Families targeting King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys ask the same first question: what exactly should we practise? The honest answer is that good preparation is not generic — it fits how this particular school selects its intake. Camp Hill Boys chooses pupils through the King Edward VI Foundation common entrance test, set by GL Assessment, so your practice needs to mirror that board's format, subjects and pace. This guide walks through the test, the skills it rewards, a realistic timeline, and how to use Quest Arena's free worksheets and mocks to build a confident, well-drilled candidate.
About King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys
Camp Hill Boys is one of the highest-achieving state schools in the country, sitting on a shared site with Camp Hill Girls in south Birmingham. Selection is by the King Edward VI Foundation common entrance test — the same test used across the six King Edward VI Foundation grammar schools plus the Sutton Coldfield pair (Bishop Vesey's Grammar School and Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls), eight schools sharing one test in all — with the exam held in September. Because it is a foundation grammar rather than a stand-alone local-authority school, admission is competitive and heavily oversubscribed, and a strong test performance is central to securing a place.
- Location: Birmingham, West Midlands
- Intake: Boys (Mixed Sixth Form)
- Founded: 1883
- Type: Foundation Grammar (King Edward VI Foundation)
- Admissions test: King Edward VI common entrance test (GL Assessment)
For open-day dates, catchment and priority-area rules, and the exact registration deadline for your child's year, always treat the school's own site as the authority: camphillboys.bham.sch.uk. You can also read our full school profile and compare it with other selective options in the grammar school directory.
How selection works at King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys
The King Edward VI common entrance test is produced by GL Assessment, the UK's now-dominant 11+ provider. Across the King Edward VI Foundation schools, the test is a single sitting made up of two roughly 50-minute papers that blend all four core skill areas — English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning — rather than testing each subject in a separate booklet. Children sit the same test regardless of which foundation schools they apply to, and a shared application covers the whole group, so preparation for Camp Hill Boys doubles as preparation for the other King Edward VI grammars.
GL papers are multiple-choice: answers are marked A–E on a separate sheet, questions come at roughly a minute each, and no calculator is allowed. Results are reported as an age-standardised score, which adjusts for a child's exact age in months so that a summer-born pupil is not disadvantaged against an autumn-born classmate. We do not publish a guaranteed pass mark because the qualifying threshold and the rank needed for an offer move year to year with the strength of the cohort — always confirm the current arrangements on the school's website.
The good news for planning is that GL is the most learnable of the boards. Its question types are published and stable, so systematic type-by-type practice pays off directly. You can see the exact format on our GL Assessment papers page.
What to practise for this test
Because the foundation test blends four skills, a balanced plan matters more than heavy work on any single subject. Here is what each area demands and where to build it for free.
- English: comprehension of an unseen passage plus spelling, grammar and vocabulary. Wide reading is the single best long-term investment. Drill technique with the free worksheet library.
- Maths: KS2 arithmetic, fractions, percentages, ratio, and multi-step word problems — up to about the Year 5 curriculum ceiling, done at speed and without a calculator.
- Verbal Reasoning: the GL bank of around 21 named question types — codes, letter sequences, hidden words, analogies, odd-one-out, closest-meaning and opposites, compound words, move-a-letter and number series. Strong vocabulary underpins most of them.
- Non-Verbal Reasoning: series, matrices, analogies, odd-one-out, reflections, rotations and cube nets — pattern spotting under time pressure.
Drill each named type until it is automatic, then stitch them together in full timed papers from the mock papers library. In the final phase, switch to centre-specific mocks built to mirror the real Birmingham foundation format, so test day feels familiar rather than new.
A realistic preparation timeline
The strongest candidates are not crammed in the summer before the test; they are built steadily over two years. There are no invented dates below — check the exact registration window each year on the school site and our key dates page.
- Year 4: daily reading for pleasure, times tables secure to 12×12, and confident number bonds. No formal papers yet — the aim is a broad vocabulary and comfort with mental arithmetic.
- Year 5 autumn: begin 15–20 minutes of daily topic practice using the free worksheets, introducing one reasoning type at a time.
- Year 5 spring and summer: keep building vocabulary, start short timed sections, and note when foundation registration opens — the test itself falls in September of Year 6, so the application window closes months earlier.
- Year 6 start (test term): one full timed mock a week, reviewing errors far more carefully than scores, then centre-format papers in the closing weeks.
On the day and after
By September of Year 6 the work is done; the job now is a calm, well-rested child. Practical tips that genuinely help:
- Practise the mechanics of a separate OMR answer sheet beforehand so filling bubbles never eats time in the hall.
- Teach a simple rule for hard questions: mark a sensible answer, flag it, move on, and return if time allows — never let one question sink a whole section.
- Keep the night before ordinary — a normal bedtime beats late revision.
- After the test, avoid picking apart every answer. Results are reported later as a standardised score, and an offer depends on the whole cohort, so nothing is gained by re-living the paper.
If Camp Hill Boys is not the outcome, remember there are strong routes at appeal and through other schools; the grammar directory and our revision hub can help you plan next steps.
Frequently asked questions
Which exam board does King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys use?
GL Assessment. The King Edward VI Foundation common entrance test is a GL paper covering English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning, sat in September of Year 6.
Do I have to apply to each King Edward VI school separately?
No — the foundation grammars share one common entrance test and a joint application, so a single sitting is considered by Camp Hill Boys and the other King Edward VI schools you list. Confirm the current process on camphillboys.bham.sch.uk.
What score does my child need to pass?
There is no fixed public pass mark. Scores are age-standardised and the rank needed for an offer shifts each year with the strength of the applicants, so we never quote a number. Focus on consistent timed performance rather than chasing a target figure.