King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon has its own admissions pattern, and the right preparation follows it. Prep that fits how this school actually selects will always beat generic 11+ cramming, so this guide walks through the exact test KES Stratford uses, what it assesses, a realistic build-up for a Year 4, 5 or 6 pupil, and how to turn every part of it into free timed practice. The single most important thing to get right is that KES Stratford selects through the Warwickshire grammar test, a GL Assessment paper — and GL is the most learnable of all the 11+ boards, because its question types are published and stable.
About King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon
Famously William Shakespeare's school, KES Stratford traces its origins to 1295 and is now a mixed grammar. It sits within the cluster of selective state schools concentrated around Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, and selection is by the Warwickshire grammar test. That long heritage matters for one practical reason: it is a genuinely oversubscribed, well-known school, so a comfortable qualifying score is the realistic target rather than a bare pass.
- Location: Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire
- Intake: Mixed
- Founded: 1295
- Type: Foundation grammar
- Admissions test: Warwickshire grammar test (GL Assessment)
Always confirm this year's exact registration dates, catchment rules and open-day details on the school's own site, kes.net, which is the authority for admissions policy. You can also see our full school profile and browse nearby selective schools in our grammar school directory.
How selection works at King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon
KES Stratford admits pupils through the Warwickshire grammar test, produced by GL Assessment. GL is now the dominant 11+ provider across most of England, and its Warwickshire paper follows the familiar GL pattern: multiple-choice questions answered by marking A–E on a separate answer sheet, no calculator, and tightly timed sections at roughly a minute a question. The test is normally sat in early autumn of Year 6, with registration in the preceding summer term, so the practice window is Year 5 into the start of Year 6.
The Warwickshire test assesses the standard grammar-school skill areas: English/comprehension, Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning, usually combined across the papers rather than sat as four separate subject exams. Scores are age-standardised — the raw mark is adjusted for a child's exact age in months, so a summer-born child is not penalised for being younger than an autumn-born classmate — and a qualifying standardised score is what a child needs to be considered for a place. We do not publish a specific KES Stratford pass mark because these vary by year and by the number of applicants; treat the official school and Warwickshire County Council pages as the definitive source, and aim for a clear, comfortable margin rather than the exact threshold.
What to practise for this test
Because it is a GL paper, the winning strategy is type-by-type drilling. GL Verbal Reasoning uses a fixed menu of roughly 21 named question types — letter and number series, codes, hidden words, analogies, odd-one-out, closest-meaning and opposites, compound words, move-a-letter and word logic — and each one is a repeatable pattern your child can master. GL Non-Verbal Reasoning covers series, matrices, analogies, odd-one-out, reflections, rotations and cube nets. Maths sits at or below the Year 5 curriculum ceiling, with a premium on speed and accuracy in arithmetic, fractions, ratio and word problems, while English rewards a wide vocabulary and careful comprehension.
- Verbal Reasoning: drill every named type until it is automatic — start with our GL Assessment practice papers.
- Non-Verbal Reasoning: rotations, reflections and cube-net folding respond hugely to repetition; pull sets from the free worksheet library.
- Maths: fast, secure times tables and mental arithmetic — build fluency with timed worksheets rather than long untimed exercises.
- English: daily reading plus a running vocabulary list; comprehension is the highest-value section to get right.
- Full papers: once the types are secure, sit complete timed mock papers to build stamina and pace.
The most effective vocabulary work is simply wide reading with a notebook of unfamiliar words, because vocabulary is the single best predictor of verbal-reasoning and comprehension scores.
A realistic preparation timeline
Good preparation is spread out and calm, not crammed. Here is a sensible build-up that assumes no invented dates — always check the live windows on kes.net and our key dates page.
- Year 4 into the summer: daily reading for pleasure, times tables to 12×12, and mental-maths games. No formal papers yet — the goal is confident foundations.
- Year 5 autumn: begin 15–20 minutes of daily topic practice, introducing one verbal- and one non-verbal-reasoning type at a time using the free worksheets.
- Year 5 spring: broaden across all four skill areas and start noting which section is weakest. This is when registration information for the autumn test is confirmed — diarise it.
- Year 5 summer into Year 6: one full timed mock paper a week; review the errors far more carefully than the score.
- Final six weeks before the test: switch to centre-specific mocks in the GL/Warwickshire format so the layout and timing feel routine.
On the day and after
By test day the aim is composure, not last-minute learning. A child who has sat ten timed mocks at the kitchen table treats the real hall as the eleventh. Practical tips: a good night's sleep beats late revision; eat a proper breakfast; arrive early so the room feels calm; and rehearse the answer-sheet routine so transferring A–E answers costs no thinking time. During the paper, teach your child to move on from any stuck question and come back — GL papers reward finishing, and marks lost to time are the most avoidable. Afterwards, resist quizzing them on individual questions; results are age-standardised and released by the local authority, so there is nothing to gain from anxious guessing. Whatever the outcome, the reading, reasoning and resilience built along the way carry straight into secondary school.
Frequently asked questions
Which exam board does King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon use?
KES Stratford selects through the Warwickshire grammar test, which is set by GL Assessment. That means multiple-choice papers, A–E answer sheets and tightly timed sections — the standard GL format.
What subjects are on the Warwickshire grammar test?
The four grammar-school skill areas: English/comprehension, Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning, generally combined across the papers rather than sat as separate subject exams.
What score does my child need to get in?
Scores are age-standardised and the qualifying mark varies year to year with the number of applicants, so we do not publish a fixed figure. Check the school and Warwickshire County Council pages, and aim for a comfortable margin above the threshold.