King Edward VI Aston School

King Edward VI Aston is a selective boys' grammar school in Birmingham that runs its own entrance exam outside the main Birmingham consortium. The school uses GL Assessment papers covering Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning, Mathematics, and English. As a highly selective school, you should expect the exam to be more challenging than a standard 11+ paper.

The most notable challenge is vocabulary in Verbal Reasoning. The exam uses less common words beyond typical GL word lists, particularly in synonym and antonym questions. Your child will benefit from deliberate vocabulary building well in advance — this isn't something standard practice papers alone will cover. Mathematics is also pitched above average difficulty, with multi-step problem-solving and some algebraic thinking required, so it's worth covering extension topics beyond the Key Stage 2 curriculum.

Time pressure is a real factor on this exam. Children often report feeling rushed, especially in the Verbal Reasoning section. Slow readers or those who spend too long deliberating on individual questions tend to struggle. Timed practice is essential — your child needs to become comfortable working quickly and accurately under pressure. English comprehension is age-appropriate but demands careful inference and deduction rather than simply finding answers directly in the text, so practise inference-based questions specifically.

The school's admissions deadline and exam date typically fall in June and September respectively, though you should confirm current dates on the school's website. Remember that qualifying scores are not published, so you won't know in advance exactly what mark is needed to pass.