King Edward VI Aston School, Birmingham

Ofsted's report card from its 9 September 2026 inspection grades King Edward VI Aston School on 7 areas: 7 strong standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Strong standard. "Teaching ensures that pupils develop the foundational knowledge they need."

Attendance and behaviour - Strong standard. "Leaders have an accurate understanding of pupils' attendance and the barriers some face to attending school regularly."

Curriculum and teaching - Strong standard. "Leaders have ensured a broad, ambitious and high-quality curriculum is in place that is logically sequenced so pupils build on prior learning."

Inclusion - Strong standard. "Leaders have created a highly inclusive school where disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) benefit fully from the school's offer."

Leadership and governance - Strong standard. "Leaders at all levels are committed to providing all pupils with the best possible education."

Personal development and wellbeing - Strong standard. "Leaders have developed a well-designed personal development programme tailored to the school's context."

Post-16 provision - Strong standard. "Leaders have ensured an ambitious curriculum is in place in the sixth form."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should continue to improve the implementation of the curriculum so that it has a transformational impact on the learning and achievement of all pupils and students, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged".

In its own words: "King Edward VI Aston School has been a grammar school for boys since 1883. Proudly serving our community in Aston and beyond, we are part of the King Edward VI Foundation. Our vision is to see all students thrive at school, as they become articulate, well-rounded global citizens who embody our core values of diligence, honesty, integrity and kindness."

From the headteacher's welcome: "King Edward VI Aston School is a wonderful place to work and learn. As part of the King Edward VI Foundation community of schools, we have been a grammar school for boys since 1883."

In 2026, pupils at King Edward VI Aston School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 69.9, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 47.5 in Birmingham and 47 across England.

99% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 49% in Birmingham and 47% in England.

That is down from 71.2 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.14: pupils made above average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 65.2, against 71.2 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 6 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 18 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Physics, Biology and Chemistry.

King Edward VI Aston School is a grammar school: places go to children who reach the required standard in its entrance test, and only then are the oversubscription criteria applied.

For September 2026 entry, 143 families put King Edward VI Aston School as their first choice and 1036 named it as one of their preferences, for 146 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 73 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

King Edward VI Aston School admits pupils through an entrance test, usually called the 11-plus. Children have to be registered for it in advance, normally in the spring or summer of Year 5; the test itself is usually sat in September of Year 6, and results come out in October, before the 31 October deadline for naming secondary schools.

Passing the test makes a child eligible rather than guaranteeing a place: when more children pass than there are places, King Edward VI Aston School ranks them by the criteria in its admissions policy, which can include test score and distance. Check Birmingham's admissions pages and the school's own policy for this year's registration deadline - a child who is not registered in time cannot sit the test.

Birmingham has 8 state grammar schools in all, so a child who passes may have several selective schools to choose between.

The nearest other state secondary schools to King Edward VI Aston School are Aston Manor Academy (0.6 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 45); Holte School (0.7 miles, Good, Attainment 8 42.1); Star King Solomon Academy (0.8 miles, Attainment 8 32.4); and Broadway Academy (0.8 miles, Good, Attainment 8 41.9).

King Edward VI Aston School's 2026 results were higher than all 4 of them.

King Edward VI Aston School is one of 12 schools run by King Edward Vi Academy Trust Birmingham, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 64.1 in 2024/25.

Of the 140 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 99% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 6% to a further education college.

Of the 155 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 59% went on to university or other higher education, 7% to apprenticeships and 7% into work. 34% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

In 2026, 109 pupils (10.7%) received SEN support and 3 (0.3%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is autism.

The nearest railway station is Aston Rail Station, about 930 metres away (roughly a 12-minute walk).

9 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Bevington Road (before), 90 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood King Edward VI Aston School stands in is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In 2024/25, King Edward VI Aston School issued 73 suspensions, 7.3 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to King Edward VI Aston School are Aston Tower Community Primary School (0.2 miles), Prince Albert Junior and Infant School (0.3 miles), Mansfield Green E-ACT Academy (0.3 miles) and Manor Park Primary Academy (0.4 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.