King Edward VI Aston is a boys' grammar school on Frederick Road in Aston, and it admits 140 pupils into Year 7. It uses the King Edward VI Foundation thresholds, so for 2026 entry the qualifying score was 205 and the priority score 224 (King Edward VI Foundation, results and offers).
What sets Aston apart is not the score. It is the map. Aston's catchment covers thirty electoral wards across two local authorities, twenty six in Birmingham and four in Solihull (Aston admission policy 2026). That is the widest catchment of any Foundation grammar school covered on this site, and it includes every Sutton Coldfield ward.
What makes Aston different
Three things, and all of them are geography rather than academics.
First, the sheer reach. Thirty wards is nearly double Camp Hill's eighteen and more than twice Five Ways' fifteen. Second, it crosses a council boundary: four Solihull wards (Castle Bromwich, Chelmsley Wood, Kingshurst and Fordbridge, and Smith's Wood) sit inside it, so a Solihull family can be in catchment for a Birmingham grammar school. Third, all eight Sutton Coldfield wards are in Aston's catchment, which matters because Sutton families often assume their only realistic grammar options are the two Sutton schools.
Aston is also, unlike Camp Hill, not paired with a sister school. Its policy contains no clause making a sibling at another King Edward VI school a valid sibling claim. Sibling priority at Aston means a sibling at Aston (Aston admission policy 2026). At Camp Hill the boys' and girls' schools do count for each other, so do not carry that assumption across.
The catchment, ward by ward
Catchment is defined by electoral ward, not by distance from the gates. These are the thirty, exactly as the policy lists them.
| Authority | Wards in the Aston catchment |
|---|---|
| Birmingham (26) | Alum Rock, Aston, Bromford & Hodge Hill, Castle Vale, Erdington, Garretts Green, Glebe Farm & Tile Cross, Gravelly Hill, Heartlands, Nechells, Perry Common, Pype Hayes, Shard End, Sheldon, Stockland Green, Sutton Four Oaks, Sutton Mere Green, Sutton Reddicap, Sutton Roughley, Sutton Trinity, Sutton Vesey, Sutton Walmley & Minworth, Sutton Wylde Green, Ward End, Yardley East, Yardley West & Stechford |
| Solihull (4) | Castle Bromwich, Chelmsley Wood, Kingshurst & Fordbridge, Smith's Wood |
Check your ward on your local authority's website rather than guessing from a postcode. Ward boundaries rarely follow the lines families expect, and with a catchment this large the boundary is a long way from the school in several directions.
The Foundation catchments do not overlap
This is the single most useful thing to understand before you rank preferences, and it surprises most families. The Foundation's grammar schools carve the city up between them. Their catchments do not overlap at all.
| School | Year 7 places | Catchment | Area covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aston (boys) | 140 | 30 wards | North and east Birmingham, all of Sutton Coldfield, plus four Solihull wards |
| Camp Hill (boys and girls) | 120 and 150 | 18 wards | South and east Birmingham, Birmingham only |
| Five Ways (co-ed) | 180 | 15 wards | South west Birmingham plus three Sandwell wards |
I compared the three ward lists directly (Aston admission policy 2026, Camp Hill for Boys policy, Five Ways policy). There is not a single ward shared between any two of them. In practice that means you are realistically in catchment for one Foundation grammar school, not several, and which one is decided entirely by your address.
So the common plan of naming several Foundation schools and hoping catchment helps somewhere does not work the way families expect. Outside your one catchment school you compete in the final category on test score alone. There is more on how those categories interact in the catchment and priority scores guide.
How places are allocated
When there are more qualified applicants than places, Aston works through these categories in order (Aston admission policy 2026):
- 1. Looked after and previously looked after children who achieve the qualifying score, ranked by test score then distance.
- 2. Pupil premium boys who achieve the qualifying score and live inside the catchment, ranked by distance.
- 3. Pupil premium boys outside the catchment, used only if category 2 filled fewer than 25% of places, until 25% is reached, ranked by test score.
- 4. Boys achieving the priority score who live inside the catchment, with sibling priority, then ranked by distance.
- 5. Everyone else achieving the qualifying score, ranked by test score, then sibling, then distance.
The structure is the same as the other Foundation schools: pupil premium sits above the catchment-plus-priority category with up to a quarter of places reserved, and reaching 224 from outside the catchment does not reach category 4 at all.
What this means for your application
If you live in one of those thirty wards, Aston is your Foundation catchment school and category 4 is the realistic target, so aim clear of 224 rather than at it. If you live outside them, you are in category 5 on test score alone, and no amount of proximity changes that.
For Sutton Coldfield families in particular, it is worth knowing that Aston sits alongside the two Sutton schools as an in-catchment option rather than a long shot. And remember that registering for the entrance test is not the same as naming the school on your local authority preference form. Both are required.
Do not choose a school based solely on its name
One thing I often point out to families in Sutton Coldfield is that King Edward VI Aston can sometimes be overlooked when parents are thinking about grammar school options for their son.
If you live in the right part of the West Midlands, Aston may be an in-catchment option, so it is important to understand the admissions arrangements and catchment requirements before making assumptions about which schools are realistically available.
I always advise parents not to focus purely on a school's reputation or league-table position. The more important question is whether the school is the right fit for your child and whether the journey, school environment and academic expectations work for your family.
My advice as a tutor is simple: don't choose a school based solely on its name. Understand your options, check the admissions criteria carefully, visit the schools where possible, and then consider which environment is going to allow your son to perform at his best.
Mushtaque Ahmed, Founder of GrammarPath and Bright Mentors
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Frequently asked questions
How many places does King Edward VI Aston offer?
Aston admits 140 boys into Year 7, as set out in its published 2026 admission policy. The school is an academy for boys aged 11 to 18 and is a King Edward VI Foundation grammar school.
What is the catchment area for King Edward VI Aston?
Aston's catchment covers thirty electoral wards: twenty six in Birmingham (including all eight Sutton Coldfield wards) and four in Solihull, namely Castle Bromwich, Chelmsley Wood, Kingshurst and Fordbridge, and Smith's Wood. Catchment is defined by ward rather than by distance from the school.
Is Sutton Coldfield in the Aston catchment?
Yes. All eight Sutton Coldfield wards (Four Oaks, Mere Green, Reddicap, Roughley, Trinity, Vesey, Walmley and Minworth, and Wylde Green) fall inside King Edward VI Aston's catchment area, so Sutton families are in-catchment applicants there.
Can I be in catchment for more than one King Edward VI school?
No. The Foundation's grammar school catchments do not overlap. Comparing the published ward lists for Aston, Camp Hill and Five Ways shows no ward appears in more than one, so a single address falls inside at most one Foundation catchment.
Does a sibling at another King Edward VI school help at Aston?
No. Aston's admission policy defines sibling priority as a sibling on roll at Aston itself, and contains no clause extending it to other King Edward VI schools. This differs from the two Camp Hill schools, whose policies explicitly count a sibling at the other Camp Hill school as a valid claim.
What score do you need for King Edward VI Aston?
Aston uses the 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, because that combination places an application in a higher ranked category.