Gwinnie, a five-year-old black cocker spaniel and fully trained gundog, didn’t fulfil her potential in the field, but has more than made up for it in her new role as a therapy dog to pupils at King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls, a selective grammar in Kings Heath, Birmingham. One of the King Edward VI Foundation schools, it has won the West Midlands Secondary School of the Year 2024. Gwinnie supports the students and encourages them outside at lunchtime for exercise and fresh air.
“Camp Hill Girls is culturally rich and diverse, welcoming students from an extraordinary range of backgrounds. We are proud of the inclusivity of our school and the fact that 25 per cent of our students are in receipt of pupil premium [government funding supporting schools with a disadvantaged cohort],” says the head teacher, Karen Stevens. “In line with the King Edward Promise, we are committed to removing barriers of disadvantage and enabling success for all.”
Academic achievement at this West Midlands state school compares favourably with some of the region’s leading independents. At A-level this summer 83.6 per cent of A-level grades were at A*-B, 60.2 per cent at A*-A, 17 students achieved 3 A* grades, and a super-clever crack force of 12 students secured places at Oxford or Cambridge.
Meanwhile, King Edward VI School in Stratford-upon-Avon, the top West Midlands state school last year, wins West Midlands Secondary School of the Year for Academic Performance 2024, and the Arden Academy in Solihull is West Midlands Comprehensive School of the Year. This high-performing 11-18 academy, part of the Arden Multi-Academy Trust, is now in the top 200 state schools nationally after soaring 40 places up to 167.
As well as achieving an impressive 90 per cent A*-B A-level pass rate, King Edward VI School, a selective school for boys with a co-ed sixth form, is also celebrating national success. In existence since 1295, and transforming its most famous former pupil, William Shakespeare, “from a provincial glover’s son to a true Renaissance European”, it has moved a precious place up the top 10 national state school rankings to number nine.
Advertisement
Breaking into the top 50 independent schools nationally for the first time this year (up from 59 to 48), is Concord College, the winner of the West Midlands Independent School of the Year 2024. Boarding fees at the international school in Shrewsbury, where there are 37 nationalities currently studying, broke through the £50,000 barrier earlier this year.
The principal, Dr Michael Truss, is proud of the school’s “super-curriculum”, which goes over and above standard syllabus options. This includes an innovative Form 3 (Year 9) preparing students for both GCSE courses and an international education. “In history, for example, students cover periods of interest from around the world,” he explains. “They study alongside friends from different countries. Learning about so many national histories brings exciting perspectives and enhances critical thinking.”
An honourable mention should also go to the Royal Grammar School Worcester (RGS), with its outstanding array of options to create a personalised curriculum, for an impressive rise up the national rankings from 192 to 139.
John Pitt, the headmaster, says his school is focused on the role of technology: “We introduced a digital learning programme in 2014 and we are leading the way in technology in education. We advise leading tech companies, conferences and other top schools about AI and its potential — and its pitfalls. Our pupils are developing the skills they will need for their bright futures ahead.”
In the academic hothouse of Birmingham, the King Edward VI Foundation, comprising six grammar schools, five (soon to be six) comprehensive academies serving some of the most disadvantaged areas of Birmingham, and a sponsoring charity (The Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham) that operates two independent schools — the all-boys King Edward’s School and King Edward VI High School for Girls — still dominates the West Midlands Parent Power honours.
Advertisement
King Edward VI High School for Girls once again wins West Midlands Independent School of the Year for Academic Performance 2024. It also jumps into the national top ten, rising five places from number 15 in 2023.
This year’s A-level results were better than any recorded before the Covid-19 pandemic, says Kirsty von Malaisé, principal of King Edward VI High School for Girls, including 43 per cent of grades at A* (36 per cent in 2019).
A design centre opened on campus in 2023, to support the delivery of GCSE design and technology and GCSE computer science, introduced as new subjects in September 2022. “Developing design skills and computing skills, including critical thinking and purposeful creativity, are vital components of innovation and complex problem solving,” von Malaisé says. “Girls’ schools have a particular role to play in supporting young people to develop such skills, ensuring equal access to a wide range of career opportunities, and the new design centre has been an exciting addition to our campus.”
Girls are getting ahead elsewhere in the West Midlands. Another independent, Edgbaston High School for Girls, in the eponymous affluent south Birmingham suburb, is celebrating a 129-place rise (from 283) in the national tables, falling just short of the top 150 at 154.
Best state and grammar schools in the West Midlands
Regional rank / school / national rank
Advertisement
1. King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon (9)
2. King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys, Birmingham (13=)
3. King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls, Birmingham (20)
4. Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls (29)
5. Stratford Girls’ Grammar School (30)
6. Rugby High School (47)
7. King Edward VI Five Ways School, Birmingham (48)
8. Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School, Sutton Coldfield (54)
9. Newport Girls’ High School (64)
10. St Paul’s School for Girls, Edgbaston (90)
Best comprehensive schools in the West Midlands
1. St Paul’s School for Girls, Edgbaston (90)
2. Arden Academy, Solihull (167=)
3. North Leamington School, Leamington Spa (172)
4. Kenilworth School (206)
5. Kings Norton Girls’ School and Sixth Form (209=)
Best private schools in the West Midlands
1. King Edward VI High School for Girls, Birmingham (10)
2. Concord College (48)
3. King Edward’s School, Birmingham (52)
4. King’s High School, Warwick (116=)
5. Solihull School (135)
6. RGS Worcester (139)
7. The King’s School, Worcester (143)
8. Wolverhampton Grammar School (152)
9. Edgbaston High School for Girls (154)
10. Warwick School (160)
If a school does not appear on the Parent Power league table it is most likely because it did not respond to our requests for its A-level and GCSE results and the results could not be found in the public domain.
School league tables 2024
Search for the best secondary schools and get tips for how to choose a good school
