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Our View
We were floored by the pace, variety of life and buzzing sense of activity at this aspirational and inspirational multicultural all-girls day school in leafy Edgbaston, just to the south of central Birmingham. Girls zip in all directions across the compact campus, out along the 10-minute walk to the sports fields and move seamlessly up to the senior school (the whole school shares the same campus and even some teachers).
Where?
The school is located among pristine residential streets in the suburbs of Edgbaston. The school’s 14-acre campus is long, narrow and full, meaning the space is used very efficiently. The prep building is tucked behind the senior school and is housed over three floors, with Years 1 and 2 on the lower ground, giving them easy access to the playground; Years 5 and 6 on the ground floor; and Years 3 and 4 on the first floor. Westbourne, the pre-prep, has its own lovely, purpose-built space with specialist play areas, ICT facilities and an outdoor classroom.
Edgbaston High School (EHS) is easily accessible along main roads from the M5, and public transport options are outstanding, with good rail and bus links. There is also a big school bus from Sutton Coldfield and four minibus routes across the city. A joint school bus with all-boys West House Prep is great for siblings.
Head
After 14 years at the helm, prep and pre-prep school head Sally Hartley retired in July 2024. New head Nina Hobson took over the role in September 2024, arriving from her previous role as head of prep and pre-prep at RGS Dodderhill. Before that, she worked at both RGS The Grange and King’s St Alban’s in Worcester. Nina will work closely with Clare Macro, the head of school.
Admissions
Life at Edgbaston High begins at Westbourne. Many girls start here at 2½ and stay on all the way through to the sixth form, but others arrive from a broad range of other pre-preps, which really helps to fuel the diverse, energetic and enthusiastic feeling that permeated the school throughout our visit.
Thankfully, you don’t need to be queueing up before your child is born to register. That said, it’s a good idea to get in fairly early as places can fill up quickly – particularly as it’s the only all-girls option in the area. All applicants are invited to an assessment day, which gets more academic as girls move up the school (there's equal value placed on both written assessments and teacher evaluation to help the school suss out potential). ‘Prep admissions are not about pass or fail, but more about the fit, as early years experiences are all very different,’ Mrs Hartley told us.
Academics and senior school destinations
With a curriculum designed to support and develop talent, and a focus on fostering a genuine joy in learning, EHS excels in balancing academic necessities with each pupil’s individual passions and needs. Everywhere here feels busy and productive, from the classrooms and the dance studios to the swimming pool. Everyone we spoke to, including our brilliant guides, talked about the enormous variety of options available to pupils.
More specialist teaching is introduced as the girls move up the school, gently getting them used to having multiple teachers. Science is particularly well served – from Year 4, pupils have a specialist teacher teaching them in a fully equipped laboratory. ‘Science is important for the girls as it is such a male-dominated world,’ says Mrs Hartley.
There is a dedicated prep school library as well as libraries for each year group, and a bookshop housed in a series of units. The school has bought all the books, which the girls buy using their established accounts (so they do a bit of maths too by working out the balance). Computing is woven into the curriculum, with two specialist IT suites for Years 1 to 2 and 3 to 6. We popped into a Year 6 class that was doing stop-motion animation, database work and spreadsheets. Languages include French, Latin, Spanish and German, and there is a dedicated language room used by all.
Regular assessments mean pupils get used to being tested in preparation for senior school. It’s another way that EHS really builds its girls’ confidence. We also love the academic challenges that are always on the go – it was based on World Chocolate Day on our visit.
Many girls continue to the senior school, where they make up a good proportion of the incoming cohort each year. Others head off to grammar schools, and recently EHS has added a bit more 11+ assistance – although Mrs Hartley bemoans the pressure the exam puts on the Year 6s: ‘It’s a very long, drawn-out process.’
Co-curricular
There’s a fabulous range of competitive sports on offer, with teams in netball, tennis, rounders, swimming, athletics, cross-country and gymnastics (fixtures are generally on Saturdays or after school). Swimming is particularly popular, helped by the on-site pool. From Reception upwards, pupils have lessons termly, with lunchtime support sessions for those who are less confident. The school swim squad made it into the national finals of the English Schools Swimming Association last year. Netball is gaining in popularity too, which has led the school to set up a netball development squad in addition to the regular squad. The weekly clubs are well attended and last year they went on a residential weekend to Shrewsbury. Yoga classes see younger pupils doing ‘stories with poses’ and older ones practising ‘nature’ poses.
Music is popular and thriving – there are three choirs, an orchestra and numerous ensembles such as wind, string, brass, recorder and guitar. Junior girls play their part in school concerts and festivals and are given a wealth of performing opportunities including assemblies and, in their final year, an annual production involving staff from the school's music department. A huge new art room overlooks the senior school so the girls can see the older pupils and feel a sense of inclusion. Year 6 puts on a leavers’ play in the spring term, after which they have a ‘lovely programme of enrichment’ during the summer term, Mrs Hartley tells us, where they throw themselves into activities such as dog agility, reflexology and bike ability.
There is a good range of clubs, covering everything from fencing and karate to gardening and Lego, as well as a few more academic options – Mandarin, thinking skills, French, history and classics. Mahjong club might soon join the mix too.
There is an admirable emphasis on charity, with weekly donation drives alongside loads of specific fundraising events, from a ‘Pink Day’ for Breast Cancer Care to a readathon for sick and disabled children.
School community
Staff talk to the girls a lot about making a difference, recognising what they’re good at and reflecting on what they can do to get better. There’s a real ethos of discussion and sharing, which is evident when you visit. The sense of community is strong. Recently there was a diversity day based around Sunflower Sisters, a book by a parent about skin colour. Each year group had their own sunflower in the hall, with each child assigned a petal to write something about themselves. It’s a lovely example of positive affirmation and the noticeably happy, confident and engaged pupils are testament to the excellent pastoral care here.
And finally....
We were really impressed by EHS – the campus is (quite literally, in some of the tighter corridors) a hive of activity and there’s a smorgasbord of opportunities, with excellent links between the junior and senior schools and a near-seamless transition between the two.