 4 and Year 5, not the spring of Year 6. Families who start thinking about it when Year 6 begins have already missed the run-up.
Registration typically opens in the spring before the test and closes over the summer. Confirm the current year's dates directly with the consortium — they move, and missing the registration window cannot be appealed.
A simplified overview. Selective-school arrangements change from year to year. Always confirm the current registration window, test date and format directly with the school or local authority before relying on them.
| Element | Detail | What we do about it |
|---|---|---|
| Who it covers | Birmingham's grammar schools sit within a wider West Midlands partnership spanning Birmingham, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Warwickshire and Shropshire | One registration and one test covers every school on your list — preparation is not split across formats |
| Format | Two papers of about an hour each, set by GL Assessment | Full timed papers in that format from early on, so exam day is familiar |
| Content | English comprehension, verbal reasoning, maths, and non-verbal and spatial reasoning | All four strands taught deliberately — the reasoning papers are not covered by school at all |
| Scoring | Age-standardised, then measured against each school's own qualifying and priority thresholds | Younger children in the year are not disadvantaged, so a summer birthday is no reason to hold back |
| Timing | Sat in September at the very start of Year 6, with registration closing over the preceding summer | We push families to start in Year 4 or early Year 5 — the runway is shorter than it looks |
Because Birmingham uses a single format, preparation can be genuinely targeted rather than hedged across several exam styles.
The test sits at the start of Year 6, so our schedule works backwards from that date rather than from the end of the school year.
Birmingham has one of the largest British Pakistani communities in the country. Our tutors speak Urdu and understand the household.
Birmingham 11+ specialists commonly charge £30–£45 an hour. Three hour-long sessions a week with us is £60 a month.
Most of our Birmingham families are here for GCSE and KS3 support. The 11+ work is one strand of a broader service.
You see exactly which reasoning question types are improving and which are not, rather than a single practice score.
| Plan | Sessions | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 3 × 1-hour sessions per week | £60 / month | Steady support in one subject alongside school |
| Intensive | 5 × 1-hour sessions per week | £100 / month | Exam years, catch-up, or two subjects at once |
Meet your matched tutor, watch a full lesson, then decide. No card details and no contract.