Apply to King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon, in plain English.
King Edward VI School — "KES", Shakespeare's old school — is an oversubscribed boys' selective grammar in Stratford-upon-Avon, with a co-educational sixth form. Far more boys apply than the 87 Year 7 places each year. Boys sit the Warwickshire 11+ and must reach the qualifying score set each year; places then fill in rank order of score, but boys living inside the school's priority circles — an inner 13-mile circle first, then the outer 16.9-mile one — are offered places ahead of equally-qualifying boys further out. Register for the test via Warwickshire's online portal by 11.59pm on 30 June 2026 — separately from, and months before, the October Common Application Form.
The three things to know first.
If you read nothing else on this page, read these. They're the bits that catch parents out.
You register for the 11+ test by 30 June 2026 — long before the CAF.
KES uses the Warwickshire 11+ Selection Test, run by Warwickshire Admissions on the school's behalf. Registration opens on 7 May 2026 through Warwickshire's online parent portal and closes at 11.59pm on 30 June 2026 — months before, and completely separate from, the October Common Application Form. Miss the registration deadline and, apart from evidenced exceptional circumstances, there is no route to a place for 2027 entry.
This is a score-led school — but two priority circles decide the order.
Every applicant must reach the Automatic Qualifying Score set each year; below it, a boy is not eligible. Above it, qualifying boys are ranked by where they live: those inside the inner 13-mile circle come first (up to 70 places), then those inside the outer 16.9-mile circle, then boys living beyond it. A high score matters, but the circles decide which queue you join.
The circles are drawn from the Stratford fountain — and it's a boys' school.
Both circles are measured from the Fountain in Rother Street, Stratford-upon-Avon — in the town centre, a short distance from the school on Chapel Lane: an inner circle of 13 miles and an outer circle of 16.936 miles. Only boys are eligible for Year 7. Your son must live at the address you give, inside the circles, by 31 December 2026, and Warwickshire can ask for evidence of where you live. Check the GrammarBound map to see which circle your home falls inside.
Four steps — the first deadline is summer, not October.
Registering for the Warwickshire 11+ (step 1) closes at 11.59pm on 30 June 2026 — months before the CAF deadline that catches most families out. Registering for the test is not the same as applying for the school.
If more boys reach the standard than there are places, these criteria decide.
A boy with an EHCP naming the school, who meets the minimum academic standard, is admitted first, within the 87 (the Admission Number reduces accordingly). Everyone else who reaches the qualifying score is then placed in the order below — children in care, then Pupil Premium boys inside the outer circle, then boys inside the inner circle, then the rest of the outer circle, then those beyond it, each ranked by test score. Straight-line distance breaks ties. Tap any criterion to see the exact wording.
In plain English: Boys in council care, or who were in care before being adopted (including from state care outside England), come first — provided they reached the Automatic Qualifying Score, or scored within 20 marks of it. Tell the council about looked-after status when you apply.
What the document says: Category 1 — Any Looked-After or Previously Looked-After Children who either achieve the Automatic Qualifying Score or above, or who score up to twenty marks below it (extending to the Required Minimum Academic Standard where the gap is more than 20 marks).
In plain English: Boys eligible for the Pupil Premium through Free School Meals who live inside the outer priority circle (which includes the inner circle) and reach the qualifying score (or score within 20 marks of it) are placed next, ranked by test score. Up to thirteen places only are offered in this category. Warwickshire will ask for evidence of Pupil Premium eligibility.
What the document says: Category 2 — Children who live within the outer priority circle (including those living in the inner priority circle) who attract the Pupil Premium via eligibility for Free School Meals who achieve either the Automatic Qualifying Score or above, or who score up to 20 marks below it. Up to thirteen places only will be offered to children in this category (including any re-offers made from the waiting list after 1st March 2027).
In plain English: This is how most boys get in. After looked-after and Pupil Premium boys, up to seventy places go to the boys who reached the qualifying score and live inside the inner 13-mile circle, strictly in rank order of test score. A high score wins an inner-circle place; distance only settles a tie.
What the document says: Category 3 — Up to 70 places will be allocated to children who live within the inner priority circle who achieve the Automatic Qualifying Score or above for this School, for this particular year of entry.
In plain English: If inner-circle boys don't fill all 87 places, the remaining places go to qualifying boys living inside the outer 16.9-mile circle (which includes the inner one), again in rank order of test score.
What the document says: Category 4 — Children who live within the outer priority circle (including those living in the inner priority circle) who achieve the Automatic Qualifying Score or above for this School, for this particular year of entry.
In plain English: If boys inside the two circles don't fill all 87 places, the school then offers places to qualifying boys living outside the outer circle, in rank order of test score. The policy says out-of-circle boys are normally only offered places in the first round if there aren't enough qualifying boys inside the circles.
What the document says: Category 5 — Children living outside of the outer priority circle who achieve the Automatic Qualifying Score or above for this School, for this particular year of entry. Children living outside the outer priority circle will be offered places in the first round only if there are insufficient children of the required level of ability living within either the outer and inner priority circles.
In plain English: Boys who didn't reach the qualifying score but did reach the lower Required Minimum Academic Standard go onto the waiting list for this school. Where two boys have exactly the same score, the place goes to the one living nearer the school, measured straight-line to the school centroid; a computerised random draw settles a complete tie.
What the document says: Category 6 — Children who score below the Automatic Qualifying Score but above the Required Minimum Academic Standard for the waiting list for this School, for this particular year of entry. To differentiate equal scores, those who live nearest the School in straight-line distance will be given priority.
Two priority circles — 13 and 16.9 miles from the Stratford fountain.
KES has no ward or parish catchment. Instead the determined policy defines two concentric priority circles, both measured from the Fountain in Rother Street, Stratford-upon-Avon: an inner circle of 13 miles and an outer circle of 16.936 miles (reaching south to the county boundary below Long Compton). The centre is the Stratford fountain in the town centre — a short distance from the school on Chapel Lane — so the circles sit essentially around the school's own town. Qualifying boys inside the inner circle are offered places first (up to 70), then boys inside the outer circle, then boys living beyond it. GrammarBound draws both rings: the darker inner ring is the higher-priority queue.
There is no single published distance cut-off: within each category, places are decided by test score, with straight-line distance only the tie-break between equal scores. That distance is measured from your home address point (Ordnance Survey co-ordinates) to the school centroid — not by road.
See the priority circles on the GrammarBound mapInner circle first, then outer, then beyond.
Child A lives inside the inner 13-mile circle, so once he reaches the qualifying score he is ranked (by score) ahead of boys in the outer circle. Child B lives in the outer circle — considered after the inner queue. Child C lives beyond both, normally offered a place only if there aren't enough qualifying boys inside the circles. All three must first reach the Automatic Qualifying Score.
You have two routes, and you can use both.
Waiting list
If your son isn't offered a place, he goes onto a waiting list held by Warwickshire Admissions of boys who reached the Required Minimum Academic Standard but didn't receive an offer. It is kept in strict oversubscription-criteria order until the end of the first term of Year 7 (31 December 2027) — and re-ranked each time a boy is added, so a later application can move ahead of an earlier one. When a place comes free it goes to the highest-ranked boy, not the longest waiter. A boy who hasn't yet sat the test can be tested and ranked before the list is dissolved.
Priority on the waiting list is not based on the date you applied or asked to join.
Appeal
You have a statutory right of appeal against the decision not to offer a place. Appeals are heard by an independent appeal panel; for boys who didn't qualify, the panel takes account of the child's position in the test process, and prejudice to the school is only considered once the year group is full. A refusal does not stop you joining the waiting list — you can do both at once.
Joining Year 12 at KES.
The sixth form is co-educational — it welcomes external female and male applicants alongside KES's own Year 11. The priority circles do not apply to sixth-form entry; students may be admitted irrespective of where they live. Entry is on GCSE results, confirmed after Results Day in August 2027.
The grade floor.
You need at least 54 points from your best eight GCSE results — scored on the 9–1 GCSE points system (9 points for a grade 9 down to 1 for a grade 1). Applicants with an EHCP are admitted first, subject to meeting the entry criteria, and any KES Year 11 student who meets the entry criteria automatically obtains a place. International qualifications are assessed against GCSE points using UK ENIC guidance, each counting as one of the best eight.
Apply direct to the school.
External applications go directly to KES — not through the CAF — with a deadline of 12 noon on 8 January 2027, and confirmed places follow GCSE Results Day in August 2027. Internal KES Year 11 students who meet the criteria are admitted automatically. If external places are oversubscribed, applicants are ranked first by looked-after status, then by Pupil Premium eligibility, then by total best-eight GCSE points, subject to teaching-set sizes not being exceeded.