King Edward VI School in Stratford-upon-Avon is a state-funded selective school for boys, and boys enter at eleven on the shared West Midlands entrance test. This page covers King Edward VI School entry at eleven by the GL Assessment test, for children now in Year 3 to Year 5, and not sixth form, fees or A levels.
How far back does Shakespeare's School go?
Further than almost any school a Warwickshire family will look at. The school traces its origins to May 1295, when the Register of Deacons of the Diocese of Worcester recorded the ordination of Richard as rector scholarum. It was established by the Guild of the Holy Cross.
The building is older than the charter, and the school is older than both.
From "How far back does Shakespeare's School go?"
The Guildhall was built in 1417 as a two-storey feast-hall for Stratford's Guild of the Holy Cross. Edward VI granted a Royal Charter in 1553, making the Guildhall the school's headquarters and assuring its future, which is where the school takes its name from.
William Shakespeare was educated in a room in the Upper Guildhall in the 1570s, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and attended the school in that decade. The room is still called Big School. That is why the school is widely known as Shakespeare's School.
Who is eligible at eleven?
Boys. The homepage states it flatly: a state-funded Academy Trust selective school for boys with a co-educational Sixth Form. So the intake at eleven is boys, and girls join at sixteen rather than at the start of Year 7.
It runs its own academy company, The Grammar School of King Edward VI at Stratford-upon-Avon, and is not part of a multi academy trust. Its stated mission is an exceptional all-round education which guides students to lead fulfilling lives and demonstrate principled leadership and active global citizenship.
The oldest thing about this school is not its entrance route. Whatever the Guildhall suggests, admission at eleven runs through the same modern shared test as every other partnership school, and King Edward VI sets no paper of its own. A boy who is not offered a place here is not out of the running elsewhere either, because the same result travels to every partnership school the family named when they registered.
What is the entrance test, and when is it sat?
One test, taken once. The school belongs to the West Midlands Grammar Schools Partnership, and every candidate sits the shared entrance test in the September of Year 6. The result then goes to each partnership school the family has named at registration. The paper itself is set by GL Assessment, the assessment publisher the partnership uses, so the format is the same at every school in the group.
Registration happens earlier and is easy to miss: online, by a parent, in the summer term of Year 5. It closes well before the test itself. Primary schools do not handle it and cannot be relied on to remind you, and there is no second attempt within the same year.
Two separate jobs: registering with the partnership in Year 5 puts your son in for the test. Applying for a school place is a different task, taken with your local council in the autumn of Year 6. Neither one does the work of the other, and both have to be done.
What is in the papers, and what should we practise?
Two papers, multiple choice, each running to roughly fifty to sixty minutes with the instructions and worked examples inside that. Both mix the areas rather than taking one subject each: English comprehension, verbal reasoning, mathematics, and non-verbal reasoning including spatial questions.
Half the result rides on English and verbal reasoning together, with a quarter each to mathematics and non-verbal reasoning. Reading is therefore the highest-yield preparation available and the slowest to pay out. Vocabulary in particular cannot be crammed, which is why boys who started reading widely in Year 4 tend to arrive in a different position. Non-verbal reasoning pays out fastest, then flattens once the question types are familiar.
Rehearse the mechanics as well as the content. Answers go on a separate sheet, and one misplaced row can undo a page of correct work. Practise moving between question types at speed too, because both papers demand exactly that inside a single sitting.
Check this first: nothing on this page is a number, a score, a date or a catchment description, because those are reset every cycle and a stale version is worse than none at all. The current ones live in two places:
King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon official website and the partnership's own site. Check the school's official admissions page for this year's figures.
Pathway Eleven has no connection to King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon, to the partnership or to any admissions authority. We cannot register a child, confirm eligibility, or say anything about catchment or your chances. Pathway Eleven is an independent service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by GL Assessment.
Common questions about King Edward VI School entry
Does King Edward VI School take girls?+
At eleven, no. The school describes itself on its own homepage as a state-funded Academy Trust selective school for boys with a co-educational Sixth Form, so girls join at sixteen rather than at eleven. The intake into Year 7 through the shared entrance test is boys only.
Why is it called Shakespeare's School?+
Because William Shakespeare was educated there. The school says he attended in the 1570s and was taught in a room in the Upper Guildhall, still known as Big School. The school now brands itself King Edward VI Shakespeare's School on that basis.
Is there a separate King Edward VI entrance exam?+
No. The school is part of the West Midlands Grammar Schools Partnership and uses the shared entrance test, sat once in the September of Year 6. The same result reaches every partnership school the family listed when they registered in Year 5.
Other schools in this consortium
King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon belongs to the partnership's Warwickshire group. A child sits the shared test once, and the result reaches each of these schools if you name them.
- Lawrence Sheriff School, boys, in Rugby, Warwickshire.
- Rugby High School, girls, in Rugby, Warwickshire.
- Stratford Girls' Grammar School, girls, in Stratford-upon-Avon.
- Alcester Grammar School, mixed, in Alcester, Warwickshire.
- Ashlawn School, mixed, in Hillmorton, Rugby.
Where to go next
- The West Midlands 11 plus entrance test, the shared test in detail, school by school.
- 11 plus preparation in Year 5, what to do in the year the registration closes.
- 11 plus verbal reasoning question types, part of the half that carries the most weight.
- All Pathway Eleven guides, every topic, in one place, written for parents.