Top secondary schools in Birmingham: Sunday Times School Guide reveals best state schools in Parent Power survey

Top state secondary schools have been revealed, according to Sunday Times
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he top state secondary schools in the West Midlands have been revealed in Parent Power, The Sunday Times’ Schools Guide 2022.

The 29th edition of the Parent Power list identifies the UK’s highest-achieving schools ranked by their examination results from 2017-2019. Some 1,700 schools are included nationally.

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The guide allows parents to study the rankings and make informed decisions when it comes to applying for school places for their children.

As well as assessment of all academic results on a school-by-school basis, Parent Power enables parents to compare the performance of a given school with other schools in the same town, local authority or nationally. There are also live links to school websites and schools’ most recent inspection reports.

The Sunday Times’ full West Midlands list included schools in Stratford, Wolverhampton, Newport and Walsall.

Top of the pile for state secondary schools in the West Midlands is King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys, ahead of its sister school King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls in second place.

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At the boys’ school, 87.1 per cent of grades were between A*-B at A-level, whilst at GCSE 86 per cent were between 9-7 – formerly A*-A - to rank it tenth nationally.

The girls’ school at the Kings Heath site boasted rankings of 82 per cent of grades between A*-B at A-level and 85.9 per cent between 9-7 for GCSEs to sit 19th nationally.

Other Birmingham schools inside the top ten are Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls in fourth place with A-level figures as above of 80.6 per cent and GCSE figures of 75.6, whilst another Sutton Coldfield school – Bishop Vesey’s Grammar – is sixth with 79.8 per cent (A-level A*-B) and 70.3 per cent (GCSE 9-7).

King Edward VI Five Ways School is eighth in the West Midlands with figures of 71.8 per cent (A-level) and 72.2 per cent (GCSE).

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Only schools which published their results between 2017-2019 or disclosed them to The Sunday Times have been included in this edition of The Sunday Times Schools Guide. Examination outcomes from 2020 and 2021 have not been used in determining this year’s Parent Power rankings.

Alastair McCall, editor of Parent Power, said: “The need for clarity about school examination performance has never been greater after two years of teacher-assessed grades, during which, for completely understandable reasons, the numbers of top grades increased dramatically.

“We felt it was important to go back to the last sets of moderated public examination outcomes from 2019, 2018 and 2017 to get the most accurate and current view of school academic achievement. By taking a three-year average, we mitigated against relatively poor performance in a one-off year.

“At a time when some schools are making hard to substantiate claims of academic prowess based on outcomes from 2021 and 2020, we believe these rankings – and all the additional information on offer in Parent Power – provide parents with a more reliable guide to academic achievement in schools today.”

The top secondary schools in Birmingham according to the Sunday Times Parent Power surveyThe top secondary schools in Birmingham according to the Sunday Times Parent Power survey
The top secondary schools in Birmingham according to the Sunday Times Parent Power survey

What about the independent schools?

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In the independent secondary schools rankings, Edgbaston’s King Edward VI High School for Girls took top spot with 92.1 per cent (A-level) and 94.6 (GCSE) and sister school King Edward’s was third with 92.7 per cent (A-level) and 86.6 per cent (GCSE).

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