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King Edward's School Birmingham

School rating 4 / 5 by

Edgbaston Park Road Birmingham West Midlands B15 2UA United Kingdom
Day
4th to 12th
Gender
Boys only

Academic

King Edward's School Birmingham review by .

KES (King Edward's School, Birmingham), as the school is known to the insiders, prepares its students extremely well, not only for pursuing academia at university, but also for the challenges of life in general. It places a heavy emphasis on extra-curricular activities, including sport, music and drama. Virtually everyone is involved in at least one of these which help to develop skills that prepare one well for later life; from time management and prioritization to team working. The sheer breadth of activities available is very impressive, with everything from CCF to kayaking and archery and beyond catered for. It even has a flourishing Tolkien society, not wholly unexpected as he was an alumni of this institution. The school's rugby, cricket and basketball teams often perform extremely well at regional and national championships. But first and foremost, the school is an academic institution, and this is never compromised. A considerable number every year achieve straight As or A*s and it has an extremely good track record of its alumni achieving places at the country's top universities. In my year, one in five (in a year group of 125), gained a place at Oxbridge. Though sciences have traditionally faired better, the arts and humanities in real terms perform just as well. Overall, the school consistently performs extremely well in academia but focuses on nurturing well-rounded individuals with significant pursuits outside of academic life. And it achieves this goal extremely well.

College Counseling

College counseling is next to none, and the advice is always top class. The staff....

Sample insights on college counseling

  • They have contacts at most of the major universities and feel perfectly comfortable picking up the phone and advocating for a student to get accepted somewhere they feel is a good fit for that student. However, these counselors are certainly not magic bullets. They cannot guarantee that a student will get into an Ivy League university...
  • For those wishing to move on to Oxford or Cambridge, the provision is second-to-none. In the months running up to application and interview, every subject faculty offers classes (often run by former Oxbridge tutors) exploring further areas of their subject as well as offering advice on personal statements, interview technique and more...

Admissions - Getting Accepted

Passing the grammar test is required to gain entry. As the school is primarily keenest....

Sample insights on admissions

  • For the interview, dress conservatively. Try to be very clean and put together. Also, I was a tour guide for two years and at the end of every tour, we were asked to evaluate the candidate so if you think the tour is not apart of the process, you are very wrong. Ask questions and be interested. Also, tip for the parents: the kids speak on the tour. Do not ask their questions for them...
  • Most younger siblings have an easy time in the admissions process. I can only think of one case of a younger sibling not being admitted. About half of the students who entered with me had come from public schools. The remainder came from private K-6 schools, or had transferred from other New York private schools The Elizabeth Morrow School and St. Bernard were two of the larger feeder schools...

School Life

The quality of the buildings is very good. The school situated itseld on its current location in Edgbaston in the 50s, in a very pretty location of Birmingham - a leafy, suburban area where crime is low. The socio-economic background is generally high with many large detached houses close by. It is actually located next to the University of Birmingham, and thus has very good links with it....

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