Welcome to our 2021 Virtual Sixth Form Open Evening!

Founded in 1862 King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School is the oldest Grammar School in Birmingham and enjoys a fine tradition of excellence and achievement. We are very much in and of our community being proud of our ethos, culture and traditions. We are part of the King Edward VI Foundation and our admissions at 11+ are managed by the Grammar Schools in Birmingham. We are creative, innovative and forward thinking as well as being conscious of our historical roots.

We aim to make a real and significant difference to the lives of each and every student we educate regardless of background. Every student has a vast array of clubs and societies that they can choose to join whatever their interest as well as being a member of a House with all the competition and friendly rivalry that brings. The extensive opportunities available are created by a school that has acknowledged excellence in a range of areas but which is able to balance the academic, pastoral and extracurricular needs of the community with that of the individuals that form its student body. We are fortunate to have  a talented and motivated staff who are able to nurture the best from each and every student.

Our students enjoy coming to school and they make excellent academic progress and reach high standards. Our GCSE and A Level results are testament to this with our sixth formers going on to study at the best universities such as Birmingham, Nottingham, Manchester, Warwick and Cambridge. We develop habits of resilience, questioning, thinking and collaboration. This enables our students to know what to do when they don’t know what to do. They are a force for good and use their knowledge to make informed decisions. We see this through the charity work that goes on at every level in the school and through the work of the School Council and volunteering programmes that run on a weekly basis.

In our most recent Ofsted inspection we were graded as Outstanding in every category. We do not rest on our laurels and constantly look to improve how we do things both in and out of the classroom. However at the heart of all we do is our community – people. Both students and staff. We are a genuinely happy school with students and staff working together in harmony. We have fun here and we often laugh together. We are not pretentious or arrogant. We recognise that choosing the right school is a difficult decision so please do look at what we offer here at HGS. When we are able to we will welcome you in person.

With my best wishes.

Stay safe.

Dr Simon Bird

How to Apply and Application Forms

Please click here for more information on how to apply.

Please click here for the external application form.

Please click here for the internal application form.

Please note that you will need to log in using your school supplied email address for the internal application.