If you're applying to a Birmingham grammar school — including the four King Edward foundation schools — your child sits the Birmingham CSA (Consortium for Selective Education) test, used by all eight schools in the consortium.
Which schools use the Birmingham CSA?
- King Edward VI Aston
- King Edward VI Camp Hill (Boys and Girls)
- King Edward VI Five Ways
- King Edward VI Handsworth (Girls)
- King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys
- Bishop Vesey's Grammar
- Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls
You sit one test for all of them and rank your preferences.
Test structure
The Birmingham CSA test has two papers, sat in mid-September of Year 6:
- Paper 1 — Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning (mixed, ~45 min).
- Paper 2 — English comprehension and Mathematics (mixed, ~45 min).
Multiple-choice throughout. Marked by computer.
The qualifying score
Children need around 220 out of 280 to qualify, but most King Edward schools effectively select from the top 15% — so the practical pass mark is higher. KEHS and Camp Hill regularly require 240+.
What works in preparation
- The mixed-paper format means practice should be mixed too — don't drill subjects in long single-subject blocks.
- The vocabulary range is wide. Read challenging fiction (Cornelia Funke, Eva Ibbotson, Philip Pullman) from Year 4.
- NVR carries real weight. Many children find it the make-or-break section.
Quest Arena's free mock library includes Birmingham-style mixed papers and a full NVR practice set.