Handsworth has two King Edward VI grammar schools, and unlike Camp Hill they are not a matched pair. They sit on different roads, admit different numbers, and draw on catchment areas of very different sizes. The girls' school takes 192 pupils from a catchment of 47 wards; the boys' school takes 150 from a catchment of 17 (boys' admission policy 2026, girls' admission policy 2026).
Both are Foundation schools, so both used a qualifying score of 205 and a priority score of 224 for 2026 entry (King Edward VI Foundation, results and offers). Everything that differs between them is geography and size.
Two schools, two very different catchments
| Handsworth Grammar for Boys | Handsworth for Girls | |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 places | 150 | 192 |
| Address | Grove Lane, B21 9ET | Rose Hill Road, B21 9AR |
| Catchment | 17 wards | 47 wards |
| Authorities covered | Birmingham, Sandwell | Birmingham, Sandwell, Solihull |
| Qualifying / priority | 205 and 224 for 2026 entry | |
That 17 against 47 is the number to sit with. The girls' catchment is close to three times the size of the boys', and it reaches right across the city into Sutton Coldfield and out into Solihull. The boys' catchment stays tight around Handsworth, Perry Barr, Ladywood and Edgbaston, crossing into Sandwell but no further.
The practical consequence is easy to miss. A family can be in catchment for the girls' school and outside it for the boys'. A household in Sutton Trinity or Shard End is inside the girls' catchment and nowhere near the boys'. For a family with a son and a daughter, the two applications are not comparable.
The boys' catchment, ward by ward
Seventeen wards, thirteen in Birmingham and four in Sandwell (boys' admission policy 2026):
Birmingham: Birchfield, Edgbaston, Handsworth, Handsworth Wood, Holyhead, Kingstanding, Ladywood, Lozells, Newtown, North Edgbaston, Oscott, Perry Barr, and Soho and Jewellery Quarter.
Sandwell: Smethwick, Soho and Victoria, St Paul's, and West Bromwich Central.
The girls' catchment is far wider
Forty seven wards, spanning three local authorities (girls' admission policy 2026). It contains almost all of the boys' catchment and then a great deal more: the whole of Sutton Coldfield, the eastern wards from Alum Rock and Shard End through to Sheldon and Yardley, plus four Solihull wards.
Solihull: Castle Bromwich, Chelmsley Wood, Kingshurst and Fordbridge, and Smith's Wood.
If that eastern and Sutton spread looks familiar, it is close to the shape of King Edward VI Aston's catchment. Handsworth for Girls and Aston overlap substantially, which is worth knowing if you have a son and a daughter and assumed the two would be equivalent options.
Siblings count across both schools
This is the detail most families miss, and it works in your favour. Both policies state that an older sibling at the other Handsworth school counts as a valid sibling claim. The boys' policy accepts a sister on roll at Handsworth for Girls; the girls' policy accepts a brother on roll at Handsworth Grammar (boys' admission policy 2026, girls' admission policy 2026).
Sibling status is a tie-breaker within a category rather than a category of its own, but at schools this oversubscribed a tie-breaker decides real places. The same reciprocal arrangement exists at the two Camp Hill schools, and notably it does not exist at Aston, whose policy contains no such clause.
How places are allocated
Both schools work through the same five categories when there are more qualified applicants than places:
- 1. Looked after and previously looked after children who achieve the qualifying score.
- 2. Pupil premium children who achieve the qualifying score and live inside that school's catchment, ranked by distance.
- 3. Pupil premium children outside the catchment, used only until 25% of places have been offered, ranked by test score.
- 4. Applicants achieving the priority score who live inside the catchment, with sibling priority, then distance.
- 5. Everyone else achieving the qualifying score, ranked by test score, then sibling, then distance.
Because categories 2 and 4 both depend on catchment, and the two catchments differ so sharply, the same address can put a daughter in category 4 and a son in category 5 with an identical score.
What this means for your application
Check each school's catchment separately. Do not assume that being inside one means being inside the other, and do not assume a sibling at one is irrelevant to the other, because the opposite is true on both counts.
If you are inside the relevant catchment, aim clear of the priority score rather than at it. If you are outside it, you compete in category 5 on test score alone. There is a fuller walkthrough of how the categories interact in the catchment and priority scores guide.
The same address does not give a son and a daughter the same options
Handsworth has two grammar schools, one for boys and one for girls, and families naturally assume that means equal options for a son and a daughter. It does not. Once you look at where the two catchments actually reach, the picture is very different for each child, and that is the thing I spend most time explaining to families in this part of the city.
For a girl living around Handsworth, King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls is realistically the only in-catchment grammar on the table. Camp Hill's girls' school draws from the south and east of Birmingham, so it is not a practical option from here. Her brother, at the same address, is in catchment for Handsworth Grammar for Boys. Only two of the Birmingham grammar schools are genuinely paired, Camp Hill and Handsworth. Aston takes boys only, Five Ways is co-educational, and the two Sutton schools are separate from each other.
So my advice to any family applying for a son and a daughter is to stop treating it as one decision. Check each school's own catchment map separately, because at one address the answer can be yes for one child and no for the other.
Mushtaque Ahmed, Founder of GrammarPath and Bright Mentors
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Frequently asked questions
Are the two Handsworth grammar schools the same school?
No. King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys is on Grove Lane and King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls is on Rose Hill Road. They are separate King Edward VI Foundation schools with separate admission numbers, 150 and 192, separate catchment areas and separate applications.
Do the two Handsworth schools share a catchment area?
No, and the difference is large. The boys' school draws on 17 wards across Birmingham and Sandwell. The girls' school draws on 47 wards across Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull. A family can be inside the girls' catchment and well outside the boys'.
Does a sibling at Handsworth Girls help an application to Handsworth Boys?
Yes, and it works both ways. Both admission policies state that an older sibling on roll at the other Handsworth school counts as a valid sibling claim. Sibling status acts as a tie-breaker within an admissions category rather than as a category of its own.
How many places do the Handsworth schools offer?
The boys' school admits 150 pupils into Year 7 and the girls' school admits 192, according to their published 2026 admission policies.
What score do you need for Handsworth?
Both schools use the King Edward VI Foundation thresholds, which for 2026 entry were a qualifying score of 205 and a priority score of 224. Reaching the priority score matters most when combined with a catchment address for that particular school.