King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon is a boys' grammar school with 87 places in Year 7 and a co-educational sixth form. That is the smallest Year 7 intake of any school in the West Midlands partnership.
Worth stating plainly, because the co-educational sixth form leads people to assume the whole school is mixed. It is not.
The numbers
| What | King Edward VI School, Stratford |
|---|---|
| Places in Year 7 | 87, for 2026 entry |
| Intake | Boys only in Year 7 |
| Sixth form | Co-educational |
| Entrance test | The shared West Midlands partnership test |
| Qualifying score | Set after the test by the Committee of Reference |
| Priority area | Circles drawn from the Fountain in Rother Street, Stratford |
From the school's determined admissions policy for 2026, which designates it a single sex grammar school for boys under section 104 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, with a co-educational sixth form. Confirm current figures with King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon or Warwickshire School Admissions.
Eighty-seven places
This is the number to sit with. Eighty-seven is roughly half the intake of Camp Hill Girls and less than half that of Handsworth Girls.
A small intake does not make the test harder, but it does make the queue shorter. Where a school admitting 192 serves a long way down its ranked list, a school admitting 87 does not, and the score that actually secures a place reflects that.
So do not read a small, historic, well-regarded school as a safe option. Read it as a competitive one.
Nobody can tell you the pass mark, and that is by design
Warwickshire does not publish a qualifying score in advance. A Committee of Reference sets two figures for each school, for each year of entry, after the test has been sat:
- the Automatic Qualifying Score, which puts a child in line for a place, and
- a lower Required Minimum Academic Standard, which governs the waiting list.
The Committee considers the aptitude of that year's cohort, the oversubscription categories and the number of places available, and allocates in line with the published admission number where it judges those children comparable to cohorts previously admitted.
So there is no target to prepare against. And the second figure is genuinely good news: a child below the AQS is not finished, because the lower standard governs the waiting list.
The co-educational sixth form
Girls can join at 16 even though Year 7 is boys only, which gives families two quite different entry points to think about.
For a daughter, this is a Year 12 option rather than an 11+ one. For a son, it means the school he joins at eleven becomes mixed when he reaches the sixth form. Either way it is worth understanding before you rank anything.
From Birmingham
Stratford is about 25 miles from central Birmingham, which makes this cluster, alongside Stratford Girls' and Alcester, the workable part of Warwickshire for families in the south of the city and in Solihull.
From the north of Birmingham it is not a daily journey I would encourage. See our guide to all six Warwickshire schools.
See where your child stands today
Timed sections in the GL Assessment format, marked instantly, with a topic-by-topic breakdown. No sign-up to start.
Eighty-seven places is the whole story
If you take one number from this page, take that one. Eighty-seven is the smallest Year 7 intake in the entire partnership, and it changes how you should read everything else about the school.
Families see a small, old, well-regarded grammar school and read it as a comfortable choice. In admissions terms it is the opposite. Fewer places means the ranked list is served less far down, and it means fewer vacancies later if you are hoping to join after Year 7.
The other thing I would make sure of is the obvious one: Year 7 here is boys only. The co-educational sixth form confuses people, and I would hate a family to build a plan for a daughter around a school she cannot join until she is sixteen.
Mushtaque Ahmed, Founder of GrammarPath and Bright Mentors
Frequently asked questions
Is King Edward VI School Stratford a boys' school?
Yes for Year 7. Its determined admissions policy designates it a single sex grammar school for boys under section 104 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, with a co-educational sixth form. The mixed sixth form leads many families to assume the whole school is co-ed.
How many places does King Edward VI School Stratford have?
87 places in Year 7 for 2026 entry, the smallest Year 7 intake of any school in the West Midlands partnership. That is roughly half the intake of Camp Hill School for Girls.
Does a small intake make a school harder to get into?
It does not make the test harder, but it makes the queue shorter. A school admitting 192 serves a long way down its ranked list; one admitting 87 does not, and the score that actually secures a place reflects that.
Can girls attend King Edward VI School Stratford?
In the sixth form, yes, since it is co-educational from Year 12. Year 7 entry is boys only, so for a daughter this is a 16+ option rather than an 11+ one.
What is the priority area for King Edward VI School Stratford?
Circles drawn from the Fountain in Rother Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, under Warwickshire's area priority system. Confirm whether a specific address falls inside with Warwickshire School Admissions rather than judging from a map.