Where are the very best schools in Birmingham? England’s ‘second city’ continues to grow larger and more affluent each passing year. As this West Midlands city expands and flourishes, it attracts more families with school-aged children looking to settle there. This makes the provision of outstanding schooling options more important than ever.
The 10 best schools in Birmingham for 2024
Birmingham has an outstanding reputation for providing both independent and state schools that are competitive in the national rankings. Whether you’re looking for a private fee-paying, grammar or non-selective school, you will find that Birmingham delivers.
The following list comes from the latest The Sunday Times Parent Power league tables, which are updated every year. It uses A-level and GCSE past performance data to identify the 1,600 top-achieving schools in the country. These are the best schools in Birmingham, across all types, based on exam performance data from 2023.
1: King Edward VI High School for Girls
A-level A*-B: 95.3%
GCSE (9-7): 96.5%
Overview: King Edward VI High School for Girls is currently the top-performing school in the city of Birmingham. It’s an independent day school in Edgbaston that caters for girls aged 11–18. It’s not only a leading school in the West Midlands, it’s also a regular feature in the top echelons of national school rankings. The Sunday Times recently named it the “Independent School of the Year for Academic Performance West Midlands”.
Where to live: Edgbaston
2: King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys
A-level A*-B: 83.9%
GCSE (9-7): 89.3%
Overview: Birmingham’s second top-rated school is ranked 13th nationally, thanks to its outstanding academic performance results and widely praised educational offering. This makes it one of the most successful state schools in the UK. Set adjacent to the stunning King’s Heath Park, the school is a selective, state-funded, boys’ school (11-18 years) serving Birmingham and its surrounding areas. It provides excellent access to top-notch sporting and arts resources. The school encourages students to get involved at the community level.
Where to live: Kings Heath
3: King Edward’s School, Birmingham
IB results: 35.9 average diploma points
GCSE (9-7): 87.5%
Overview: As you can see from the repeated logo, schools from the King Edward VI Foundation represent a powerhouse of education in Birmingham. King Edward School (KES) is situated in the leafy suburb of Edgbaston, where it shares a 50-acre site with King Edward VI High School for Girls. KES provides schooling for boys aged 11-18. While it is a selective, fee-paying school, it has raised over £12 million in recent years under its Assisted Places scheme. This ensures that schoolboys of every background can have access to the best schooling options in the city.
Where to live: Edgbaston
4: King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls
A-level A*-B: 83.6%
GCSE (9-7): 85.9%
Overview: Also set within Vicarage Road in King’s Heath, King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls provides an educational offering just as exciting, robust and successful as its male student counterpart. Alongside the excellent academic, sporting and artistic education provision, there is a strong emphasis on building students’ confidence and resilience.
Where to live: Kings Heath
5: Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls
A-level A*-B: 82.8%
GCSE (9-7): 87.3%
Overview: Sitting in the middle of our list, and in the middle of Sutton Coldfield north of Birmingham city centre, we have a this girls’ grammar school that provides all students with a “happy and purposeful environment and prioritises the importance of a growth mindset”. Currently, there are over 11,00 students in the school, including 300 sixth-formers, while places for entry in Year 7 remain hotly contested as more parents aim to enrol their children into this increasingly high-performing grammar school environment.
Where to live: Sutton Coldfield
6: King Edward VI Five Ways School
A-level A*-B: 80%
GCSE (9-7): 74%
Overview: King Edward VI Five Ways School is another selective grammar school located in Bartley Green, right on the southwestern tip of the city. Constantly in demand, it caters to around 1300 pupils each year as a boys’ school with a mixed sixth form. King Edward VI Five Ways School is undergoing a transformation, with an ambitious building programme to develop brand new drama and music studios, sixth form centre and the £1 million Osmend Language Centre and Pavilion complex.
Where to live: Bartley Green
7: Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School
A-level A*-B: 79.8%
GCSE (9-7): 70.1%
Overview: Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School is another Sutton Coldfield fixture with excellent results and an educational ethos that has kept it in high demand since its founding in 1527. It’s a boys’ grammar school with a mixed sixth form, and offers an enviable ix of sold academic rigour with a focus on inspiring children to unlock their creative potential as well via an expansive range of extracurricular activities.
Where to live: Sutton Coldfield
8: Edgbaston High School
A-level A*-B: 75.9%
GCSE (9-7): 62.3%
Overview: We’re back into Edgbaston once again as this independent day school for girls claims the number 8 spot on Birmingham’s best schools list. Edgbaston High School takes girls right through from 2-18, covering preparatory, senior school and sixth form. There’s a strong focus on pastoral care and co-curricular activities here, as the school aims to provide its students with “Futures without limits”.
Where to live: Edgbaston
9: St Paul’s School for Girls, Edgbaston
A-level A*-B: 81.5%
GCSE (9-7): 47.5%
Overview: St Paul’s School for Girls is a Catholic girls’ comprehensive school in Edgbaston. Founded in 1908 by the Sisters of Charity of St Paul the Apostle there’s still an adherence to providing a “sense of community and excellence built on faith and tradition”. Despite not being an actively selective school, St Paul’s still maintains solid exam results each year.
Where to live: Edgbaston
10: King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys
A-level A*-B: 48.3%
GCSE (9-7): 58.2%
Overview: The last entry on this list is yet another of the highly reputable “King Edward VI schools”, and this one is a boys’ grammar School boys’ grammar school (with a mixed sixth form) in Handsworth. It aims to provide a stimulating and educationally successful environment for all its pupils, and in its last Ofsted review it achieved an “Outstanding” rating in every category.
Where to live: Aston
Why are schools so important when looking to move?
The number, concentration and overall quality of schools in a given area are important because schooling represents a crucial element of family life. Firstly, parents want their children to receive the best education possible.
Secondly, more schooling options provide a greater chance of a ‘better fit’ for a specific family. Ideally, the chosen school will be as close as possible to the family home, and will follow an educational ethos that suits the wishes of the parent(s) and children.
Having all these options makes an area more suitable to a wider range of families.
What are King Edward VI schools?
You’ll notice that King Edward VI’s name gets a lot of mentions on this list. That’s because the King Edward VI Foundation is a prominent charity that operates 13 different schools in the city of Birmingham. It’s presence dates all the way back to when King Edward’s School was founded in 1552 and its ongoing mission is to ensure that children living in Birmingham can access a good education, no matter their background.
What’s better in Birmingham – Private or Grammar?
A lot of parents in Birmingham want to know whether it’s better to send their children to a grammar school or an independent school. The answer is that it depends on the type of education that’s preferable for the individual child in question, and the financial situation of their parents or legal guardians.
As you can see from this list, Birmingham has plenty of outstanding grammar schools to offer. They are among the top-attaining schools in the city and wider area. They also have the significant benefit of being free; there are no tuition fees to pay for attending grammar schools. Private schools, on the other hand, charge termly fees that average £6,944 a term for day pupils, and £12,344 for boarders. Equally, private schools are also extremely competitive, providing high-quality facilities, resources and experienced teachers to justify their fees. Also, as independent entities, private schools can set their own curriculum, which may appeal to parents looking for a more bespoke educational experience for their children.
If you want to find out more about the best private and state schools in the UK, as well as specific areas, consult our growing range of school-focused guides below. We know how important it is for families to understand their options before making the all-important move.
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