The Birmingham King Edward consortium test sits in mid-September of Year 6 in CEM-style format.
Year 5 spring
Confirm KEVI registration via the consortium's online portal. Registration typically opens in April with closing in late June.
Begin CEM-style preparation. KEVI rewards vocabulary range and reading fluency more than any other element — daily reading should already be a strong habit.
Year 5 summer
Continue daily reading at increased range. Begin mixed-format practice papers. Submit registration before the late June deadline.
Vocabulary work is high-leverage in CEM-style preparation. A daily ten-minute vocabulary session — one new word, three uses in sentences — accumulates fast.
Summer holidays
Full mock CEM-style papers fortnightly. Stamina across the combined paper format is a factor; practise the full sitting length, not just sub-sections.
Cross-application to Walsall, Wolverhampton and Warwickshire is common. If applying across multiple authorities, confirm registration deadlines for each separately.
Mid-September — test
The KEVI test typically falls in the second or third week of September on a Saturday morning. Venue is published with the registration confirmation.
CEM-style papers do not allow easy triage by subject — practise tackling the paper in order without skipping ahead.
Mid-October — results
Results are released in mid-October. The KEVI consortium uses a cohort-relative threshold (typically the top quartile) rather than a fixed published score.
Submit Birmingham secondary preferences via the local authority by 31 October. List the eight KEVI consortium grammars in preference order.
1 March — offer day
Birmingham secondary offers released on national offer day. Wait-listing remains active through spring; movement is common in Birmingham given the cross-county application pattern.
For families considering the Walsall and Wolverhampton grammars in parallel, separate offer letters from each local authority are standard.