11+ pass marks Birmingham: what score does your child need?

Every August, Birmingham 11+ results come out and the same questions follow: "What's the pass mark?" "Did we qualify?" "Will we get a place?" Here's how the King Edward VI consortium scoring actually works — and what the numbers mean.

Raw scores vs standardised scores

The KE Consortium 11+ doesn't report raw marks. Every paper (English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning) is age-standardised — meaning a younger Year 6 child gets a small upward adjustment to compensate for being up to 11 months younger than the oldest in the cohort.

Standardised scores from each paper are added to give a total out of about 280. That total determines whether your child qualifies.

What "qualifying" means

Qualifying means the consortium has placed your child in the pool for grammar-school offers. It doesn't mean they've got a place — that depends on the school's catchment tie-breaks after qualifying. A child can qualify but miss out on their preferred school.

Recent qualifying scores

Typical recent qualifying thresholds (these vary year to year):

• King Edward VI Camp Hill for Girls — around 224+
• King Edward VI Five Ways — around 220+
• King Edward VI Camp Hill for Boys — around 215+
• King Edward VI Aston — around 210+
• King Edward VI Handsworth — around 208+

After qualifying — catchment matters

Even with a high qualifying score, oversubscribed schools apply distance-based catchment as the tie-break. A 240 score from 8 miles away may not beat a 215 score from 1 mile away if the school is full.

Each KE school publishes its previous year's admissions report showing the lowest qualifying score that received an offer, and the maximum distance offered. These reports are the most useful planning tool you have.

What raw marks look like

Roughly, a 220+ standardised total corresponds to scoring 75–80% on each paper. That's the level we benchmark our 11+ tutoring against. See our 11+ mock exam guide for how we run honest, well-marked mocks across the year.

Should we appeal?

Birmingham has a published appeals process if your child qualified but didn't get a place at any of your preferred schools. Appeals are heard by an independent panel and decided on individual circumstances. Realistic success rates are low (<10%) — but worth pursuing if there are genuinely exceptional circumstances.